Anyone messed with DIY mics?

R

Raymeous

New member
I've been getting into this whole home recording thing and I have admittedly been bitten by the dreaded "Mic Bug" :facepalm:

While scouring the internet for reviews and ideas, I came across the world of mic mods and DIY kits. As a looooong time guitarist, I am quite familiar with hot-rodding your guitar/bass and amps, but modding a mic is a new concept for me. It does make sense but it's a gray area for me. I have to admit that my internal MacGyver is very curious about this process and these mics.

Here are my questions for you ladies and gentlemen:
1) Have you ever used one of these modded or DIY mics?
2) How hard was it to build/mod?
3) The most important question: Do they actually sound good?
4) Was the end result worth the time and effort?

While I'm pretty sure that a DIY Neumann U87 may sound good, I'm not sure how much I buy that it's going to be as good, or even sound like, a real U87. However, if it sounds good, who really cares, right?

So I'm just curious as to what your experiences and thought are on this subject. Thanks for your time, and remember: "Do it for the sake of the singers" :yawn:
 
I don't have a lot of mic modding experience (I mostly build pedals), but I have opened up an Apex 460 tube mic and a Rode NT1A that had a dead capsule.

For the Apex I just did a few simple mods you can find online (remove a cap, change another, etc.) and it seems to be a little better to my ears.

The Rode, however, is a thing of beauty now, as the capsule was dead so I ordered a K-47 capsule from microphoneparts.com (great guys to deal with). The install was pretty easy, with only a few connections to remove/solder and now it sounds amazing.
 
p_wats

So you didn't get to hear the NT1 before the mod but it sounds good now? Well I am glad to hear you have a mic that you like after all the trouble. For a moment I was tempted to ask you about whether or not you thought it would be worth attempting on my NT2a. I like it, but if the mod makes it sound better..... I don't know, I think I'll keep the NT2a as is as I do like the mic. I may have to track down a good "donor" mic to play with.

The DIY mic thing got me thinking that it could be pretty rewarding to have a batch of custom mics specific to my studio. I could even go so far as to get them powdercoated and badged. How cool would that be? :D
 
Ooh so interested in this topic. I do a bit of DIY (pedals, amps general junk). I have an old MXL 990 that is a good platform for some modding. Even if I screw it up it will not impact pocket too hard. Let me search for a couple of the links (that you prob. have found). I am so on board with this new madness.
 
Raymeous said:
I've been getting into this whole home recording thing and I have admittedly been bitten by the dreaded "Mic Bug" :facepalm:
Click to expand...

Welcome to the club :D I think i'm done for a while but it won't last :P

I've only done very, very simple mod's on my two ribbon mics; an Apex 205 (well, an Alctron HRM8b but they're the same thing) and a Fame "Classic" ribbon (which is the Nady RSM-4 i think).

On both i just removed the internal blast filter. On the Fame mic it made a very slight difference; it just became a bit "crisper". On the alctron however it made a HUUUUGE difference. The blastfilter on the acltron wouldn't look out of place on a tank! The low end is now tighter, the high end is smoother, and the mic needs much less gain now. For the sake of removing a couple of screws it was well worth it.

So, my experience has been positive and i'm itching to try more. I've got an old NT1 with a dead capsule and an sE Z3300a with a broken pad and polar pattern selector switch so i'm gonna have a bash at fixing those sometime soon
 
I have had 3 mics modded. 2 MXL 603S mics and an MXL R40 ribbon mic. I am currently having an MXL V63M modded as well.

Most of the mics you get under $300 Use cheap cheap cheap components. After having my mics modded I have noticed a huge difference. I used to record vocals or guitar and had to do a lot of production to make them sound acceptable. Now I don't have to do anything but normalize them. They sound great. Not only great but clearer, more present. Until you have the mic modded or you fork our the money for a high end Neumann your most likely going to be settling for second best. Take a look at my modded mic comparison above. The two modded mics sound great. AKG Perception 170's sound wanting. You can improve the 170 a bit with some production but it will never sound as good at the other mics until the cheap electronics are replaced at the least.

Can you do it yourself? I don't know. I have some experience working on medical equipment but it's been a few years. I tried to mod the MXL 603's myself but failed miserably. Fortunately Mr. Bonnell did not hold that against me. He fixed them and did a good job. I know Mr. Bonnell does not replace the capsule but Mr. Joly does. How much difference this makes I don't know. I am having an MXL V63M done by Mr. Joly and will soon be able to compare with the MXL 603S's that I have. I suspect there will be some difference though not as much as one might expect.

To do good recordings you need good mics. Most of the cheap chinese made mics are wanting. Are there some that aren't. I don't know, probably. I just don't know which ones they are.
 
Thanks for the replies

So you guys seem to be having some good luck with this whole mic-modding thing.

Interesting...... I may have to scour around town for some "donors" to mess with.

Anyone else out there have any ideas on this subject? :thumbs up:
 
Raymeous said:
So you guys seem to be having some good luck with this whole mic-modding thing.

Interesting...... I may have to scour around town for some "donors" to mess with.

Anyone else out there have any ideas on this subject? :thumbs up:
Click to expand...

The first thing I noticed with the Joly mod is you can turn it all the way up and there is none of that crackling or other electronic noise. Just silence, unless there is some sound to pick up. Not the same with the Bonnell mod. You still get some noise on the top end. The clarity is phenomenal and the vocal is more present. You don't need to do any sound processing on these mics unless you want to. Couldn't do that with even the AKG Perception 220.
 
My NT1A wasn't completely dead, but the capsule would cut out if you sang too loud (after a plosive it wouldn't turn back on for a minute or two). It sounded ok, but a bit thin and trebly. With the new capsule (which was a breeze to install) it's great! It's now my go-to mic.

I don't know much about the NT2A, but the NT1A (especially the older, through-hole versions) is reported to be a very well designed mic circuit, with the capsule being the weak point.

The RK47 capsule from microphoneparts.com cost me $100, but the mic itself cost me nothing, so I'm more than happy!
 
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