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Post by rowmat on Aug 7, 2017 18:55:38 GMT -6
I'm interested in how mic head baskets affect the audio characteristics of any given mic.
For instance take a U47 and a M49 both fitted with an M7 capsule.
The U47 is known for its midrange grain/reediness which gives it a rich presence ie. Frank Sinatra and especially Roger Water's in your face vocals.
I've read the U47's head basket is a key factor in its midrange.
It appears the parallel sides of the U47 basket create standing waves/comb filtering artifacts that causes this midrange coloration.
On the other hand the M49's wedge shaped non parallel head basket design is much less prone to this coloration and therefore it has a noticeable smoother (warmer if you like) tone.
Thoughts? Comments?
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Post by johneppstein on Aug 7, 2017 19:51:44 GMT -6
I'm interested in how mic head baskets affect the audio characteristics of any given mic. For instance take a U47 and a M49 both fitted with an M7 capsule. The U47 is known for its midrange grain/reediness which gives it a rich presence ie. Frank Sinatra and especially Roger Water's in your face vocals. I've read the U47's head basket is a key factor in its midrange. It appears the parallel sides of the U47 basket create standing waves/comb filtering artifacts that causes this midrange coloration. On the other hand the M49's wedge shaped non parallel head basket design is much less prone to this coloration and therefore it has a noticeable smoother (warmer if you like) tone. Thoughts? Comments? I'm not entirely certain that I'd use the word "warmer, but then I have much less experience with the M49. However, in general, I find this subject utterly fascinating, especially when the "modern masters" (Klaus, David B., etc chime in....) Carry on! |
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Post by EmRR on Aug 7, 2017 22:03:00 GMT -6
I had an MK47/Equinox body/Thiersch Blue up along with a Gefell UMT70S the other day. The Gefell was noticeably smoother up top, the MK47 had an excited grainy quality up top, but didn't seem more sibilant or particularly brighter. In a lot of ways the capsules sounded very much the same. Very different head baskets. I suspect if you swapped the capsules between the mics, the basket and amplifier traits would stay put, and they would still mostly sound as they did before the swap.
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Post by jampa on Aug 7, 2017 23:01:46 GMT -6
Cool I've got some random thoughts to dump.
If the head basket resonates, or if it disperses the incidence of sound evenly/unevenly, or if it slows sound arriving at the capsule... Perhaps it changes the frequency response of the sound, its phase response, the transient detail, etc.
The Josephson C715 head basket. The fineness of the mesh on the KM84 capsule.
The head basket is important but so is what is underneath it. Take a look at the kk84 capsule head and backplate. The AEA KU4 supercardioid ribbon. The high frequency "waffle iron" resonator found in some ribbons.
The resonance of the microphone body. Etc. A rabbit hole appears.
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Post by rowmat on Aug 7, 2017 23:02:41 GMT -6
I had an MK47/Equinox body/Thiersch Blue up along with a Gefell UMT70S the other day. The Gefell was noticeably smoother up top, the MK47 had an excited grainy quality up top, but didn't seem more sibilant or particularly brighter. In a lot of ways the capsules sounded very much the same. Very different head baskets. I suspect if you swapped the capsules between the mics, the basket and amplifier traits would stay put, and they would still mostly sound as they did before the swap. I'm thinking that being able to switch out head baskets styles on a mic may provide as much, if not more sonic variation in some instances than even tube or transformer swapping. |
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Post by rowmat on Aug 7, 2017 23:11:02 GMT -6
Cool I've got some random thoughts to dump. If the head basket resonates, or if it disperses the incidence of sound evenly/unevenly, or if it slows sound arriving at the capsule... Perhaps it changes the frequency response of the sound, its phase response, the transient detail, etc. The Josephson C715 head basket. The fineness of the mesh on the KM84 capsule. The head basket is important but so is what is underneath it. Take a look at the kk84 capsule head and backplate. The AEA KU4 supercardioid ribbon. The high frequency "waffle iron" resonator found in some ribbons. The resonance of the microphone body. Etc. A rabbit hole appears. I removed the perforated acoustic high pass screens from the ribbon motor assembly of our pair of AEA N22's as wanted to see how they sounded without them as I didn't like them at all stock. Apart from restoring the bass response the uppers mids were much smoother as I have no doubt these perforated tubes also messed with the upper mids by creating some kind of resonance effect designed to make the mics subjectively brighter. The downside was I didn't like that sound at all. I suspect now they are basically similar to the AEA N8's. They are now getting regular use. |
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Post by Ward on Aug 8, 2017 9:16:17 GMT -6
The angular front and rear panels on an M49., M269, U67, U77, U87, U89, TLM107 and a few others work well to diffuse the incoming sound signal and to a small degree deal with wind turbulence, plosives and sibilance. They do not create comb filtering or phase issues. Do a side by side comparison with yours, as I have done, and you'll find the general characteristics of these mics do not change greatly with the head baskets removed. But your findings may vary!! The only other guys around here I can think of who are equally nuts with doing these sorts of things are Randge and @noahshain but there may be others! |
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