Topic: neumann 184 vs akg 480b 61 caps

[rokpunk]

I'd much rather hear the transformer mod with Jensons than the transformerless mod that he currently does.
I'm completely unimpressed with the current JW mod for 460's.

[waltmon]

...with all these mods for improving AKG's, just curious/ has anyone ever modded Neumann's?

[TNJazz]

...with all these mods for improving AKG's, just curious/ has anyone ever modded Neumann's?

How?

Klaus Heyne has certainly modded U87's in the past.

[BC]

Thanks for the info guys the help, i have a pair of 480B w/ 61 cap but i am looking for a brighter sound ??[

might want to try the 63 caps, IMHO the reduced low end of the hypers makes them sound brighter than the cardioid cap.

[momule]

Which is better?

For live tapes I prefer the AKG  Sound.  But for Hats and drums I prefer the Neumann

Dont forget the peluso's either.

[datbrad]

...with all these mods for improving AKG's, just curious/ has anyone ever modded Neumann's?

Walt, Here is the list of the audio upgrades Jim Williams offers for mics, cut and pasted from his site.

MICROPHONES:

AKG 460,
AKG 535EB,
AKG 451/452EB,
AKG 414EB/P48,
AKG 414 TL & B-ULS
AKG THE TUBE,
AKG C12VR,
AKG C12,
AKG C34,
AKG C422 /426
B & K 4003,
NEUMANN U87,
NEUMANN U47,
NEUMANN U67,
NEUMANN KM81, 82, 84,
GEFELL UM70,
BEYER DYNAMIC 740,
MILAB / PML DC-96,
MILAB / PML DC-63,
MILAB VIP 50,
MILAB LC-25,
SHURE SM81,
SHURE SM57 UNADYNE III,



Full page: http://www.audioupgrades.com/pl1.html

 
 

[shaggy]

Why anyone would want to mod a KM84 is beyond me....

[pyiteac]

Why anyone would want to mod a KM84 is beyond me....

Or an AKG C 12.  WTF?

[rokpunk]

just because a mic CAN be modded doesn't mean that it SHOULD be modded.

[datbrad]

I am with rokpunk. I don't think that performance modifications always mean "better".

When I talked to Jim Williams about the upgrades, he told me that 100% of the design considerations were based on controlled studio environments, for close mic'd instruments and vocals that would be directly recorded, the traditional standard application for these microphones. They were not even considering stage use either, just closed recording and broadcast studio applications in the upgrade designs.

He suggested that for ambient field recording, some of his upgrades would make the mics less effective for that application, and that was how the whole conversation started about keeping the 460s using transformers. In the end, I realized the simple fact that if I did not like the sound of my 460s, which I have liked as they are and used them continuously for 14 years, I would replace them with a different brand or type of microphone, not try and "fix" them with an "upgrade" that removes the "AKG sound".

[TNJazz]

Folks should always keep in mind that "modded" does not necessarily mean "upgraded", but too often the words are used interchangeably (especially on this board). 

What you are basically doing is paying a couple hundred dollars for the preferences of someone ELSE's ears.  That may or may not be a good thing.

[rokpunk]

i own alot of 460's....over a dozen. i use them on an almost daily basis for my work.
we had a pair modded by JW a few years ago and gave them a fair shot. we were less than impressed and sold them off to buy another pair of stock 460 bodies. some people like the sound of the 460 mod, some don't. perhaps for studio use it would have sounded fantastic....who knows. I chalked it up as a $350 learning experience.

[carlbeck]

i own alot of 460's....over a dozen. i use them on an almost daily basis for my work.
we had a pair modded by JW a few years ago and gave them a fair shot. we were less than impressed and sold them off to buy another pair of stock 460 bodies. some people like the sound of the 460 mod, some don't. perhaps for studio use it would have sounded fantastic....who knows. I chalked it up as a $350 learning experience.

I agree the JW Mod tapes I have heard have had almost too much sizzle, a little grating for me. I am loving the stock 460's though.

[sygdwm]

i heart transformers.

[datbrad]

All you guys are making me feel real good about my decision to go to 460s back in '94, and never finding anything I liked better, sticking with them. You guys are also making me feel that my initial impressions of the JW mod were not off base, and it's not just me that did not like the mod sound. I thought I was alone.

Don't get me wrong, I have tried to find reasons to change to something else, get a mod, etc., but I just cannot find a mic that I like the sound of as much as 460s, except other AKG mics. I have to confess I like B&Ks, clinical as they are, match them up with a Sonoxax and they really sing! Still, until DPA get's off their high horse and makes a modular system with hypers, they will still be a one-trick pony to me.