Topic: AKG c460 thoughts...

[Nick's Picks]

as compared to the 480?
what about the JW mods to the preamp body?

I have some JWM460s, and I'm forming my own thoughts on them.  I'm very familiar w/the 480 sound, and LOVE it to death.  Not so familiar w/the 460 sounds, let alone the JWM version.
what the hell would the market value of the jwmod bodies be..by chance ?  I never see them for sale anywhere.
Don't worry John...I'm not selling your recently departed mics....yet.
 

[jeromejello]

i absolutly love my 460s.

they have the transformer warmth i dig with the akg sizzle.  coupled with a bm2p+ (or a t+mod or v3) and you get detail as well.

/fluff


[that said, i will probably move to neumann 140s at some point when i have more money]

edit for spelling

[thegreatgumbino]

I love the JW Mod 460 sound!  A great transparent & fast mic that can't be beat for the price.  I really like them straight into the T+ Mod UA-5 and also M148 > V3.  The highs can be a *bit* grating at times, especially when run straight into the V3.  Interestingly enough, I didn't find them grating with the T+ Mod UA-5 by any means. 

I think Moke & Goose's comp comparing the JW Mod's & the 4022's said it all.  The JW Mods are very similar to the DPA's at a fraction of the cost, & they allow the use of multiple caps.  I only sold mine to move to an active setup, but I would never hesitate to move back to them in the future.  JW Mod bodies alone ~$650 to $750 based upon condition.

[Shawn]

IMO the 460's are great mics, and for the price they are hard to beat in the SD condensor market. I prefer the stock sound to the jw mod sound although I acknowledge the fact that that is a personal preference. I know that it is blasphemy to many tapers, but in a boomy room I love to run the roll off switch on the bodies.

I'd imagine the JWM460s sound fantastic on a nice tube playback setup.

[d5]

love 'em coupled with my acm660 ...very transparent combo

another differance with the jw mod is deeper bass response. if you're planning on doing any outdoor taping with cards or hypercards, you'll need a good set of windscreens or dead rats.

[bluegrass_brad]

I too prefer my stock 460 to the JW mod 460. After running both, to my ears the JW's are just too bright.  I like transformers

[terrapinj]

pretty much ditto what gumbino said, in a great sounding situation the jw460s can sound really nice with the grace pres or other transparent sounding preamp but def have a tendency (to my ears) to be a little bright and thin sounding particularly in a not so great sounding room.

I have found (again to my ears) that they sound much more consistent with a fuller well balanced sound with still keeping most of the detail and transparency when paired with a warmer (transformer) pre.

[Nick's Picks]

so far, I like what I hear out of them w/my Apogee MMP.  Not too thin at all....nice AKG sizzle but a little wetter sounding than the 480 signature.

[Chris K]

i have run my transformer based 460's through a transformer based mp-2 pre and thought it was ok, but a little loose on the bass. then ran digimod ua-5 and thought it was alright but not stellar and never was able to dial in levels correctly.
 
moved to V2 and thought it was great conbo especially with the mod-sbm1, but sold both to move to the V3 and i am happy.

i agree a transparent pre is the way to go...at least for me. i have been wanting to try my buddy's mini-me also.

never run the jim williams modded bodies, though, so cant help there.

[rokpunk]

i've got a boatload of 460's. best small diaphram condenser around.
i sent a pair to Jim Williams to be modded...got em back, used em once, and sold them off.
the mod did nothing for me.....stock sounds much better to my ears.
if it ain't broke, don't fix it.

ps. mine mostly get used on stage as highhat/overhead/toys mics, not as much as recording mics...but i have used them for ambient mics from back at FOH and they work perfectly.

[jkbyram]

I too prefer my stock 460 to the JW mod 460. After running both, to my ears the JW's are just too bright.  I like transformers

what he said...

[Dutchman1101]

Well I have only used my JWmod 460's a couple times now and I had some stock 460's as well and here are my thoughts so far. The JW's are much cleaner and much more detailed. The stock 460's to me are way to dark and loose in the low end. The JW's have a really tight bass response and are really fast.

I'll post more thoughts when I use them more. The first real test is Panic at Red Rocks

Quick question for you JWmod owners. Do your mics take a while to get levels? Mine kind of take a few seconds to get normal levels. They fluctuate for a little while and then go to normal.

Harrison

[Nick's Picks]

I was thinking they sounded typical AKG crispy (detailed), but w/a wetter presentation (more neumanesque almost) than what I consider to be the somewhat drier sound of the 480.
but what the hell, i've barely used them.

[grider]

480:  very clean and transparent, deep bass and very detailed highs some find fatiguing to the ears
460:  very round and fat sound yet still transparent, less detailed sound overall with less bass response, more midrange sound, and less detailed highs

since one is a condenser mic and the other is a transducer mic these differences are to be expected

[Dutchman1101]

I was thinking they sounded typical AKG crispy (detailed), but w/a wetter presentation (more neumanesque almost) than what I consider to be the somewhat drier sound of the 480.
but what the hell, i've barely used them.

I've barely used theM too so it's going to take a while for a proper opinion.

Nick-Did you have the level thing I descibed above?