Topic: Modding S502's?

[bluewingolive]

FWIW, I have run S502s.....no modding necessary.  Good bang for the buck.

[Nick's Picks]

What this guy tells me..., is that the board is very similar to the schoeps design for their ORTF mic.  Only difference being extremely crappy and cheap parts on it.  He
claims to gut most of it and replace them w/the same circuitry that the German design employs.
Will it be worth it?
I bought this thing over a year ago...paid under $200 for it.  NEVER intended to get rid of it because...
- its sounds decent
- great big ORTF soundstage is fun sometimes, in the right spot.
- it's just a cool stereo mic,and I like stereo mics. 
Overall, I think its F'n awesome for the price.    Schoeps ?   No, not in the ballpark in most areas...like, quality of detail and realism...but I'll say it's prob. 70%
on the way there.
If I plunk down 3 bills, get it back and it sounds even marginally better....., I think that's a win.  I'm still what, $2300 ahead over the Schoeps mic or there about.
and have a decent little setup that sounds good and makes grate recordings.

IF...I were to sell it some day, maybe I'd ask 300 for it.   That would be attractive, me thinks.   seeing how you can go brand new for 2....and get what would cost
3 more in mods for an extra hundred.   I'm sure it would sell pretty fast.
But, I'm planning to keep it.   It's bad-ass as a drum overhead or in front of the toms in the Brewins Den (our studio).

[carlbeck]

Do it so I can hear it & not have to spend the money, win win!

[Nick's Picks]

I hear ya. 
If I could solder accurately on that small of a project (that board is small), I'd go for it myself...cause I'm brave and not knowledgeable enough to do it. 

[Nick's Picks]

Do it so I can hear it & not have to spend the money, win win!
[/quote

I will...once you pick up those 184's and let me use them unconditionally.

[chris319]

Plush was consulted by Shure in the development of the KSM-141, and he doesn't let anyone on gearslutz forget it.

[DSatz]

The Shure KSM141 uses mechanical pattern switching, which is a huge advantage for stereo location recording with a small number of microphones. The omni setting gives you a true pressure transducer, with full low-frequency response, no proximity effect, and greatly reduced sensitivity to wind noise and mechanical vibration, while the cardioid also uses a single membrane, thus allowing it to remain a true cardioid even at low frequencies.

These qualities often don't matter as much in studios, where the majority of microphones are used as spot or solo microphones, and their signals arrive at their position within the mix by means of a "pan pot" even if a main (overall) pair is also being used. But they're crucial for the main pair (or trio, or foursome).

Mechanical pattern switching was formerly the subject of a number of Schoeps patents. Some were assigned from NWDR while others were originated by Schoeps (the actual lab work being done by Dr. Kuesters, who co-founded the company with Dr. Schoeps). But those patents have since expired, and the rest of the world is welcome to this technology.

Shure has some very capable design engineers. In recent years they've been trying out several new (for them) areas of microphone technology, mostly with pretty good success in my opinion. That's the way to keep good design engineers--give them something interesting to do, which isn't just the 47th knockoff of the same decades-old German design. They still have to aim for the sound that the American studio market seems to want, which still equates condensers with artificially clear/bright/present sound to some extent, but within the bounds of those commercial limitations, I think they do an excellent job. Their microphones are also far more consistent and reliable than the typical cheap far Eastern knockoffs.

--best regards

[smokenburn]

https://soundcloud.com/user203526/yonder-mountain-string-band-2015-04-18-drown-s502-sample

Here is a sample of the s502.  Yonder Mountain String Band at Wanee ("Mushroom Stage") 2015.  These recordings came out well.  s502 > Tascam DR-100 mk2. VERY good for a $200 mic and $300 recorder rig.  The master sounds better than the soundcloud mp3 stream.