which is the best mic to have modded to compete with $$mics

versuviusx · Post by **versuviusx** » Wed Aug 08, 2012 9:16 pm

just wondering what people think here on this message board.
would love to know what people think are the best bang for the buck mics that can be modded and compete with high end microphones.
i found a website called http://www.oktavamod.com/
which mods oktava mics and tries to make them sounds as good as nuemann mics.
well there are probably other guys out there who do the same thing and i was wondering what people have found to result in outstanding mods.
i think peluso used to sell mic capsules and i bet they would make great upgrades to lots of chinese mics. looking for something that is beautiful on male vocals
any ideas?

Nick Sevilla · Post by **Nick Sevilla** » Wed Aug 08, 2012 10:45 pm

The short answer : None will compete with a good example of a great microphone.

A better question in this day and age of excellent mid price microphones, is what is your budget, and which New Microphones are close to this budget?

There are SO MANY new microphone manufacturers out there making great mics, that spending money on a "mod" is pretty much not necessary.

Cheers

The Scum · Post by **The Scum** » Wed Aug 08, 2012 11:36 pm

Start with a Neumann U47.

Then send it to Church or Steven Paul (RIP).

kslight · Post by **kslight** » Thu Aug 09, 2012 5:03 am

would love to know what people think are the best bang for the buck mics that can be modded and compete with high end microphones.

By the time you spend $500 or so on a modded cheap mic, you might as well have spent the same or less on a mic that is good "out of the box." In my own (non-scientific) tests, I have for example favorably compared the Shure KSM44 to a Neumann U87...

vxboogie · Post by **vxboogie** » Thu Aug 09, 2012 7:10 am

My experience has been that some of the mods like Oktavamod are beneficial. I have a set of MXL 603s that Mike Joly modded that are fantastic! I don't have a KM184 to directly compare to, but for a total of about $300each, I have a pair of SDCs that are better then anything else I have. I love them on OH, acoustics and almost anything. Better than my SM81s, KSM27s and KSM44. After I had them modded, I did an acoustic guitar test that I sent to a few friends and without knowing all picked the modded 603 as the best. YMMV

T-rex · Post by **T-rex** » Thu Aug 09, 2012 7:19 am

I have done the modded thing and its nice, but honestly not that nice. You would do better IMO just taking the total amount of money you have to buy a mic with and mod it with, and take all that cash and buy the best mic you can afford. Plus, a modded mic will have much less resale value so when you go to sell it, which you will eventually; you will lose money. Buy a used mic from a long time board member here or Gearslutz with a good rating and get a ton of mic for the money which you can use for years and sell for what you paid for it when you out grow it.

With that said, Jim Williams is a renown tech guy and he is constantly going on about the SPC1 or MPC1 (can't remember now) which is like a $35 mic that you can put a new capsule in along with a few other things and have a great mic for very little money. If you are determined to mod something, I would do that one first, yourself to get a feel for it and be out very little bread. Then you can go on from there. Do a search Jim posts about that mic a lot.

Jim Williams · Post by **Jim Williams** » Thu Aug 09, 2012 8:09 am

That is the MCA SP-1 available from BH for $45 or PSSL for $49, two for $89.

Standard Schoeps style circuits, easy to rework. Contact
www.microphone-parts.com
to obtain a decent capsule. Matt is also offering a mod kit with them to transform the SP-1 or MXL 990 into a world class mic. These are my mods that include raising the polarization voltage to +60 volts, removing the coupling cap off the capsule, Dale resistors and WIMA caps are used. Bandwidth is raised to over 50k hz, low end is flat below 20 hz.

Then the results are dependent on the quality of the capsule used. It's a very good value if you can solder.

chris harris · Post by **chris harris** » Thu Aug 09, 2012 8:41 am

The Mojave MA-200 is a great mic for male vocals (and lots of other things). I got one used for around $600. No mods required.

Sean Sullivan · Post by **Sean Sullivan** » Thu Aug 09, 2012 10:31 am

Those little MCA's are easy to work on but be careful, it's pretty easy to lift a lead.

For $40 and maybe another $40 in parts (unless you swap the capsule), I think you'll be very happy with it for a utility microphone.

dgrieser · Post by **dgrieser** » Fri Aug 10, 2012 5:41 pm

Hard to beat the PE OktavaMod 012, IMHO, if you get a used 012 for around $100 and have it modded. I also like my PE OktavaMod 219 that I bought used already modded--very ribbon-like without the low output/impedance issues. It sounds great on mandolin.

Check out the AKG C1000 mod by Mark Fouxman (Samar Audio). There's a review of it in TapeOp (review available on-line at tapeop.com) by Mike Jasper who did a huge SDC shootout for acoustic guitar. Very nice microphone that sounds way better than its price tag, IMHO, and his too.

An alternative view for you.

LimpyLoo · Post by **LimpyLoo** » Sat Sep 01, 2012 11:35 pm

MXL 990!!!

Rip out the mesh basket thing,

Swap out the capsule with a Peluso or a microphone-parts RK-47 ( or maybe it's the -67),

Replace a couple of the junk capacitors,

and then do a dance.

losthighway · Post by **losthighway** » Sun Sep 02, 2012 1:36 am

There are plenty of affordable mics that sound good without modding them and are used for making great sounds on albums you probably listen to:

AT 4033
Oktava mc012 (unmoded)
Shure sm7
EV re20
Beyerdynamic m201, m500

I know this doesn't answer the original question, but I thought I'd throw it in.

blungo2 · Post by **blungo2** » Sun Sep 02, 2012 9:13 am

Don't know if this is relevant, but if i was looking for a great microphone on the cheap i might try to find a cool old broken ribbon mic or maybe a cheap chinese one and have it re-ribboned.
I've seen some cool old RCAs go for pretty cheap.

Brett Siler · Post by **Brett Siler** » Mon Sep 03, 2012 2:38 pm

Modded Oktava MK319 sounds amazing. A Lot of clarity but not bright or harsh. I also have Oktavamod MXL 603 that sound excellent on acoustic guitar. I really like them on close micing cymbals, like hi hat and ride.

Jeff White · Post by **Jeff White** » Mon Sep 03, 2012 6:08 pm

I have a borrowed KM184, a pair of OctavaMod PE MK-012s, and a vintage 1976 Neumann KM84. The MK-012s absolutely clown the KM184 as far as sounding natural is concerned, and are really really nice but not quite as nice as my KM84.

I just fixed my $60 Nady RSM-4 last weekend in 15 minutes last weekend by opening it up and re-stretching the ribbon. I've used it on an entire record's worth of guitars for the new Creepoid release (through a CAPI VP26 ---> dbx 160X) and it sounds stellar. So much so that I just bought another one off of ebay for $60 and I plan on modding both of them myself with better transformers.

SM7. A must have. you must own one. Everyone needs this microphone. I am always super impressed with almost everything I put it on.

Jeff

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which is the best mic to have modded to compete with $$mics

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