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Author Topic: Schoeps MK6 to be discontinued  (Read 13304 times)

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Offline jerryfreak

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Schoeps MK6 to be discontinued
« on: December 08, 2009, 04:17:28 PM »
said Redding, when they called me to tell me that mine was back from germany.

they are generally too expensive to fix, they say. They will continue to service them, however

so that said, i want to store mine in figure-8 position for maximum longevity, right?
« Last Edit: December 08, 2009, 08:36:58 PM by jerryfreak »
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Offline shaggy

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Re: Schoeps MK6 to be discontinued
« Reply #1 on: December 08, 2009, 06:14:07 PM »
How much was the servicing, if I might ask?

Offline jerryfreak

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Re: Schoeps MK6 to be discontinued
« Reply #2 on: December 08, 2009, 08:32:27 PM »
it varies
the service on this capsule was not typical of a full rebuild, as they were rebuilt by schoeps just a few year ago. if they havent been in to schoeps in a long time (handwitten serial numbers are a giveaway- they repalce them with the printed ones when serviced) - I'd expect $300-$400+ per capsule

How much was the servicing, if I might ask?
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Offline DSatz

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Re: Schoeps MK6 to be discontinued
« Reply #3 on: December 08, 2009, 09:17:43 PM »
Um, something seems to have been lost a bit in the translation. If Scott told you that the MK 6 is being discontinued, then I suppose it's all right for me to confirm that fact. The real reason is that the pattern-changing mechanism costs so much to manufacture.

Some of that cost is incurred again if the capsules have to be completely disassembled for repair--but fortunately, it isn't necessary to disassemble them completely for ordinary service procedures.

The routine replacement of handwritten serial numbers with printed ones started only relatively recently--in the past two years or so, I think. The capsules don't need routine maintenance nearly as often as that. Mine were manufactured in 1972, I've had them for 35 years, and they've been back to the factory only twice during that time. If they're getting heavy use, I might suggest every ten years. Otherwise, every fifteen seems like enough (or sooner if you suspect a problem, of course).

At any rate, storing the capsules in the figure-8 setting is relevant only if they have the type of gaskets which were used prior to maybe about 1988. (Do people here besides me have such old microphones? I thought one of the requirements for membership here was to sell everything you own and buy something else every three to six months.)

--best regards
« Last Edit: December 08, 2009, 09:26:03 PM by DSatz »
music > microphones > a recorder of some sort

Offline jerryfreak

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Re: Schoeps MK6 to be discontinued
« Reply #4 on: December 08, 2009, 09:37:50 PM »
it wasnt scott it was mike from redding. i didnt ask him, he mentioned it to me so it seemed like he was just relaying info. could be that i mistakenly thought he said 'too expensive to fix', when he may have said/meant, 'too expensive to mfr'

you'd think that the manufacturing cost of any mass-produced item would be covered by the $1900 price tag, maybe theyre just not selling many

re: printed serial number plates, these were rebuilt in may of 2006 and they replaced the plates at that time.

@shaggy, on this receipt from the original rebuild, it says 'capsules dismounted, switchover overhauled and measured', and they charged $116 each. that was a few years ago and it is obviously for a capsule with no other issues.

Um, something seems to have been lost a bit in the translation. If Scott told you that the MK 6 is being discontinued, then I suppose it's all right for me to confirm that fact. The real reason is that the pattern-changing mechanism costs so much to manufacture.
« Last Edit: December 08, 2009, 09:52:09 PM by jerryfreak »
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Offline boojum

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Re: Schoeps MK6 to be discontinued
« Reply #5 on: December 08, 2009, 11:22:05 PM »
Whatever the complaints about Schoeps repair remember that they do repairs and in a timely manner and it is not all that expensive.  There have been some really distressing stories on this board about the long times other manufacturers take.  And not all manufacturers repair their mics. 

In short, Schoeps is first rank in repairs as it is in build quality.
Nov schmoz kapop.

Offline jerryfreak

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Re: Schoeps MK6 to be discontinued
« Reply #6 on: December 09, 2009, 02:07:44 AM »
yeah i cant complain, it took about 6 weeks but redding picked up the costs to and from germany. the fact that they still service vintage mics at the factory is enough for me.

Whatever the complaints about Schoeps repair remember that they do repairs and in a timely manner and it is not all that expensive.  There have been some really distressing stories on this board about the long times other manufacturers take.  And not all manufacturers repair their mics. 

In short, Schoeps is first rank in repairs as it is in build quality.
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Offline TNJazz

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Re: Schoeps MK6 to be discontinued
« Reply #7 on: December 09, 2009, 08:14:59 AM »
I thought one of the requirements for membership here was to sell everything you own and buy something else every three to six months.

 :lol:
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Offline DSatz

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Re: Schoeps MK6 to be discontinued
« Reply #8 on: December 09, 2009, 08:56:09 AM »
jerryfreak, you're right that mass production brings an economy of scale, but capsules are still assembled at Schoeps almost entirely by hand. The mechanism of the MK 6 is frightfully complicated (it's been called "a Swiss watchmaker's nightmare"), and that is the main reason it costs so much to build.

The second reason is the large number of special parts and one-off tools. Schoeps manufactures most of its own mechanical parts as well as its own tools and jigs for capsule assembly, which can cost thousands of Euros each to make--and production of the MK 6 has special requirements which don't pertain to any other capsule that Schoeps manufactures.

I think it may also be true that the demand for the MK 6 is less now that the MK 8, MK 4 V, MK 4 VJ and MK 41 V are available. For many years the MK 6 offered Schoeps' only side-facing cardioid and there definitely were customers who bought it for that reason, not necessarily because they needed the multiple patterns.

Also, in the past its selling price was closer to that of the other capsules in the series, especially back when Dr. Schoeps himself set all the prices--I mean no disrespect, but he was no businessman.

--best regards
« Last Edit: December 09, 2009, 09:07:29 AM by DSatz »
music > microphones > a recorder of some sort

stevetoney

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Re: Schoeps MK6 to be discontinued
« Reply #9 on: December 09, 2009, 10:41:19 AM »
Can anyone provide some details to those of us that own an MK6 about what specifically to look or listen for to determine when and if it's time for the MK6 to go back to the motherland for service, or is it always obvious when that time comes?  Thanks.

Offline DSatz

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Re: Schoeps MK6 to be discontinued
« Reply #10 on: December 09, 2009, 07:37:13 PM »
Yes. Switch the capsule to its omnidirectional setting, connect the microphone to a recorder, put on a pair of headphones, hold the microphone in front of your mouth and speak toward it in a steady voice. Slowly turn the microphone around so that you can hear the response from all angles around its circumference. There will be more of the very highest frequencies right in front of the microphone, and that may be audible to you--if so, that's normal for a pressure transducer of this size.

But when you get to the 90° and 270° points, there should not be a drop in the overall response (which would be characteristic of a figure-8 microphone). If you find that there is, then the microphone should be checked out at the factory. Basically, the symptom of the gaskets needing replacement is that the capsule tends toward becoming a figure-8 regardless of the actual pattern setting.

This is primarily a concern for capsules manufactured before about 1988-1990 (sorry, I don't know the exact year). Any three-pattern capsule (or CMTS stereo microphone) older than that, if it hasn't been serviced at the factory since then, will very likely have this type of problem by now or be headed in that direction. It doesn't matter whether the microphone was in use or not.

--best regards
music > microphones > a recorder of some sort

Offline NOLAfishwater

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Re: Schoeps MK6 to be discontinued
« Reply #11 on: December 10, 2009, 12:22:05 PM »
thanks for your input DSatz

stevetoney

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Re: Schoeps MK6 to be discontinued
« Reply #12 on: December 10, 2009, 02:48:32 PM »

So the capsule tends toward a figure 8 as the gaskets age.  A follow-on question is that, if one only uses the MK6 capsule for its figure 8 pattern, say as an M/S partner or as a Blumlein pair, then perhaps there would be much less of a need to have it serviced, although it of course defeats the purpose of having the flexibility of a three pattern capsule.

In my case, I have only one MK6, so the only useful pattern to me right now is the figure 8, which I'm using for mid-side recording.

Thanks as usual!

Offline dactylus

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Re: Schoeps MK6 to be discontinued
« Reply #13 on: December 12, 2009, 09:49:38 AM »
Do people here besides me have such old microphones? I thought one of the requirements for membership here was to sell everything you own and buy something else every three to six months.

--best regards

^^
Sure seems to be the norm for some many here - I'm not of that school of thought though.

 :cheers:

hot licks > microphones > recorder



...ball of confusion, that's what the world is today, hey hey...

Offline DSatz

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Re: Schoeps MK6 to be discontinued
« Reply #14 on: June 19, 2014, 08:53:01 PM »
In case it interests anyone, I'd like to mention that the MK 4 VJ--which was never officially in the Schoeps catalog and was never widely known in the West--has now been discontinued as well. This was a side-addressed cardioid without most of the high-frequency elevation of the standard MK 4 V. Its response resembled the cardioid setting of the MK 6, which is why I mentioned it earlier in this thread.

The MK 4 VJ was only ever produced in small numbers. It was designed at the request of a broadcasting client in Japan who needed a replacement for a discontinued (and damaged, and unable to be repaired) ribbon microphone that they'd been using to record a traditional plucked-string instrument. They had tried other condenser microphones and found them to be harsh-sounding at the recording distance that they wanted to use for this instrument. The high-frequency response of the 4 VJ was therefore tuned "by ear" with the help of that specific client for that specific purpose; it isn't as full as one might want for general recording, unfortunately, so it's not an ideal alternative to the cardioid setting of the MK 6, at least in my opinion.

--best regards
« Last Edit: September 08, 2020, 08:48:23 AM by DSatz »
music > microphones > a recorder of some sort

Offline noahbickart

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Re: Schoeps MK6 to be discontinued
« Reply #15 on: July 08, 2014, 07:29:00 PM »
If anyone is interested in a pair of recently serviced mk6 capsules, get in touch- I would let them go for the right price or trade of other schoeps capsules.
Recording:
Capsules: Schoeps mk41v (x2), mk22 (x2), mk3 (x2), mk21 & mk8
Cables: 2x nbob KCY, 1 pair nbob actives, GAKables 10' & 20' 6-channel snakes, Darktrain 2 & 4 channel KCY and mini xlr extensions:
Preamps:    Schoeps VMS 02iub, Naiant IPA, Sound Devices Mixpre6 I
Recorders: Sound Devices Mixpre6 I, Sony PCM m10

Home Playback: Mac Mini> Mytek Brooklyn+> McIntosh MC162> Eminent Tech LFT-16; Musical Fidelity xCan v2> Hifiman HE-4XX / Beyerdynamic DT880

Office Playback: iMac> Grace m903> AKG k701 / Hifiman HE-400

Offline F.O.Bean

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Re: Schoeps MK6 to be discontinued
« Reply #16 on: July 11, 2014, 01:00:53 AM »
Do people here besides me have such old microphones? I thought one of the requirements for membership here was to sell everything you own and buy something else every three to six months.

--best regards

^^
Sure seems to be the norm for some many here - I'm not of that school of thought though.

 :cheers:



Me neither. I bought new 481s in 1999 and ran them until 2008. Ran MBHOs from 2007>2011, and have been running Schoeps since 2011, and I can honestly say, that I have found the perfect mics for ME 8) I dont honestly see myself ever selling my Schoeps gear, but only adding to it down the line. I have [2] full Schoeps setups at the moment, and can never see myself selling my mk4/KCY and mk41/KCY setups. I would like to upgrade my mk41s for a Matched grey pair, but thats it. I doubt I'll ever have a full 3rd Schoeps rig, but I can definitely see myself adding another pair or two of capsules one day, and running Schoeps preamps and an SD744 8) Just like my homie, Tonedeaf 8) :) ;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

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Offline mjgreeneaudio@gmail.com

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Re: Schoeps MK6 to be discontinued
« Reply #17 on: August 25, 2020, 05:27:29 PM »
Yes. Switch the capsule to its omnidirectional setting, connect the microphone to a recorder, put on a pair of headphones, hold the microphone in front of your mouth and speak toward it in a steady voice. Slowly turn the microphone around so that you can hear the response from all angles around its circumference. There will be more of the very highest frequencies right in front of the microphone, and that may be audible to you--if so, that's normal for a pressure transducer of this size.

But when you get to the 90° and 270° points, there should not be a drop in the overall response (which would be characteristic of a figure-8 microphone). If you find that there is, then the microphone should be checked out at the factory. Basically, the symptom of the gaskets needing replacement is that the capsule tends toward becoming a figure-8 regardless of the actual pattern setting.

This is primarily a concern for capsules manufactured before about 1988-1990 (sorry, I don't know the exact year). Any three-pattern capsule (or CMTS stereo microphone) older than that, if it hasn't been serviced at the factory since then, will very likely have this type of problem by now or be headed in that direction. It doesn't matter whether the microphone was in use or not.

--best regards


Just digging into this. I have an MK6 capsule that seems to be exhibiting these exact problems. I thought I saw somewhere on the Schoeps website that they aren't repairing these anymore. I did send service in Germany an email but am awaiting a reply. Is there anyone in the US that can help me with this, or does anyone have any new information?

Thanks so much,
Michael Greene
« Last Edit: August 25, 2020, 07:40:06 PM by daspyknows »

Offline jerryfreak

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Re: Schoeps MK6 to be discontinued
« Reply #18 on: August 26, 2020, 01:05:10 AM »
Just digging into this. I have an MK6 capsule that seems to be exhibiting these exact problems. I thought I saw somewhere on the Schoeps website that they aren't repairing these anymore. I did send service in Germany an email but am awaiting a reply. Is there anyone in the US that can help me with this, or does anyone have any new information?

Thanks so much,
Michael Greene

as far as i know there is nobody to service them at this point, not even independent gurus.
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Offline DSatz

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Re: Schoeps MK6 to be discontinued
« Reply #19 on: August 26, 2020, 09:25:48 AM »
I am very sorry to say that Schoeps has discontinued all service for three-pattern capsules. It wasn't so much a voluntary policy choice as a surrender to the reality of the situation. I gave the full explanation in another thread, I think last year some time.
« Last Edit: August 26, 2020, 03:54:19 PM by DSatz »
music > microphones > a recorder of some sort

Offline mjgreeneaudio@gmail.com

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Re: Schoeps MK6 to be discontinued
« Reply #20 on: August 26, 2020, 11:53:58 AM »
Thank you everyone, I appreciate the help. I will keep the capsule for now and use it in figure 8 mode. I have a pair of current CMC6 bodies with the Mk5 capsules. I will save up some money and buy a silver Mk5 capsule for this old CMC5 body.

Thanks again,

 

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