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MK-U47
Jun 30, 2014 8:56:33 GMT -6
Post by tonycamphd on Jun 30, 2014 8:56:33 GMT -6
I'm a complete newb. This would have to be a paint by numbers project for me. And any advise about how not to get killed by excessive voltage is very welcome I don't want to tamp excitement and enthusiasm for this project, but this is a very good point cowboy brought up, the MK47 Power Supply Unit(PSU) puts out 396vdc unloaded(without the mic plugged in), the difference between AC/DC is-AC=alternating + and - current cycles, DC=direct + current singular cycle. If you've ever been hit by AC from a standard wall outlet, thats 110volts AC(in the USA, 220 euro), and you know the ratta tat tat tat dat zat pap!!!! that goes through you, it sucks! but that pulsing zap that made you piss your pants is a + and - electric cycle that causes your muscles to contract on the + part of the cycle, and release on the - part of the cycle, the - part of the cycle is when your hand ultimately will let go of the offensive little bastard. Are you a little scared?... Ok great, that's the fun part.. Now, DC is purely positive cycle, meaning that if you grab hold of the wrong component, your muscles will contract on the positive part of the cycle, and since there is NO - secondary cycle, your muscles stay contracted, and you cannot let go of the offending KILLER! Ok then, are you scared?... good, you should be, at 396vdc the MK47 PSU will kill you, car elect runs on 12vdc generally. If you follow all precautions, and pay attention to what you're doing, it's completely safe, and you'll be fine, just make sure you don't go over your head and get sloppy or impatient, when i built my MK47, i used total caution with the PSU section, and when i first plugged in the mic, i forgot to connect the 0v to the mic chassis(ungrounded mic), and zapped myself good and threw my 47 across the room lol, no shit, i'm not kidding. i would not normally recommend someone start their diy electronics journey with a tube circuit, they all generally have very high voltage DC circuits. if you're not confident enough to build the psu, you can buy one outright from someone i'm sure...
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MK-U47
Jun 30, 2014 9:27:29 GMT -6
Post by svart on Jun 30, 2014 9:27:29 GMT -6
One thing I don't get with these kinds of builds..
So much effort it put into making the bodies identical, the transformers identical, etc.. Yet the VF14 tube has been obsolete for years and years.. Which was a huge part of the sound of the U47.
So why bother spending so much on all the other stuff? Use a nice cheap chinese donor body and just stuff a new capsule and tranny in it since it's not going to be true clone and you might as well save a lot more money..
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MK-U47
Jun 30, 2014 10:05:42 GMT -6
Post by tonycamphd on Jun 30, 2014 10:05:42 GMT -6
One thing I don't get with these kinds of builds.. So much effort it put into making the bodies identical, the transformers identical, etc.. Yet the VF14 tube has been obsolete for years and years.. Which was a huge part of the sound of the U47. So why bother spending so much on all the other stuff? Use a nice cheap chinese donor body and just stuff a new capsule and tranny in it since it's not going to be true clone and you might as well save a lot more money.. well, the parallel tube config works and sounds great, the nos russian paper n oil cap i have matters also, i started off doing what you said above, but that mic never sounded close to the mk47, that said, i'm still in a gt2b housing, but that will change, i honestly believe the mic housing(especially the head basket) has a huge impact on the character of any mic, i've experimented extensively with this, so if you want very close to a U47 sound, i'd at least get the head basket and fit it on any body. but i think most guys want the accurate look, and i say if that makes you perform better(which it may well do?), then more power to ya.
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MK-U47
Jun 30, 2014 10:08:36 GMT -6
Post by tonycamphd on Jun 30, 2014 10:08:36 GMT -6
one other thing id like to add about DIY audio electronics, i know a lot of guys are simply Musicians at heart, and they don't want to be bothered with building things, they just want to get great tools and make music, i get that, i'm actually one of those guys. But i can confidently say, that i believe guys like Jeff Stieger, Jim williams, dandeurloo, svart and others, have a deeper understanding of how these tools work. This surely applies to myself to a much lesser degree, since i've started building my own gear, i'm simply getting better at using all my gear, it is an unintended and welcome bonus from learning how these things work from the inside out, the experience is definitely making me a better musician/audio engineer imo
here's a few good reasons to get it going...
learn and see things from a completely new perspective(save money) a tremendous feeling of accomplishment(save money) a deeper understanding of how to use studio tools(save money) save a ton of money(save money 8) own some of the best gear in the world period, and never pay top dollar for it(save money) be able to fix about any technical problem that comes up(save money) meet, interact, and become friends with some of the smartest and coolest people there are out there.
and i'm sure i'm missing some stuff.. this has been my experience so far, and i started DIYing a couple years back, started with a reamp box from Peterson Goodwin. I know i'm an extremist, i'm at least 100 pieces in by now... I love it, and there's no turning back lol I can't recommend DIY enough..
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Post by kidvybes on Jun 30, 2014 13:59:26 GMT -6
but i think most guys want the accurate look, and i say if that makes you perform better(which it may well do?), then more power to ya. ...yeah Tony, I think you're right about the "look"...personally I always liked the M49's sound better, but who wants to sing into a stubby, sawed-off looking mic with an outdated utilitarian yoke-mount?...
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MK-U47
Jun 30, 2014 14:05:59 GMT -6
Post by bakamo ichigei on Jun 30, 2014 14:05:59 GMT -6
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Post by svart on Jun 30, 2014 14:11:06 GMT -6
but i think most guys want the accurate look, and i say if that makes you perform better(which it may well do?), then more power to ya. ...yeah Tony, I think you're right about the "look"...personally I always liked the M49's sound better, but who wants to sing into a stubby, sawed-off looking mic with an outdated utilitarian yoke-mount?... Me. I'd love to build an M49. Alas, I can't for the time being.
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MK-U47
Jun 30, 2014 14:28:32 GMT -6
Post by kidvybes on Jun 30, 2014 14:28:32 GMT -6
...yeah Tony, I think you're right about the "look"...personally I always liked the M49's sound better, but who wants to sing into a stubby, sawed-off looking mic with an outdated utilitarian yoke-mount?... Me. I'd love to build an M49. Alas, I can't for the time being. ...I know of a beautiful pre-built prototype DIY M49 for sale, bro (not mine)...
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Post by svart on Jun 30, 2014 14:35:05 GMT -6
Me. I'd love to build an M49. Alas, I can't for the time being. ...I know of a beautiful pre-built prototype DIY M49 for sale, bro (not mine)... Thanks for the offer, but it's not a time or will thing, it's a money thing! Maybe in a few months I'll build one.
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MK-U47
Jun 30, 2014 14:51:50 GMT -6
Post by sceneofdarhyme on Jun 30, 2014 14:51:50 GMT -6
I'm going back and forth with it. Just don't know if I want to put this much into it. And I'm scared it's something I would be totally overwhelmed with. Lots of good guys here to bail you out, but I totally see you concerns. I started to practice soldering with some easy LED blink circuits for a few bucks from a local electronics store, then built 2 colour 500 modules from diy recording - which is a very good project to get into diy, its more like LEGO :-). Recently started to build the 67ish RA-23 mic from microphone-parts. And I am still scared as hell to put my fingers on a tube circuit / psu.
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Post by tonycamphd on Jun 30, 2014 15:03:03 GMT -6
Here's my ammo mk47 case, I posted this before somewhere?
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Post by bakamo ichigei on Jun 30, 2014 15:17:42 GMT -6
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MK-U47
Jun 30, 2014 16:42:23 GMT -6
Post by tonycamphd on Jun 30, 2014 16:42:23 GMT -6
Very nice, here's mine. I hacked up the tray for the box part. There's enough space in there to put the mic. Great idea, unless someone borrows ur tools haaaa a!
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MK-U47
Jun 30, 2014 17:42:59 GMT -6
Post by kidvybes on Jun 30, 2014 17:42:59 GMT -6
BTW, won't Matador's new PSU design work for the MK-U47?... Attachments:
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Post by tonycamphd on Jun 30, 2014 17:48:45 GMT -6
@kidvibes wow, cool!
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MK-U47
Jun 30, 2014 18:17:03 GMT -6
Post by bakamo ichigei on Jun 30, 2014 18:17:03 GMT -6
Very nice, here's mine. I hacked up the tray for the box part. There's enough space in there to put the mic. Great idea, unless someone borrows ur tools haaaa a! borrow my tools?! i'd rather they borrowed the mic...
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MK-U47
Jul 1, 2014 10:38:03 GMT -6
Post by tonycamphd on Jul 1, 2014 10:38:03 GMT -6
BTW, won't Matador's new PSU design work for the MK-U47?... Vibes, where did you find this?
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MK-U47
Jul 1, 2014 12:19:06 GMT -6
Post by kidvybes on Jul 1, 2014 12:19:06 GMT -6
BTW, won't Matador's new PSU design work for the MK-U47?... Vibes, where did you find this? groupdiy.com/index.php?topic=50015.760BTW, 10 pcs. left on the first run of the MK-U47 kit, as per Max...
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MK-U47
Jul 1, 2014 17:03:25 GMT -6
Post by Johnkenn on Jul 1, 2014 17:03:25 GMT -6
I just can't do it...too much work...Oh yeah...and I don't have the money.
With the success of these, I bet there will be another batch, though.
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MK-U47
Jul 1, 2014 17:18:42 GMT -6
Post by tonycamphd on Jul 1, 2014 17:18:42 GMT -6
I just can't do it...too much work...Oh yeah...and I don't have the money. With the success of these, I bet there will be another batch, though. In 2 weeks I believe he's gonna have a bunch more, I just dropped $1,500.00 on some TCampbell C12s and custom Samar ribbon mic work....ouch! I emailed max to ask if he'd hold one for me, he said no worries in 2 weeks, so I'm going for the second round as all the bills are due right now 8(
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MK-U47
Jul 1, 2014 18:41:48 GMT -6
via mobile
Post by kcatthedog on Jul 1, 2014 18:41:48 GMT -6
Remember only first 50 get tubes.
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MK-U47
Jul 1, 2014 21:01:31 GMT -6
Post by Martin John Butler on Jul 1, 2014 21:01:31 GMT -6
Ok, so, in this "47" build, there will likely be a Thiersch M7 capsule and an Archut BV8 transformer, correct?
That's already in my Blackspade U17 Blueline. So, what else would make my mic more 47ish, the body shape and head basket? Just curious, if my parts would become a U47 ish mic if I put them in a U47 donor body. I'm not saying I want to do this, I'd just like to know.
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MK-U47
Jul 1, 2014 22:19:34 GMT -6
Post by tonycamphd on Jul 1, 2014 22:19:34 GMT -6
Ok, so, in this "47" build, there will likely be a Thiersch M7 capsule and an Archut BV8 transformer, correct? That's already in my Blackspade U17 Blueline. So, what else would make my mic more 47ish, the body shape and head basket? Just curious, if my parts would become a U47 ish mic if I put them in a U47 donor body. I'm not saying I want to do this, I'd just like to know. Hi Maritn, ok, it doesn't come with a capsule at all, the bv8 tranny is an Ioaudio Bv8 which is arguably the best Bv8 out there, the circuit is a true 47 circuit with a killer design(imo the best design available in a clone) substitution for the unobtainium VF14 with a pair of parallel 408a tubes, it uses a paper in oil output cap, and the housing and headbasket have a huge effect on the character of the sound, I know a lot of guys don't believe this, but i've done a LOT of experimenting with many mics personally verifying otherwise. Think about how sensitive the capsule is to mouth noises, breathing from a few inches away, now recognize that the headbasket is less than an inch away, size, internal reflections, mesh orientation all make small diffs that add up in the end. Hope this helps
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MK-U47
Jul 2, 2014 6:31:15 GMT -6
Post by Martin John Butler on Jul 2, 2014 6:31:15 GMT -6
ahh, now I see, thanks Tony. Never heard of Ioaudio, but will look into that.
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Post by kidvybes on Jul 2, 2014 8:02:02 GMT -6
ahh, now I see, thanks Tony. Never heard of Ioaudio, but will look into that. ...Ioaudio is Max, who designed this DIY 47 clone...he also manufactures a line of historically correct transformers specifically for the GroupDIY mic builds: groupdiy.com/index.php?topic=35667.0...keep in mind, your UM17R incorporates some M49 vibe via the subminiature EF732 (5840) tube, and that not a bad thing!
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