Peluso Microphones

  • Thread starter Thread starter Michael Jones
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Larry,

I used some of Pelusos capsules and would agree with you that he makes them well.
I found a few things in your message, which are not clear to me, or I would respectfully disagree:

>A GE 6072 (12AY7) Black Plate tube will help most of the C12 design microphones, like the MXL V77. The V77 uses a single diaphram capsule unlike a C12, but the electronics are simular.<

V77 has a center terminated capsule (Neumann style) vs. C12, which is an edge terminated (AKG style). Also, both microphones uses completely different way of biasing the tube. My question is how MXL V77 is a C12 design?

>Put a Peluso capsule in it, double the size of the output capacitor and it makes one fine microphone.<

I could argue here. Stock capsule in fact is not that bad. Properly tuned it can sound very good. Double sized (I think you mean its value) cap. even of very good quality won't change much either, as the main problem IMHO is the output transformer. Without rebuilding it with better lamination, or changing it with something better, replacing stock capsule with Peluso's one would not be justified.

>(The Telefunken and Mullards are good in amps but are too soft in a microphone to cut in the mix, in comparison with the black plate tubes)<

I am wondering what do you mean by "soft"? And what is so special about blackplate tubes, as a family?

>Sylvania tubes, as a whole, have more gain than any other...<

????????

>If you have a 12AX7 tube, you can change it to any 12A_7 (or their industrial number) and you wont hurt anything. Keep changing it until you can say "that sounds a little better."<

The 12AX7 is the highest gain tube in a 12A_7 family, so first of all, replacing it with others, you will lose gain. Also, 12AT7 and especially 12AU7 need different operating points to work and sound right. For microphone application IMHO 12AX7 is not good at all, and I would agree that 6072 would work much better here. My personal preference is a GE 6072 5 star.
 
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Larry Blevins said:
If you are wanting me to post some MP3's, forget it. The quality sucks so bad you can't really tell anything. I hate MP3's with a passion, cassette tape is better.
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Im sure we all agree with your statement. Since most of us are on high speed internet, a wav file would be perfect. Ill even host if you'd like. Since you have permission from the artist.
 
Peluso mics

Can someone give me the Peluso mics website, please????
I want to know more :eek:
 
I am extremely interested in these mics. Especially the 251. Am I correct in assuming this mic would give a good "modern" high-end push to rock vox, but with vintage smoothness and clarity? What about on a singer with a slightly nasally, slightly harsh voice? I don't care how it sounds on its own, only in a dense rock mix.


Samples would be great. Quite frankly, there's nothing wrong with 256Kbs MP3's, especially mono (twice the quality), if it's encoded with a good encoder like LAME. Practically indistiguishable from a WAV even on high-end monitors. The encoder makes all the difference though.
 
Marik, sorry to be so long on getting back. Many people have claimed that the V77 sounds like a C12. True, it is not a true C-12 with either capsule or some of it's electronics, but I modified one and sold it to a DJ who swears it sounds just like a C-12 he used for years in another studio. Tubes can be biased in various ways but does it affect the sound? Sometimes yes & sometimes no.
Doubling, or more, the output cap helped the low mids on the one I modified, this was after the Peluso capsule change. The Peluso capsule was a tremendous improvement for mine. This was some time back, I a can't remember everything I did to it, but I did not have the proper transformer to change it. Maybe you got lucky and got a good capsule to begin with.

Concerning the Telefunken & Mullards - when I say soft, just like I said, they don't cut or have the edge that the black plates have. Almost all the black plate tubes I have experimented with have a slight cutting-edge-brightness that I prefer. In a tube power amp, I prefer the Telefunken smooth grey plates for their silky smoothness. If Telefunken ever made a black plate, I've never seen one.

Last year, I bought out an old TV repair shop just to get the tubes. I tested over 100 NOS 12A_7 tubes and the Sylvanias consistantly tested higher gain. On 12AX7's they were especially high. I have four tube testers and they all read the same.

Of course a 12AX7 is higher gain. A new one, that is. An old 12AX7 will often have lower gain than a 12AT7. This also applies to new 12AX7's by different manufacturers. This ain't book - this is actual readings. Put different 12A_7's in an amp or compressor. See how little gain change there is. I wasn't just talking about microphones. But, I have used the Telefunken 12AX7 in place of the 6072 in a microphone and it sounds great even though plate capacitance is way different. Right now, I'm using a 12AT7 Telefunken in a Peluso 251 and it sounds great. I use it for background vocals and acoustic guitar where that smoothness is a plus.

I did all these test on A/B comparisons. Have you A/B'ed your comparisons? If so, I'd like to know why we're getting different results. What kind of transmission test sets did you use? What impedance did you use? I'll be on vacation next week. Will check back when I get return.
 
Report back on 414 capsule change

I sent my AKG 414-ULS to John Peluso for a capsule change to his C12 cap. On an earlier post, I agreed to post the results.

This new capsule improved the overall sound of the microphone so much, it's like comparing night & day. The highs are rich and silky smooth. The lows were extended and the low mid's made far richer giving the mic more body.

I make test tracks and keep them for reference on every mic and all equipment I buy. I recalled the test tracks on vocals & acoustic instruments made on the original capsule and made new test tracks on the new capsule. It is not a slight difference, it is a huge difference. A big improvement and well worth the money.
 
And yet, we still have no audio samples from these great mics.
 
>I tested over 100 NOS 12A_7 tubes and the Sylvanias consistantly tested higher gain. On 12AX7's they were especially high. I have four tube testers and they all read the same.<

Which tube testers do you have? How did you measure gain of the tube?
 
I've been keeping an eye on this thread for a while hoping that we would get to hear some sound clips. If they're really a good imitation of the originals for 1/7 the price, then I'ld love to hear how they sound. Anyone have one of these mics that can post a clip?
 
The CEMC6 looks nice... I bet it would be fun to checked-out the lab/factory. I see Peluso is in Willis, Virginia... I wonder who here lives near there.

PELUSO MICROPHONE LAB

1778 Horse Ridge Road NW
Willis, Virginia 24380
Phone: 540-789-4100• Fax: 540-789-8181•
E-Mail: info@PelusoMicrophoneLab.com
Web Site: www.PelusoMicrophoneLab.com
 
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After doing a google search, the only sites that mention "PELUSO MICROPHONE" are here, ebay and Peluso Labs. Hmmmmmmmm!

I agree the CEMC6 looks nice. Sure would like to know a little about them.
 
Concerning Peluso's demo-cd: I went to John's place last Thursday to pick up my C-414 and spoke to him about it. He is swamped with work, building, modifying and repairing microphones. He may get to it later this month. The way his mic's are selling, I don't know that he even needs one, but that is his call. I have yet to hear one person say that they did not like his microphones. Not bad for a nine month old company.

Concerning the tube testers: I have four Hickocks. One is the best one they made, it measures noise, puts the tube under load and does many other tests that most tube testers don't. Most just measure conductance. If you are not showing a difference in conductance in the Sylvania's, have your tube tester serviced or buy a better one. I went home at lunch and double checked on three of mine, comparing NOS Sylvanias, GE, RCA, Mullard & Telefunken 12AX7's. The Sylvania's read higher on each.
 
Larry Blevins said:
If you are not showing a difference in conductance in the Sylvania's, have your tube tester serviced or buy a better one.
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Wait a second...
Are you talking about mutual conductance of the tube or its gain?

I have a pretty good, always calibrated tester--Hickok/Western Electric KS-15560 L1.
 
CEMC6 Microphone

Hangdawg, I bought one of those mics, ran it thru some test but I have not used it on a project yet. I can at least tell you about the test I ran and my initial impressions in comparison with mic's I have used.
It has the highs of an AT4041 without the brittleness of the AT, the highs are smooth but brighter than a KM-184 Neumann.
The mids are bright and mellow like a KM-56 Neumann tube, if you can imagine a solid state KM-56.
It sounds great on acoustic guitar and mandolin. The low cuts at 75 & 150 Hz allow you to tailor the lows to fit the guitar. I like to record D-18 Martins versus the D-28's because the low end of the 18 usually does not require an eq cut. The D-28's & 45's low end walks all over a bass without a low cut. It seems you could use the cuts to fit the low end of the particular instrument.
The lows are simular to a GT44 tube mic. I tried it on acoustic bass, it did OK but I prefer large diaphragm mics on these.
I have heard others say this mic sounds like a Schoeps, but I have never owned a Shoeps so I can't compare. It beats the socks off the MK-012 Octava (Sound Room Version), the AKG-1000, AT4041, Sennheiser ME-340, GT44, on mandolin. I play mandolin, thus the test on these.
This mic is HOT. The -10 and -20 cuts are useful. I know this isn't much, but as soon as I use it on a project, I post the results. It may be awhile, as I have four projects going now and as soon as they are finished, I am shutting the studio down for a couple of weeks for a rewire, maintenance and new acoustic treatment in the control room. In conclusion, I think this mic is going to end up the best small condenser mic I own.
 
Are you talking about mutual conductance of the tube or its gain?

Both, tube testers measure conductance, a transmission measuring test unit measures levels in DB or DBM. Use a single tube amp, calibrate the input and compare the output with different tubes. I find the Sylvanias have the highest output of the 12_ _7 NOS tubes.
 
i think the store that sells peluso is called watts up audio or something like that, they also sell these awesome sebatron pre amps

cheers
 
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Larry Blevins said:
Just reverb and LA2A's and Studer tape on the final to smooth it.
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Theres a lot to be said for a bit of tape! My local university has a 2" 24 track Studer gathering dust since '98 - they just won't let me have it :(
 
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