Topic: AKG 480 CK61 matched?

[Carrera2]

Howdy:

I've searched about the net and here at ts and haven't found any reference to the AKG 480 CK61 being sold as a matched pair.  Is that
ever done?

If not, has anyone experienced any significant differences when the mics were acquired separately?

Alan K

[F.O.Bean]

AKG does not match the 480's. Their Quality Control is good enough to where it isnt required. that means every mic has the same sonic characteristics/sensitivity/etc.

I bought my 480's in 1999 and the serial numbers are 22762 and 22572 on the bodies, the ck63 caps are 39587 and 39622 and the ck61 caps are 28880 and 26938 and i think every element of the setup(bodies/capsules) are so close to each other in levels and sonics that you should never have to worry about it. when i woned the ck62 omni caps they were off about 3db from each other but it was because one was an older ck62 and one was newer. thats why i sold my ck62's mainly i could always adjust on the v3 but it never sounded just right IMO with them being that far off. 3db is alot

anyway. no worries buying from AKG. their QC is top-notch and so are their mics now go buy em and go tape something damnit i recomend the ck63 caps to the ck61 caps unless you do alot of onstage/stage-lip stuff or you are in the SWEET SPOT every show. hypers rule and are WAY more consistent than the ck61. you have to really pick and choose when to use the cards and especially the ck62 omnis but the ck63 hypers is SOOO verstaile IMO. in a bad room? just PAS(point at stacks) and go with it. 9 times out of 10 your tape is gonna kick-ass, and also the hypers help GREATLY with chatter. theyre just an overall more focused recording with not as much ambience, and the last two years ive used my hypers a million times with great results. cards are hit or miss. i like room ambience as much as the next guy in GOOD sounding rooms, but if a room is average at best or worse, running cards isnt a great idea IMO. and most times ya dont know til ya get home you have an echoey recording when you didnt ahve to second guess yourself and just use hypers and KNOW youre getting a solid recording pretty much no matter what given the PA of course and the soundman as well.

[Carrera2]

Thanks so much for the detailed info.  Greatly appreciate the time you invested!!  +T

Alan

[Church-Audio]

Thanks so much for the detailed info.  Greatly appreciate the time you invested!!  +T

Alan

I think that AKG has great quality control too, but different mics made on different days can be off from one another. So if I was going to buy any mics I would make sure that at the very least they were made on the same day to avoid problems with inconsistencies from day to day. One thing people have to remember is quality control is very good but from day to day things change. I dont think its safe to say mics are matched because quality control is good. Mics are matched because they are matched. That's why you pay more for that because its time consuming. In the end its all a mater of opinion. I prefer mics that are matched with in 0.5db of each other. In real life that's a very hard thing to do. But I feel it makes a huge difference in the image of the recording.

[F.O.Bean]

Thanks so much for the detailed info.  Greatly appreciate the time you invested!!  +T

Alan

no problem bud, you caught me at a good moment and I love spreading the AKG word I'm looking to add a pair of 414 XLS's(the XLS's come in stereo sets but I dont believe theyre matched) to my arsenal. I think 414 XLS>V2>722 would sound KILLER. I dont think anyone here at ts.com or anywhere ive searched on archive.org or bt.etree.org has a 414>v2>722 source anywhere. ive looked far and wide. id also be curious to hear a 414>722. I bet that sounds great as well

+T and welcome to Taperssection Alan Have fun and leave your wallet at the door........

[F.O.Bean]

Thanks so much for the detailed info.  Greatly appreciate the time you invested!!  +T

Alan

I think that AKG has great quality control too, but different mics made on different days can be off from one another. So if I was going to buy any mics I would make sure that at the very least they were made on the same day to avoid problems with inconsistencies from day to day. One thing people have to remember is quality control is very good but from day to day things change. I dont think its safe to say mics are matched because quality control is good. Mics are matched because they are matched. That's why you pay more for that because its time consuming. In the end its all a mater of opinion. I prefer mics that are matched with in 0.5db of each other. In real life that's a very hard thing to do. But I feel it makes a huge difference in the image of the recording.

Chris or anyone, I didnt mean to imply that AKG is 'matched' because theyre QC is so good I can imagine how long and time consuming matching mics would be as well. but i have been quite happy with my 480/ck61/ck63 as far as being closely 'matched' and having the same relative sensitivity and sonics

I know that AKG sells the XLS and the XLII as stereo sets, but they dont match them do they? I'm not sure but my instinct tells me that they do not match the 414's either, but i could be wrong. maybe the 414 is the only one they match unless youre dropping 5k on the c12vr I bet those could be matched if requested

Dont you have to do a white noise test to see how far off each mic is? I ahve never done this...Also, how do you know what is off in db? the body or the capsule? just switch the caps out with each body?

Thanks in advance man,
Bean

[audBall]

I know that AKG sells the XLS and the XLII as stereo sets, but they dont match them do they? I'm not sure but my instinct tells me that they do not match the 414's either, but i could be wrong. maybe the 414 is the only one they match unless youre dropping 5k on the c12vr I bet those could be matched if requested

from www.akgusa.com
Matched pair of C 414 B-XLS

The matched pairs consist of two microphones that are within 1 dB to each other in sensitivity and also within 1 dB to each other in the range of 300 Hz to 8,000 Hz of the individual frequency response when used in cardioid mode and are selected from a large quantity of individual microphones using the described criteria by using a proprietary computer program.

[F.O.Bean]

I know that AKG sells the XLS and the XLII as stereo sets, but they dont match them do they? I'm not sure but my instinct tells me that they do not match the 414's either, but i could be wrong. maybe the 414 is the only one they match unless youre dropping 5k on the c12vr I bet those could be matched if requested

from www.akgusa.com
Matched pair of C 414 B-XLS

The matched pairs consist of two microphones that are within 1 dB to each other in sensitivity and also within 1 dB to each other in the range of 300 Hz to 8,000 Hz of the individual frequency response when used in cardioid mode and are selected from a large quantity of individual microphones using the described criteria by using a proprietary computer program.

+T Thanks bud!

[Church-Audio]

Thanks so much for the detailed info.  Greatly appreciate the time you invested!!  +T

Alan

I think that AKG has great quality control too, but different mics made on different days can be off from one another. So if I was going to buy any mics I would make sure that at the very least they were made on the same day to avoid problems with inconsistencies from day to day. One thing people have to remember is quality control is very good but from day to day things change. I dont think its safe to say mics are matched because quality control is good. Mics are matched because they are matched. That's why you pay more for that because its time consuming. In the end its all a mater of opinion. I prefer mics that are matched with in 0.5db of each other. In real life that's a very hard thing to do. But I feel it makes a huge difference in the image of the recording.

Chris or anyone, I didnt mean to imply that AKG is 'matched' because theyre QC is so good I can imagine how long and time consuming matching mics would be as well. but i have been quite happy with my 480/ck61/ck63 as far as being closely 'matched' and having the same relative sensitivity and sonics

I know that AKG sells the XLS and the XLII as stereo sets, but they dont match them do they? I'm not sure but my instinct tells me that they do not match the 414's either, but i could be wrong. maybe the 414 is the only one they match unless youre dropping 5k on the c12vr I bet those could be matched if requested

Dont you have to do a white noise test to see how far off each mic is? I ahve never done this...Also, how do you know what is off in db? the body or the capsule? just switch the caps out with each body?

Thanks in advance man,
Bean

You can use white noise as a test and substitute the mic capsules while leaving the mic body perfectly still. I use 1k for level matching because its almost impossible to level match across the spectrum, 1k is a midway point of a microphone and its a good indication of the microphones high frequency sensitivity. Its not perfect but it gets you in the ball park. And it does not rely on your speakers frequency response for an accurate measurement because any good quality speaker can put out 1k with very little distortion and very little extra harmonics. (Generally speaking )

[darby]

my 414B-XLS/STs  came with printed results of the in house tests done by AKG
mine were pretty much perfect for all 5 patterns
but if you really want to be sure you can always do the white noise test

[Church-Audio]

my 414B-XLS/STs  came with printed results of the in house tests done by AKG
mine were pretty much perfect for all 5 patterns
but if you really want to be sure you can always do the white noise test

It is almost impossible for anyone except AKG to do a matching test on the 414 because you have to be able to duplicate the exact placement of the microphone to within such a small tolerance for the test to be meaningful One thing is for sure if they say they are matched.. They are matched. They are the only mics to my knowledge that AKG ever offered as a real "matched pair" I love 414's they are my favorite. I have used them on everything from vocals to guitar amps and even toms lol, because a studio I was in at one time did not have enough mics for this huge drum kit we were using so I had to use 414's for some of the tom mics. Man they sounded sweet. But I was very nervous about the drummer hitting one with a stick...

[iriewsp]

my 414B-XLS/STs  came with printed results of the in house tests done by AKG
mine were pretty much perfect for all 5 patterns
but if you really want to be sure you can always do the white noise test

It is almost impossible for anyone except AKG to do a matching test on the 414 because you have to be able to duplicate the exact placement of the microphone to within such a small tolerance for the test to be meaningful One thing is for sure if they say they are matched.. They are matched. They are the only mics to my knowledge that AKG ever offered as a real "matched pair" I love 414's they are my favorite. I have used them on everything from vocals to guitar amps and even toms lol, because a studio I was in at one time did not have enough mics for this huge drum kit we were using so I had to use 414's for some of the tom mics. Man they sounded sweet. But I was very nervous about the drummer hitting one with a stick...

I use the 414's on  Floor toms on a weekly basis...  Sometimes I trade them out depending on the drummer but thats my mic of choice most of the time for floor toms.  My favorite for Rack and Mid toms is the 451e with ck61...  414's are pretty much good on anything I can think of.  Love them for vocals, Overheads, outside kick, bottom snare..   The studio I work at has 2 414's and 2 c12vr's and I prefer the 414's over the c12's on a regular basis.. 

[musicsherlock]

My favorite for Rack and Mid toms is the 451e with ck61...   

how does one attach a CK61 to an AKG 451?

[TNJazz]

My favorite for Rack and Mid toms is the 451e with ck61...   

how does one attach a CK61 to an AKG 451?

One doesn't.  I would think he means CK1.

[musicsherlock]

My favorite for Rack and Mid toms is the 451e with ck61...   

how does one attach a CK61 to an AKG 451?

One doesn't.  I would think he means CK1.

that's what I thought...but, he has it in his sig. line as well...

[iriewsp]

My favorite for Rack and Mid toms is the 451e with ck61...   

how does one attach a CK61 to an AKG 451?

One doesn't.  I would think he means CK1.

that's what I thought...but, he has it in his sig. line as well...

You are both correct...  For some reason its habbit to type in ck61....  I do it all the time...  I never even noticed it in my sig line.  Thanks for pointing it out.

[terrapinj]

i recomend the ck63 caps to the ck61 caps unless you do alot of onstage/stage-lip stuff or you are in the SWEET SPOT every show. hypers rule and are WAY more consistent than the ck61. you have to really pick and choose when to use the cards and especially the ck62 omnis but the ck63 hypers is SOOO verstaile IMO. in a bad room? just PAS(point at stacks) and go with it. 9 times out of 10 your tape is gonna kick-ass, and also the hypers help GREATLY with chatter. theyre just an overall more focused recording with not as much ambience, and the last two years ive used my hypers a million times with great results. cards are hit or miss. i like room ambience as much as the next guy in GOOD sounding rooms, but if a room is average at best or worse, running cards isnt a great idea IMO. and most times ya dont know til ya get home you have an echoey recording when you didnt ahve to second guess yourself and just use hypers and KNOW youre getting a solid recording pretty much no matter what given the PA of course and the soundman as well.

i'm the complete opposite - i use my cards 90% of the time and personally find they have a much fuller sound especially the lowend. the 1st couple times i ran the 63s i didn't like the sound at all and put them away for quite a few months. although i've been liking the hypers more with the warmer sound of the psp-2 and also have been kinda lazy lately and left them on 

as always to each his/her own