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Gear / Technical Help => Microphones & Setup => Topic started by: mrfender on November 28, 2022, 04:34:36 PM
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Anybody else invested in a 3d printer and making their own parts?
I picked up an Ender 3 S1 a few months ago and have been able to print some pre-made stuff off of Thingiverse (an ORTF clip that will only work with my full body Naks, a couple of microphone bars and some adapters). I've been trying to figure out a CAD program and can get basic shapes designed but when it comes to the "3d" part, i suck.
As a DIY hobby kind of like taping, just seeing what anyone else is doing with their printer.
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AutoDesk TinkerCad works well. Web based and free for personal use.
https://www.tinkercad.com
If you want durable mic clips and such, experiment printing with PETG. That's what I use for audio-related stuff. Tough and flexible. I have an all-metal hot end and a direct drive on my Ender 3 Pro v2 and it prints beautifully.
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Fusion 360 is free for a while, you could dip your fingers into another one of the Autodesk products, to see if you like their way of modeling.
Output bodies as .STL files is available there.
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I would love it if I could get someone to make me a few of the clips for the Neumann sg20 stand mount (not the part that screws on to the mic stand, just the part that the mic clips into). I have broken a number of those over the years and new clips are like $79 - yikes!
I would pay a reasonable price for them…
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I would love it if I could get someone to make me a few of the clips for the Neumann sg20 stand mount (not the part that screws on to the mic stand, just the part that the mic clips into). I have broken a number of those over the years and new clips are like $79 - yikes!
I would pay a reasonable price for them…
That's insane. I will never understand how the top mic brands can justify such high prices for mic mounts that are prone to breakage (looking at you, Schoeps A20!).
Rycote INV-6 is now down to about $60 most places and is extremely durable - just saying.
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The earth's landfills are filled with badly-designed, broken plastic devices. Some designers have no shame..or accountability. :smash:
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Output bodies as .STL files is available there.
With TinkerCAD you can output as .stl or .obj as well.
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Ping me whenever one of you guys figures out how to print small windscreen blimps. Basically a Rycote blimp, but about the size of a fat wurst rather than a wiener-dog. Somewhere around 2" in diameter X 3.5" long. I can sew up the furry covers. Been trying to get my nephew to do this for the past few years, but he's now off to college printing rocket parts and has little interest.
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Ping me whenever one of you guys figures out how to print small windscreen blimps. Basically a Rycote blimp, but about the size of a fat wurst rather than a wiener-dog. Somewhere around 2" in diameter X 3.5" long. I can sew up the furry covers. Been trying to get my nephew to do this for the past few years, but he's now off to college printing rocket parts and has little interest.
You might browse either Thingiverse or STLFinder to see if someone has already come up with what you're looking for.
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Ping me whenever one of you guys figures out how to print small windscreen blimps.
I've been playing with this for quite a while. I have the Audix M1290HC (two actually) that is only 8.5" long. And it's 12mm diameter, so I haven't found a purchasable version of the Lyre mounts anyway. I print my own out of flexible TPU98 material. Not the same dynamic stiffness as the Rycotes, but they're for a much lighter mic so they work great.
The blimps are harder to print. I started with my own design, seen in black. It's 2.5" diameter by 11.5" long. I never got the screw on attachment to work that small, so the connection of the blimp sections is not perfect. I'm sure something better could be designed.
I recently found Acromade's render of the RODE blimp and modified it with great success. https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:4632343 (https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:4632343)
The red one is 130mm diameter, the larger gray is 94mm, and the smaller gray 80mm. The lengths are easy to adjust, but the small you scale the model the thinner and harder to print the hex's lines become. I can't go much smaller than that without drastically editing the model, and that's beyond my ability. I only found the file as an .STL file, which does not easily import into Fusion 360 for advanced manipulation.
I couldn't embed the picture, so link below.
(https://imgur.com/a/d6fyPAm)
https://imgur.com/a/d6fyPAm
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Nice work. Very cool that you are able to print flexible suspension components, and the blimps look good.
Last weekend I switched out the five Shure A81W (BAS) windscreens in my recording rig for considerably smaller Movo WST50 windscreens, but have yet to test them in significant wind. A custom printed blimp still effective against wind may not be able to be made much smaller, but the ability to customize a mounting hinge, along with a printed internal suspension would be quite attractive. The ideal approximate blimp size for my application would be about 65mm in diameter X 100 mm long.
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I've been playing with this for quite a while. I have the Audix M1290HC (two actually) that is only 8.5" long. And it's 12mm diameter, so I haven't found a purchasable version of the Lyre mounts anyway. I print my own out of flexible TPU98 material. Not the same dynamic stiffness as the Rycotes, but they're for a much lighter mic so they work great.
Have you ever tried printing this with PETG? IME It has just enough flex to be used successfully for this type of thing, but is still rigid and very tough. Really easy to print with once you get your slicer settings right. The biggest difference being that the part cooling fan is not used at all during printing. But if you are successfully printing TPU, you should have no problems with PETG. I have used a few different brands, and so far I like Overture the best for PETG. It really prints beautifully.
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> I will never understand how the top mic brands can justify such high prices for mic mounts that are prone to breakage (looking at you, Schoeps A20!).
Voltronic, it's an interesting point that you raise. My sense is that the high price of Schoeps' accessories (and also Neumann's) comes from their history as suppliers to the big national broadcasting organizations in Europe. Those organizations had centralized purchasing and/or official lists of the items the studios and stations were supposed to buy, and they preferred to buy their accessories right along with the microphones. If your main focus is on microphone development and manufacturing, you probably can't be as cost-efficient about producing accessories--but you can't afford to sell them at a loss, either.
That limited the potential market for any potential third-party vendors until the "prosumer" and home studio markets developed in the 1970s-80s. Until then, nearly all professional recording equipment was sold to studios. Condenser microphones were fragile and extremely expensive, and hobbyists didn't generally own them. Even in studios, condenser microphones were usually reserved for the most important clients and the senior engineer(s), while for day-to-day recording, dynamic mikes were the rule.
So I think that the historical explanation for the high prices, and the long duration of certain product designs, is based in those purchasing patterns. Even today, you and I--who might buy one pair of capsules after agonizing for months and talking it over with our therapists--are up against the market influence of customers who get authorization to buy 100 or more microphones in a single swoop, and who want the accessories to be part of the same order.
Still, when I think back--König & Meyer has made mike stands since almost forever, and their stands used to be sold by AKG, Beyer, Neumann and other companies as if they were original products of those companies ("OEM" arrangements). The stands were well-designed, made of good materials, lasted for years in heavy use, and reasonably priced. Maybe if a similar, independent manufacturer of shock mounts, stand adapters, etc., had existed, they could have done a similar type of OEM business, and prices would then have been lower. But I'm not aware of any company that ever did so (other than, to a small extent, Schoeps themselves--who sometimes made accessories for both Neumann and Sennheiser back when those were separate, competing companies).
--The present-day A 20 was actually introduced as a more robust type of shock mount than what Schoeps had made in the past (see attached photos from the 1965 catalog; I used to have some of these; the sleeves surrounding the microphone body were thin metal). Their design was patented, and I think Dr. Schoeps felt rather proud of them. But Jerry Bruck complained about them and actually had the nerve to demonstrate the problem by stepping on one and breaking it in front of Dr. Schoeps--who was taken aback, but he got the point, and the present form of the A 20 (and related models) was then designed.
Since then, the inner part (the actual "clamp") has been replaced with a newer type of plastic that is much harder to break and that doesn't risk scratching a Nextel finish nearly as much. The plastic "foot" (the only part on any of mine that has ever broken) has also been replaced with metal.
But no doubt in my opinion, Rycote InVision shock mounts are preferable nowadays. And in more recent years Schoeps has partnered with not only Rycote but also Cinela and Osix to develop custom shock mounts for their newer products. There is no Schoeps-specific shock mount for the MiniCMIT, the V 4 or the CMC 1, for example; it's all third-party. That is a definite change in policy since the current generation of company leadership (Helmut Wittek and Karin Fléing) took over. Before, it was "build it in-house at all costs"--sometimes literally, unfortunately.
--best regards
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Funny that should come up. After years of service, the base of my A20 gave up. The top cracked off of the base. I got out the micrometer, did some measurements and hit TinkerCAD. Had to tweak, but the 3rd prototype was money. Printed with PETG. Very strong and threads smoothly onto the quick release (not shown) I always used with it to help prevent wearing out the plastic threads. I'll probably end up printing one more using settings for fine printing.
Prototype I printed is on the left. Broken A20 base on the right.
(https://i.imgur.com/6QxFKYhl.jpg?2)
Assembled.
(https://i.imgur.com/9Zj1q2Bl.jpg?2)
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DSatz,
Thank you for that history and context. As it turns out, I have since learned that while Schoeps may still charge the most exorbitant amounts for cables, they are nowhere near the worst offender in painfully-priced microphone mounts. That crown seems to be firmly held by DPA, who sell proprietary elastomer shockmounts for $350 each, a stereo mic bar for $620, and a 5-mic Decca / surround mount for $3200.
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So I think that the historical explanation for the high prices, and the long duration of certain product designs, is based in those purchasing patterns. Even today, you and I--who might buy one pair of capsules after agonizing for months and talking it over with our therapists--are up against the market influence of customers who get authorization to buy 100 or more microphones in a single swoop, and who want the accessories to be part of the same order.
I feel this ^
--The present-day A 20 was actually introduced as a more robust type of shock mount than what Schoeps had made in the past (see attached photos from the 1965 catalog; I used to have some of these; the sleeves surrounding the microphone body were thin metal). Their design was patented, and I think Dr. Schoeps felt rather proud of them. But Jerry Bruck complained about them and actually had the nerve to demonstrate the problem by stepping on one and breaking it in front of Dr. Schoeps--who was taken aback, but he got the point, and the present form of the A 20 (and related models) was then designed.
I love this story very much! Total respect for Jerry!!!
Since then, the inner part (the actual "clamp") has been replaced with a newer type of plastic that is much harder to break and that doesn't risk scratching a Nextel finish nearly as much. The plastic "foot" (the only part on any of mine that has ever broken) has also been replaced with metal.
Funny that should come up. After years of service, the base of my A20 gave up. The top cracked off of the base. I got out the micrometer, did some measurements and hit TinkerCAD. Had to tweak, but the 3rd prototype was money. Printed with PETG. Very strong and threads smoothly onto the quick release (not shown) I always used with it to help prevent wearing out the plastic threads. I'll probably end up printing one more using settings for fine printing.
I'd be stoked to have a replacement thread part if you are running them off! Mine is split from years of use, and I have had to find other options. This would rejuvenate mine! Will gladly pay postage & plastic cost LOL!
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Sure. I DM'd you
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3D printers can also come in quite handy when you need to replace a part that Schoeps won't sell you separately. It's not a nice print or anything (because the part is so damn small), but it got the job done.
https://taperssection.com/index.php?topic=192489.msg2384495#msg2384495
And did I mention that my printer is currently busy printing parts for another printer? :)
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That's very meta.