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Author Topic: The AKG Active Project - 2  (Read 97152 times)

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Offline willndmb

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The AKG Active Project - 2
« on: March 09, 2007, 01:49:07 PM »
the orignal thread was 26 pages and dropped to page 3
http://taperssection.com/index.php/topic,59577.0.html
so i started a new one instead of topping it

just wondering if anyone has made and progress or has any updates
thanks
« Last Edit: October 30, 2007, 09:18:25 PM by willndmb »
Mics - AKG ck61/ck63 (c480b & Naiant actives), SP-BMC-2
XLR Cables - Silver Path w/Darktrain stubbies
Interconnect Cables - Dogstar (XLR), Darktrain (RCA > 1/8) (1/8 > 1/8), and Kind Kables (1/8f > 1/4)
Preamps - Naiant Littlebox & Tinybox
Recorders - PCM-M10 & DR-60D

Offline OFOTD

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Re: The AKG Active Project - 2
« Reply #1 on: March 09, 2007, 02:02:03 PM »
Let me be real open and honest about what happened to this project.

Several different camps decided to tackle this task.  NO ONE who is attempting to fabricate and design was willing to share any information, parts, resources at all.  Several people stepped up to help as well as contribute some JK Labs gear and cash as long as the project was open and free to everyone.  Good souls.  Then there are a couple of people who are working on this still (I think) who are solely in it for profit.   So that killed the good people who were willing to donate gear to check out and examine. 

So there you have it.  I am not holding my breath anymore to actually see an active product come out.  The bad thing is that its not based on it being "possible" because I know it is but about people wanted to make big bucks instead. 


Offline sygdwm

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Re: The AKG Active Project - 2
« Reply #2 on: March 09, 2007, 02:06:38 PM »
wow. i completely missed that trainwreck.
mics: (4)akg c460b(a60,mk46,ck1x,ck1,ck2,ck3,ck61,ck63)
pres: oade m148/edirol wmod ua5
recorders: marantz stock671/oade acm671/fostex busman vintage fr2le

(P.S.: On a threaded discussion board like this one, there's no need to repeat someone's post when you reply to them; everyone can see all the messages in the thread.)

Offline Church-Audio

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Re: The AKG Active Project - 2
« Reply #3 on: March 09, 2007, 02:13:51 PM »
Let me be real open and honest about what happened to this project.

Several different camps decided to tackle this task.  NO ONE who is attempting to fabricate and design was willing to share any information, parts, resources at all.  Several people stepped up to help as well as contribute some JK Labs gear and cash as long as the project was open and free to everyone.  Good souls.  Then there are a couple of people who are working on this still (I think) who are solely in it for profit.   So that killed the good people who were willing to donate gear to check out and examine. 

So there you have it.  I am not holding my breath anymore to actually see an active product come out.  The bad thing is that its not based on it being "possible" because I know it is but about people wanted to make big bucks instead. 



I was wondering if you can explain what it is you were trying to do with the AKG mics?
for warranty returns email me at
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Offline sygdwm

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Re: The AKG Active Project - 2
« Reply #4 on: March 09, 2007, 02:15:41 PM »
separate the caps from the bodies w/ active cables or devise a box that acts as the bodies w/ actives inbetween.
mics: (4)akg c460b(a60,mk46,ck1x,ck1,ck2,ck3,ck61,ck63)
pres: oade m148/edirol wmod ua5
recorders: marantz stock671/oade acm671/fostex busman vintage fr2le

(P.S.: On a threaded discussion board like this one, there's no need to repeat someone's post when you reply to them; everyone can see all the messages in the thread.)

Offline Church-Audio

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Re: The AKG Active Project - 2
« Reply #5 on: March 09, 2007, 02:19:43 PM »
separate the caps from the bodies w/ active cables or devise a box that acts as the bodies w/ actives inbetween.

Do you want to be able to re attach the mic capsule to the body? if so thats complicated. But if you dont have to have the mic capsule reattach its easy.. I would simply use the mic body preamp and mount that in a metal project box. Use some nice connectors on the capsules and some nice mogami cable. I could do that in an afternoon.

I would do it for free just to show how it can be done. If anyone is interested. I am not interested in doing it for money. It would just be a side project for me.
But someone would have to pay me for the parts and return shipping.
for warranty returns email me at
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Offline it-goes-to-eleven

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Re: The AKG Active Project - 2
« Reply #6 on: March 09, 2007, 02:22:23 PM »
NO ONE who is attempting to fabricate and design was willing to share any information, parts, resources at all.

Agreed... With one big exception (I am aware of) and that was Richard, aka poorlyconditioned.  He posted a couple of very useful schematics.

I wanted to do some prototyping with his schematics and play around but never got around to ordering the bits. The thing about protoyping is you really need to stock up on components.. Otherwise you're constantly going out for parts. And most of us don't have local stores that sell what we need so it comes down to ordering.

I think it might be very useful to put together a group order of those components (and some extras) as an 'active experiment kit'..  But Spring will soon be in the air so I imagine that will put a damper on things.


Chris, a buffer circuit is needed between the body and cap because caps can't drive the cable load. Power needs to be supplied to that buffer circuit.

Offline sygdwm

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Re: The AKG Active Project - 2
« Reply #7 on: March 09, 2007, 02:24:08 PM »
separate the caps from the bodies w/ active cables or devise a box that acts as the bodies w/ actives inbetween.

Do you want to be able to re attach the mic capsule to the body? if so thats complicated. But if you dont have to have the mic capsule reattach its easy.. I would simply use the mic body preamp and mount that in a metal project box. Use some nice connectors on the capsules and some nice mogami cable. I could do that in an afternoon.

I would do it for free just to show how it can be done. If anyone is interested. I am not interested in doing it for money. It would just be a side project for me.
But someone would have to pay me for the parts and return shipping.



then, what are you waiting for? kidding. seriously, read the other thread for clarification. it would suit me fine to have the caps>actives>bodies>xlr interconnects>pre/recorder.
mics: (4)akg c460b(a60,mk46,ck1x,ck1,ck2,ck3,ck61,ck63)
pres: oade m148/edirol wmod ua5
recorders: marantz stock671/oade acm671/fostex busman vintage fr2le

(P.S.: On a threaded discussion board like this one, there's no need to repeat someone's post when you reply to them; everyone can see all the messages in the thread.)

Offline Church-Audio

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Re: The AKG Active Project - 2
« Reply #8 on: March 09, 2007, 02:26:02 PM »
NO ONE who is attempting to fabricate and design was willing to share any information, parts, resources at all.

Agreed... With one big exception (I am aware of) and that was Richard, aka poorlyconditioned.  He posted a couple of very useful schematics.

I wanted to do some prototyping with his schematics and play around but never got around to ordering the bits. The thing about protoyping is you really need to stock up on components.. Otherwise you're constantly going out for parts. And most of us don't have local stores that sell what we need so it comes down to ordering.

I think it might be very useful to put together a group order of those components (and some extras) as an 'active experiment kit'..  But Spring will soon be in the air so I imagine that will put a damper on things.


Chris, a buffer circuit is needed between the body and cap because caps can't drive the cable load. Power needs to be supplied to that buffer circuit.


Thats easy use a simple Fet and use a phantom voltage to feed it. Its just a matter of finding a good fet I like the Fairchild J202 with a 1 gigaohm resistor and 10 volts going to it.
« Last Edit: March 09, 2007, 02:34:40 PM by Church-Audio »
for warranty returns email me at
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Offline it-goes-to-eleven

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Re: The AKG Active Project - 2
« Reply #9 on: March 09, 2007, 02:36:21 PM »
The rub is.. a lot of folks don't want bodies due to the extra cost, space and the need for 48v.

Also.. and this is a biggie.. packaging all that crap into a collette and dealing with the capsule connections and threads is a fair bit of R&D. If you are willing to just solder to the caps, it gets a whole lot easier.  The actual cost to have the collettes banged out on an auto-chucking cnc lathe is fairly minimal.

There are two basic approaches.. Use a body or build something like an RMod/Nbox. The latter supply the capsule with 60v.

Ultimately, I think the devil is in all of the details and the time to make it work Really Well. Then there are the support issues and being there for your customers.. Nick supports his Nbox customers very well.  The JK labs guy apparently got sick of dealing with it and gave up..

Offline poorlyconditioned

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Re: The AKG Active Project - 2
« Reply #10 on: March 09, 2007, 02:39:47 PM »
NO ONE who is attempting to fabricate and design was willing to share any information, parts, resources at all.

Agreed... With one big exception (I am aware of) and that was Richard, aka poorlyconditioned.  He posted a couple of very useful schematics.

I wanted to do some prototyping with his schematics and play around but never got around to ordering the bits. The thing about protoyping is you really need to stock up on components.. Otherwise you're constantly going out for parts. And most of us don't have local stores that sell what we need so it comes down to ordering.

I think it might be very useful to put together a group order of those components (and some extras) as an 'active experiment kit'..  But Spring will soon be in the air so I imagine that will put a damper on things.


Chris, a buffer circuit is needed between the body and cap because caps can't drive the cable load. Power needs to be supplied to that buffer circuit.


Thats easy use a simple Fet and use a phantom voltage to feed it. Its just a matter of finding a good fet I like the Fairchild J201 with a 1 gigaohm resistor and 10 volts going to it.

That is as far as I got.  I ordered some J201 fets and 1G resistors.  I ordered two CK63 caps.  I built a prototype, with aligator clips and a bunch of 9V batteries in series to generate the (60V) polarization voltage.  I even had collettes machined here, but they did not work well becuase I had no nice way to connect to the middle pin (besides, they were aluminum, they should be brass instead).  This is all in the previous thread, including photos and schematics.

I bailed out for two reasons.  The first was stress/burnout.  I wanted to get on with recording, and have been using CK91/93 with a simple battery box instead.  (Hey, at least I didn't make promises or take money or gear before I went AWOL like some others here!)  The second reason was I could not find a nice *mechanical* system to connect reliably to the capsules.  Oh yeah, finally, I did not want to get in the business of building for others.  I just wanted to provide information.

I'm hoping someone else takes what information I gave and runs with it.  I, and many others would pay a reasonble price for this provided whoever makes it provides open information (schematics, etc) so DIY types can build as well.  I think this forum/community can have both DIY and pre built units existing together.

Oh yeah, I spoke to ScheopsNbox (Nick) by Email and he provided *some* information.  Apparantly he buys collettes (with FET) directly from Scheops and builds a box himself.  But he did not provide much information about what was inside, aside from the fact that a bunch of alkaline batteries are used to provide the 60V polarization voltage.  So, much like my ideas.   Oh yeah, his box, with collettes, is more than $1000.  I was hoping for a cheaper solution for the AKG.

  Richard

PS: I should mention, that as Chris said, this is not mysterious at all.  I got my ideas form studying the AKG service manuals (C451, C480).  It is just a matter of putting it together and providing customer service, two things I'm not very good at...
« Last Edit: March 09, 2007, 02:44:44 PM by poorlyconditioned »
Mics: Sennheiser MKE2002 (dummy head), Studio Projects C4, AT825 (unmodded), AT822 franken mic (x2), AT853(hc,c,sc,o), Senn. MKE2, Senn MKE40, Shure MX183/5, CA Cards, homebrew Panasonic and Transsound capsules.
Pre/ADC: Presonus Firepod & Firebox, DMIC20(x2), UA5(poorly-modded, AD8620+AD8512opamps), VX440
Recorders: Edirol R4, R09, IBM X24 laptop, NJB3(x2), HiMD(x2), MD(1).
** This individual has moved to user "illconditioned" **

Offline Church-Audio

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Re: The AKG Active Project - 2
« Reply #11 on: March 09, 2007, 02:46:24 PM »
There is two things I can say about Richard

#1 he is not in it for the money.
#2 he has always been about sharing his ideas and helping others around here.

Its not fair the lump him in with anyone just looking to make a buck.
for warranty returns email me at
EMAIL Sales@church-audio.com

Offline willndmb

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Re: The AKG Active Project - 2
« Reply #12 on: March 09, 2007, 10:58:11 PM »
ofotd thanks for the honest reply
its to bad that it couldn't have worked out better

poor has always been a sharing person, thanks for that as well

church has also been a great person and someone to be helpful with knowledge and gear

heres to hoping it gets of the ground again and can be a win win situation for everyone involved  :suds:
Mics - AKG ck61/ck63 (c480b & Naiant actives), SP-BMC-2
XLR Cables - Silver Path w/Darktrain stubbies
Interconnect Cables - Dogstar (XLR), Darktrain (RCA > 1/8) (1/8 > 1/8), and Kind Kables (1/8f > 1/4)
Preamps - Naiant Littlebox & Tinybox
Recorders - PCM-M10 & DR-60D

Offline Shawn

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Re: The AKG Active Project - 2
« Reply #13 on: March 09, 2007, 11:51:01 PM »
ofotd thanks for the honest reply
its to bad that it couldn't have worked out better

poor has always been a sharing person, thanks for that as well

church has also been a great person and someone to be helpful with knowledge and gear

heres to hoping it gets of the ground again and can be a win win situation for everyone involved  :suds:
QFT in every way.

Offline F.O.Bean

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Re: The AKG Active Project - 2
« Reply #14 on: March 10, 2007, 12:07:01 AM »
i, for one, appreciate ANY effort towards this. if i wouldve finished electronics school, id prolly be all over this buil-wise. i LOVEd building radio's snd stuff. point-to-point wiring is fun :)

i do hope this gets off the ground someday sooner than later. us 480 users always bring the heat and deserve actives finally ;D
Schoeps MK 4V & MK 41V ->
Schoeps 250|0 KCY's (x2) ->
Naiant +60v|Low Noise PFA's (x2) ->
DarkTrain Right Angle Stubby XLR's (x3) ->
Sound Devices MixPre-6 & MixPre-3

http://www.archive.org/bookmarks/diskobean
http://www.archive.org/bookmarks/Bean420
http://bt.etree.org/mytorrents.php
http://www.mediafire.com/folder/j9eu80jpuaubz/Recordings

 

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