slightly OT..mic-mod pictorial in my gallery..

[Johan]

..for anyone who ownes one of those sheap China made U87 copy mic's...these are not att all bad, but the FET and the biasing resistors are not selected, just put in, resulting in very different responce between indevidual mic's. On the neumann U87 schematic on the other hand, it's clearly stated that the FET and source resistors are selected to give 10volt DC on the Drain. in the china-mics at the same posission I've mesured anything between 8 and 16 volts with the best sounding indevidual mics having its Drain close to 10 volts....here is a pictorial to how you can check, mod and adjust the bias so that it can take the maximum sound levels and dont clip so ugly when things get loud... the mod is simple. takes about 20 minutes and only part needed is a 5k trimpot with legs..

http://aronnelson.com/gallery/Chinamic-biasmod-pictorial?page=1  ..read the coments under the pic's...

...if this is too OT, please move to the OT lounge..

johan

[nelson]

Where can I get one of these mics Johan?

Whats the actual model number and make? So I can search ebay.


Thanks!

[Xlrator]

I did a little Googleing and found this.

http://www.797audio.com/products/mic/condenser/cr616.htm

A company in the People's Republic of China, 797 Audio, has been making copies of popular Western-made microphones for many years now. These are such obvious copies that international copyright law prohibits selling them in Europe and North America. However, several Western companies have been working with 797 Audio to have their own designs made in China and then sold in the West. Most of these mics look almost exactly like the Neumann U87 and are claimed to sound 'just like the real thing, but for a fraction of the cost' — the Nady SCM 900, Joe Meek JM47 Meekrophone and Marshall Electronics MXL 2001-P are good examples. Of course, there ain't no such thing as a free lunch. I own an MXL 2001-P, and while I think it is a good mic for $150, I'd say it sounds more like a caricature of a U87 than the real thing. The MXL 2001-P's proximity effect is not well controlled, so male voices come out with a 'woofiness' in the low end if you work the mic too close. The high frequencies are more 'sizzly' than 'silky,' but I wouldn't say that the MXL mic sounds bad. It just sounds like a good cheap mic with a 'scooped out' midrange response, sort of how a mic sold at your local Radio Shack might sound if it was designed to 'sound like a Neumann.' In the end, I would say that $150 is just a little too much for the MXL 2001-P, but for $100 it would be worth it for many people. (Note that the Nady SCM 900 looks identical, and both the Nady and Marshall mics have been dropping in price.) I would say that an MXL 2001-P certainly beats a Shure SM58 or SM57 for recording vocals, piano or acoustic guitar, but if you already own a CAD, RØDE, AKG or other inexpensive condenser mic, don't think that you're missing out on anything.

Bear in mind that not all mics made by 797 Audio sound 'cheap.' The slightly more expensive Marshall Electronics MXL 2003 sounds noticeably smoother than the MXL 2001-P, and reviewers are positively gushing over the Studio Projects C1, C3 and B1 microphones (designed in the USA, made in China).

There are some good-sounding Russian-made condenser microphones available for almost as low prices as the mics made by 797 Audio. The Oktava MC-219 is an old 'sleeper' favorite.

[no one ever]

Nicely done.. .what, may I ask, are R4 and 5? never seen ones like those...

[Johan]

Where can I get one of these mics Johan?

Whats the actual model number and make? So I can search ebay.


Thanks!

..mine are called TSM MT87, but it's the same mic as all the other looking and costing about the same...100-150$/Euro...ADK A51, MXL2001, JJ-labs ( or whatever name they might be sold under in your market..)...the only thing different with the ADK (that I could spot ) was that it has a Silver/mica cap between capsule and FET where the others have a regular cheramic..

R4 and R5 are 1GigaOhm resistors..dont touch them...that is so high, that the grease on you fingers makes them go out of spec..if you do anyway, you should clean them with a cottontip and som isoprop.alcohol...its just easier not to touch them...

johan