ADK SC-1 Mic Mod?

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ds21

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was reading on the measage board at tapeop that theres a new David Royer mic mod for the SC-1, was wondering if anyone knows anything about this?
 
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I believe I saw that in the newest issue of tape-op..and I'm not sure it was an SC-1 but it was a small diaphram ADK....I think maybe A51sc?....ymmv
 
Royer said he has done a tube mod on a couple of different SD mics. But I gather 1:.....it's not for the faint hearted, and 2:........I THINK, but may be wrong, that you have to purchase everything from him to do it.

Actually, I just found the article and he sell the kit (excluding the Jensen transformer) for $170 US. Add to that the cost of the t/former, and the necessary power supply, then factor in the time it will take before getting too excited about it.

:cool:
 
There’s a great article about it in this months Home Recording mag. The guy doing the review (forgot his name) was crazy about it. He claims to have a U-47 (among other Neumanns) and said the hot-roded ADK 51 (or MXL 2001) sounds better and as a result he doesn’t even use the U-47 anymore. He said you can buy the whole kit including mic and power supply for $500 and it only took him 5 hours to build. I’d say for $500, if it got anywhere CLOSE to a U-47, it’d be worth it.
 
That may be fine for the LD mics, but the current Royer article concerns modding SD mics like the ADK A-51SC or MXL 603.

I think you have to take into consideration what the mics are primarily used for and if the cost both in $ and time can be justified for the level of "improvement".

At the end of the day, all David Royer has done is prove that mods can be done to budget mics which have some perceived improvement as a result, and he has made kits available for sale. Unfortunately, there is still the question of capsule quality. If the capsule isn't up to scratch, no amount of circuitry is going to fix that.




:cool:
 
darrin_h2000 said:
I got a free 2001 with one of my 603s'
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Heh heh. I would probably give around $50 for a used if you or anyone else happens to have one and needs $50 real bad. I'd like to try the mod, except I'll probably just buy the PC board, tube and transformer and build one from scratch.
 
ausrock said:
That may be fine for the LD mics, but the current Royer article concerns modding SD mics like the ADK A-51SC or MXL 603.

I think you have to take into consideration what the mics are primarily used for and if the cost both in $ and time can be justified for the level of "improvement".

At the end of the day, all David Royer has done is prove that mods can be done to budget mics which have some perceived improvement as a result, and he has made kits available for sale. Unfortunately, there is still the question of capsule quality. If the capsule isn't up to scratch, no amount of circuitry is going to fix that.




:cool:
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Well, Dave sez dis about dat...

"The microphone’s capsule is a decent copy of the capsule in a Neumann U-67 and, when mated to well-designed tube electronics, the performance is very presentable. It more than justifies the work and expense, particularly since printed circuit boards are available, which will remove most of the risk of wiring errors."

Again, you're correct - he IS selling the kit, hence the good talk. But he also has a reputation, so he's probably not going to stretch the truth too far to make a sale. I'm chomping at the bit to build one, based on what I've read so far.:) But, hey, I'm a tech and do this kind of stuff every day, so it's no biggie...
 
I didn't mean to imply it was a sales pitch from Dave Royer as such, although when I heard about the article, I did expect to find something more attuned to the DIYer.........not a 2 1/2 page (when printed) article, in which over 1 1/2 pages is devoted to tech information and only 1 1/2 columns actually dealing specifically with the mod, with the last small paragraph telling me I can order the kit from him.

He does mention having done this with both ADK and MXL603's............and considering the plethora of positive comments about the MXL's in particular, it makes me wonder just how much they can be improved. IWO, is the effort and cost involved relative to the "improvement" where 603's are concerned.

I'm also aware of at least one person who has done a similar mod to Oktava 012, but due to the even smaller casing, they used point to point wiring instead of a PCB.

:cool:
 
BTW, I now realize the thread heading is about the ADK SC-1 instead of the ADK 51 (or MXL 2001) - Doh! Sorry about butting in with the MXL 2001 stuff. It's just that from the very day I got my HR mag, I've seem "Royer Mic Mods" pop up on every forum I visit, so I keep assuming that they're talking about HR review instead of the tape-op one.
So, speaking of the SC-1 mod, what exactly does it do to the sound? I too am wondering just how big an improvement can be on these type mics.
How did the Oktava turn out?
 
Flatpicker,

Congrats on reaching 100:) .

Apparently the Oktava's case size won't accomodate the output t/former so it has to be fitted in with the pwr supply and the replacement 5 pin XLR connector has to be reduced in diameter to fit in the end of the case. There were also hints of potential problems with the 012 capsule and the new voltage from the modded circuit.

In all the discussion on these SD mic mods, there has been no real indication given as to how these mics performed after the mods. And human nature being what it is, it is possible that after spending numerous dollars and hours modding a mic, that a persons perception of the "improvement" may be somewhat biased or cloudy. How many people are going to publicly admit on a BBS that they have wasted their time and money because the improvement in mic performance was not what they expected.



:cool:
 
ausrock said:
...How many people are going to publicly admit on a BBS that they have wasted their time and money because the improvement in mic performance was not what they expected.
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Hmmmm. Good point. Maybe the guy at Home Recording will review this one too. We'll see... One thing's for certain - he sure has me fired up about the 2001 mod!
 
Yeah, I think the mods to LD mics have a bit more going for them.

Unfortunately, the propagation of the "it has to sound like a Neumann to be any good" or "it has to cost thousands of dollars" philosophies, risks misleading a lot of newcomers to recording which isn't doing anyone apart from those with a vested interest in these higher priced products any favours.



:cool:
 
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