Topic: Favorite Hypercardioid condenser *capsule* (and why)?

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So what is the hypercardioid capsule (as defined by anything tighter than a standard cardioid but less restrictive than a shotgun). Looking for sound characteristics in your reasons for why you like them (tonal balance, texture, harmonic distortion in certain frequency areas, etc).

[ts]

AKG CK63. Price and the Active setups now available.

[Hypnocracy]

ADK A-51 TL...Not a Capsule so not in the running but...I've not been turned off by the sound of it like other Hyper Capsule's I've ran against my AKG and Milab Card's

[Gutbucket]

ADK A-51 TL...Not a Capsule so not in the running but...I've not been turned off by the sound of it like other Hyper Capsule's I've ran against my AKG and Milab Card's

x2

That's the pattern I use most with the TLs these days.  I don't own any of those listed, but of what I've heard I like the sound of and voted for Gefell M21s.

[yltfan]

I'm happy with my AT 4053 hypers.

[Chuck]

AKG CK63. Price and the Active setups now available.

Me too.

[F.O.Bean]

mk41. best SOUNDING hyper out there IMO!

[LikeASong]

I don't own any of those, but some of my favorite recordings ever have been made with mk41s, so... They get my vote

[JD]

That's easy...gefell m210's... the only hyper I consistently like the sound of.

[OOK]

That's easy...gefell m210's... the only hyper I consistently like the sound of.

While I like my MBHO, because they sound crisp and tight, but reveal enough openess to still sound believable.

The gefells do sound rather nice.....and if I didn't have the MBHO I would grab the gefells in a heartbeat. 

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I want to know who voted for the milabs. what samples have they heard that I haven't? (I haven't heard any....)

edit: typo

[jlykos]

Gefell M21. Because they sound the best.

[noahbickart]

I voted for the mk41v, but love the mk41 as well. The selling point is the smoothness of the off axis frequency response. It sounds just as good, just less of it.

I can't say the same for any other hyper.

[SmokinJoe]

I voted for gefell M21.  Which is what I have now.  I'm not voting that way to rationalize my current ownership, I currently own the ones I like after trying a bunch of other choices.

I had AKG483's for a couple of years.  When the room sucks they will cut through the mud like nothing else. But that sizzle is fatiguing to listen to, and that's something I couldn't get over.

I've never owned MK41's or 41V's, and they might get my vote in some situations, and if cost was no issue.  I have a pair of vintage MK241's right now, which are the predecessor to the mk41's.  I like them, I'm just not sure I like them better than the Gefells.  My MK241's aren't as well matched as my Gefells, and that probably has a lot do with it.

I had Earthworks Z30XL hypers for a while and ran them a lot.  Sometimes they were absolutely fantastic. http://archive.org/details/gptn2008-06-27.earthworks.flac16f
Other times they were thin.  It was kind of hit-or-miss and I moved on eventually.

I picked up the Gefell hypers in a trade a couple of years ago (for my 414's that I wasn't using much) and I've fallen in love with them.  Smooooth.  They are "half way between the brightness of the AKG's and the fatness of the Schoeps" which to my ear is just about right.  They seem to emphasize the high end detail a little but it's not fatiguing.  The fact that I got a set of caps AND bodies for the price of Schoeps caps alone is icing on the cake.

I like TL's with hyper mode too, but they aren't my favorite choice. LD's have a ton of off axis coloration, by which I mean they don't reject the boomy low frequencies coming in from the side as well as most SD's, so they won't cut through the mud in a boomy room as well as SD's (listen to this)  http://archive.org/details/matisyahu2010-12-09.adktl.flac16f
But they are certainly more flexible in general.  TL's are perhaps my favorite mics, just not my favorite hypers.

[bluewingolive]

I'm happy with my AT 4053 hypers.

X2