how to open up a behringer c1 condenser to mod

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Disease8

Disease8

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I bought this mic to practice modding and learn about electronics but I can't get it open it won't open in the same way as my other condensers.. I can't twist off the body or top part covering capsule..
Any ideas?
Cheers, Dom..
 
If it's anything like a shure KSM series look at the bottom near the XLR connector there you will find a retainer ring of sorts that must be unscrewed to get the body of the microphone apart.
Sometimes this requires a special tool to remove it I just used a butter knife!
Upon putting it back together again be sure you have it tight for you'll have grounding problems if not as tight as possible and may have to reassemble it.



:cool:
 
If you look at the output jack, there's a black collar around it. The collar has two notches cut into it that you can unscrew with a medium size pair of needle nose pliers.

Once you have the ring off, the main part of the mic body slides off and there's your circuit board. I haven't tried to get at the capsule, but it's probably easy once you have the mic body apart.
 
dervish riff said:
If you look at the output jack, there's a black collar around it. The collar has two notches cut into it that you can unscrew with a medium size pair of needle nose pliers.

Once you have the ring off, the main part of the mic body slides off and there's your circuit board. I haven't tried to get at the capsule, but it's probably easy once you have the mic body apart.
Click to expand...

:D^^^^exactly what I was getting at ^^^^:D
then it's just a few screws that hold the capsule part to the body.



:cool:
 
i love this forum you guys are the best! does this mean either of you have modded this mic? good results?
 
I live in an area with little access to musical equipment, let alone recording mics. A friend owns a small store and got a C-1 by accident in a shipment of other stuff, I was lucky to get there before he sent it back and snagged it.

I haven't modded it yet, but my curiosity couldn't resist taking it apart and checking it out. I think it sounds OK as is, since it doesn't have the harshness of a lot of Chinese mics.
 
dang its a fake condenser not a LDC looks like a back back-electret..
 
Disease8 said:
dang its a fake condenser not a LDC looks like a back back-electret..
Click to expand...

Yes, it's an electret condenser. I'd probably suggest gutting it, then building a more standard condenser mic circuit on breadboard and pairing it with a true condenser capsule.... :)
 
dgatwood said:
Yes, it's an electret condenser. I'd probably suggest gutting it, then building a more standard condenser mic circuit on breadboard and pairing it with a true condenser capsule.... :)
Click to expand...

Yeah sounds good man! You know of a cheap true condenser capsule out there that doesn't suck? Just to do an experimental mod to learn not really to build the best Royer or anything? Seen some on ebay for £40...
 
hey here is a pic of the inside of the C1.. Finally got it open! lol
I was thinking the little ceramic cap coming of the capsule could be swapped for a higher quality one? just as a little experiment.. You think this would make a difference?
 

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Ditching a ceramic coupling cap (the one you're talking about) will almost certainly improve the sound noticeably. IIRC, the once most folks suggest are polypropylene film or polystyrene if you can find , but usually that means mail ordering. Mylar film is still a really big improvement and you can usually find those parts at the Rat Shack. Oh, wait, you're in England. No idea what stores there carry.
 
Any chance of posting pics of the capsule? Some electrets use stock inexpensive capsules that can sound pretty good. A circuit mod might make a useful mic.
 
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