First impressions of the MK-U47!

Here's one with a little more light..

just a suggestion/question? clearly Shan is the man, but maybe you should put the gold tipped rca's in the 47 before you go after capsule tuning? They change the character of the mic pretty noticeably IMO, if you're tuning it now, isn't it based off the sound of the (not as sweet) phillips tubes?

Scott, the short answer is the RCA's are the quietest, smoothest tubes i've tried, and not by a small margin on both accounts. If you listen to the space between voice and acoustic Gt on the JKMKU47-2 samle on the winecamp shootout, it's noise floor is wayyyy down, i was very impressed with both aspects, i've been through about 6 pairs of phillips, and 10 pairs of NE's(canadian WE's), they sound good, but really pale in comparison to the RCA's that kidvibes gave me.

maybe cat5 can chime in, he's tested a ton of tubes(although not the gold tipped rca's)

Just put in the RCA's...I've got them burning in now. Seems to definitely be an audible difference even just turning it on now and singing through it. I'll try and sing that same passage after these burn in a couple of hours. As for the capsule - we would be completely taking the Blueline out and starting new, so I could always go back. Or if these RCA's are the ticket, I might just be well-enough alone...The CV4 lacks that "reedy" quality midrange, but it's dialed in to my voice - taking out some of that piercing thing my voice can do.

I have to admit, just listening for the short time that I did, the RCA's seem to have more of that "reedy" quality to them that I associate with great sounding mics...It's like a vibration or a buzz you feel...and it just makes me think of double-reed instruments like a bassoon. Come to think of it, the human voice is like a double reed instrument - the vocal chords looking like a vag...ahem...double reed...

BTW - meant to say - this isn't counting build cost for someone else to put it together. This is just all parts and shipping. formatcyes

Precisely the reason my Poctop M269c still sits here ready to be boxed up and shipped to Nashville...and you can drive to his studio...geez!

I hope people realize this is a great price for us but is in no way a budget mic. It's funny people would be shocked that this mic is as good as any high end boutique mic, if you put the 300% to 500% markup, you're looking at a 6k to 10k microphone. These r in no way "cheap" mics the same way jsteigers stuff ain't "cheap".

Here's the same line with the Northern Electrics and the RCA's. I thought the NE's might have a tiny bit more bottom, but definitely more strident in my problem region of 1-3khz. The RCA's seem to tame that...I love!

https%3A//soundcloud.com/johnandkris/northern-electrics

https%3A//soundcloud.com/johnandkris/rcas

the rca's are more solid all the way through, the image is better imo, and the transients have the same butter as the tubes i pulled, NICE!

The rca's make your voice round like a candy in the mouth.
Liquid gold.
'nuff metaphors - leave them in, for god's sake.

John Kennedy, get shannon to make you that swappable headbasket and the K47, and then NEVER worry about a mic again, remember, if you decide to sell it, i get it at cost, so it's in your best interest to hang on to it, because I WILL INDEED TAKE MY FIRST DIBBS 8)

Also, after those tubes break in for a couple days, don't forget to reset your B+ voltage to 105v again, hit me up if you forget how to do it 8)

CONGRATULATIONS BUD!