No Name Tube Microphone

  • Thread starter Thread starter Jim Lad
  • Start date Start date
Interesting.
So your looking at the same upgrade that can be applied to the 460 as well?
 
Well, be careful when you say "the same upgrade (as the 460)". There are various recommendations for the "Apex 460 mod" and a lot if the information on the web is incorrect. I saw one guy who posted a schematic that I'm sure sounded very good in cardioid, but in his schematic he removed a component that was very critical to the pattern control. You have to watch what's out there and not follow it blindly. For instance, a lot of people insist you need to extend the low end by using a large value capacitor. Really? The C12 and U47 recommend a .5uf capacitor and those mics had huge low end. It depends on the transformer. It also depends on one of the many methods of biasing the tube. Personally, I know of at least 3-4 ways of establishing a "fixed bias" to the tube. Two of which bias it at the grid, not the cathode. There's also at least two methods of cathode bias and bypass that work great!

So, yes, you can experiment with mics for this mic in the same way you could try various mods from the Apex 460.
 
Jim Lad said:
It's good that you want to promote your friend's mic but seriously.
Don't knock the gear if you have no experience with it.
It's a damn good mic.
I have an AKG Solid Tube on the way.
Will that do?
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...first of all, I'm not promoting "my friend's" mic...I'm recommending a mic I purchased on eBay that happens to be, IMHO, the best tube mic you can buy for that price (or up to twice the price)...and why would I want to try a "tube mic" from Behringer, when I have no doubt that I already own much better mics...a 16mm capsule is not an LDC tube mic...and third, I've used the AKG Solid Tube and was not impressed...not one of AKG's better offerings...but of course, YMMV...

PhilGood said:
12AX7's gain is too hot for mics and pushes into distortion too quickly, which is why 12AY7 or 12AV7 is better.

Yeah, that's definitely the Aurycle kit mic. I bought two or three of them. They are the same mic that was sold as the sE5000 (IIRC) and another famed mic (with a different capsule).

I tried modifying the board, but ended up just copying the Ela M 251 circuit (adjusting for remote pattern control) with a Tim Cambell capsule and a Lundahl transformer. I also found a better grill off another mic that matches the Ela M's grill mesh count.
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Phil...your work looks amazing!...beautiful job...if that mic sounds half as good as it should (Campbell capsule and Lundahl tranny) it has to be impressive!...
 
Kidvybes: I enjoy your posts. I usually find you very informative.
However, publicly dismissing microphones without trying them is all too commonplace on these forums and quite frankly, something that I had presumed you to be above.
I have the T-1. It rocks. I can say that because I've tried it.
but of course, YMMV...
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You know I have no idea what that means. "You may not" something?
Anyway, the real point is, I enjoy your opinions. Usually.
 
YMMV ~ My daughters told me it means You make me vomit.
But I've come to find that here on HR it means your mileage may vary.
 
"Your mileage may vary"

Obviously I'm not into capsule sizism; different capsule sizes do what they do. A 6mm can't do what a 16mm or 34mm does, and vice versa. The question is, is it a good capsule? Nobody complains about the KSM32 much, that is a 16mm capsule. So are a lot of pencil-style mics that are well regarded.
 
mshilarious said:
Nobody complains about the KSM32 much, that is a 16mm capsule. So are a lot of pencil-style mics that are well regarded.
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...so are we to believe, from your statement, that the Behringer T1 and the KSM32, having the same size capsule, might share sonic similarities?...probably not...

...I record primarily vocal tracks in my home studio...when working with LDC mics, I have gotten my best results with mics utilizing 32-35mm capsules...that's not to suggest that great vocals can't be recorded with smaller diameter capsules, just a personal preference on my part...

Jim Lad said:
Kidvybes: I enjoy your posts. I usually find you very informative.
However, publicly dismissing microphones without trying them is all too commonplace on these forums and quite frankly, something that I had presumed you to be above.
I have the T-1. It rocks. I can say that because I've tried it.
You know I have no idea what that means. "You may not" something?
Anyway, the real point is, I enjoy your opinions. Usually.
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...as far as the T1 mic goes, I did enough research on the two newer Behringer tube mics to conclude, for my own purposes, that neither was worth trying...I use other Behringer products, but the specs on those two microphones told me all I need to know...if you're getting good results with the mic, then as I posted "Your Mileage Did Vary"...enjoy your purchase...as you choose your future purchases, you'll have a better perspective of what really "rocks" and what "seemed to rock" when you first got it...re-critique the T1 in a year or two and get back to me...just my .02c (nothing personal implied)...

...I appreciate your general interest in my comments...sometimes my NY sarcasm and "straight from the hip" comments don't translate well on these forums...I just choose to be blunt and forthcoming at times, but without any malice I assure you...I bought my share of mics that I thought were great, only to find as I gained more experience, that those first impressions were just a passing fancy...anyway, good luck with your gear!...
 
Printed out the list....
Interchangeable tubes (in alphabetical/numerical order):

5751
6072
6201
12AT7
12AU7/ECC82
12AY7

Some good manufacturers include GE, Mullard, Philips, RCA, Sovtek.... Also, don't overlook the "JAN" parts. These are military parts, usually made either by Phillips or GE.
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....... and I'm off to Alloy Music to see what they have.
Lad on the phone says they have a bunch of used tubes.
Edit...
I got 5 used tubes.
1) 12AU7A Electrohome. Canada
2) 12AU7A Rogers
3) 12AU7A Garnet?
4) 12AU7A Canada
5) 12AU7/ECC82 Garnet Japan
$20 plus tax.
 
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kidvybes said:
...so are we to believe, from your statement, that the Behringer T1 and the KSM32, having the same size capsule, might share sonic similarities?...probably not...
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Put enough qualifiers in a sentence and anything is true. Might they? They might. Do they? I don't know, and apparently you don't either.
 
...your best choice would have probably been a GE 6072/6072A (industrial/military grade 12AY7), but lately they can be quite costly...my second choice for microphones that utilize the 12A*7 family is the military grade 6201 (a GE 5 Star if available)...it'll give you a bit more output than the 6072, but less than the stock 12AX7 Chinese tube...another nice choice are the Sylvania 12AT7WA tubes (the WA also implies industrial/military grade)...a 12AU7's output is too low for many tube mics in which I've tried them (I prefer to use them in tube preamps or guitar amps), a 12AV7 is more applicable in mics, but IMHO, the 6201 is still preferable over anything other than a good quality 6072...again, YMMV...

mshilarious said:
Put enough qualifiers in a sentence and anything is true. Might they? They might. Do they? I don't know, and apparently you don't either.
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...well Jim might know, since he has the T1 mic, at least until somebody buys it on eBay, seeing that he recently listed it for sale...so I'm going out on a limb and say, maybe not...

http://cgi.ebay.com/Behringer-T-1-T...603?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_2&hash=item336407568b
 
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at least until somebody buys it on eBay, seeing that he recently listed it for sale
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Well given that I have an AKG Solid Tube on the way, I don't see me needing the Behringer.
Of course, you don't think much of the AKG either.
Other than your friend's mic on E-Bay, what tube mic do you like?

HBO
 
Jim Lad said:
Other than your friend's mic on E-Bay, what tube mic do you like?
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...well, my other friend Alan Hyatt's Studio Projects T3, my friend Dave Thomas' Advanced Audio CM-47, my friend David Royer's Mojave MA-200, my friend Mark Ludmer's Rode NT Classic, my friend John Peluso's 22-251, my friend Ken Avant's BV-1, and my friend Jim Jacobsen's JJ Audio Dutch, Akita and Daisy...I like some other's, but those I mentioned are my closest friends...
 
OK Jim I give up what are the acronyms YMCA and HBO stand for in your book? :D
 
Interesting choices.
I'm surprised at the Studio Projects T-3, mind you.
So the next time you feel like saying something like"...I don't understand why you buy the Behringer tube mic and this mic, when I post a link to a really great tube mic that costs less than the two of them together..." you'll stop yourself, right? Because it was just a little condescending, right? And remember that people from all over the world use this site and some of us really like Austrian & Chinese manufacturers because they are in the business of actually designing, manufacturing and selling their products.
BYOB
 
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