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Gear / Technical Help => Microphones & Setup => Topic started by: Chuck on October 14, 2013, 09:46:48 AM
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I'm always looking for ways to lower the profile of my rig. So, this weekend I put together a mounting system that is light, only uses one shockmount and is robust. I already had two Audix D-clips http://www.audixusa.com/docs_12/units/DCLIP.shtml. So, I used the black plastic part of the those to hold the mics. I used some plumbing PVC to make the spacer and the extension that the shock mount grips. I used some rubber O rings inside the PVC to keep the nylon bolt in the center of the tubes.
I bought all the materials I didn't already have at Home Depot and Ace Hardware locally.
It's very light and can be dis-assembled easily if needed.
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Nice!
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Elegant low pro and lightweight solution, you are even using a plastic or nylon bolt.
Great work, thanks for sharing.
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Yes, I picked lighter materials so I didn't burden the shock mount with a lot of extra weight. If I can figure out a way to stain or dye the white nylon bolt and cap I'd be very happy. Other than that, I am very pleased with it.
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Yes, I picked lighter materials so I didn't burden the shock mount with a lot of extra weight. If I can figure out a way to stain or dye the white nylon bolt and cap I'd be very happy. Other than that, I am very pleased with it.
perhaps Krylon Fusion (http://www.krylon.com/products/fusion-for-plastic/) will work on nylon as well as the pvc and most plastics
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Good idea. Thanks! I'll try it.
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Looks great!
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Again, great work on your DIY DIN build Chuck, it's always nice to see these clever ideas, please update the thread on how the Krylon Fusion works out for you. You might want to duplicate your build post in the TSKB Archive for reference purposes. I may give your idea a try since I have a couple of Audix-D Clips that don't get used anymore.
Similarly, I use a single shock for my low pro AKG Active ORTF setup. It's not DIY, uses commonly available; Vark Bar and Rycote INV Shock with the stock AKG Active Mic Clips. It too is compact, lightweight, low pro allowing for quick setup of ORTF but can be adjusted for different configs if desired. This is an old picture before I modified the active cables with Gotham 13001 GAC-2pair cable. The clamp option demonstrated in the photo is a Mini Cardellini with 3/8' threads which is a perfect stand clamp for Rycote shocks.
(http://i1041.photobucket.com/albums/b419/DigiGal_taper/clamps/file-1.jpg)
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Again, great work on your DIY DIN build Chuck, it's always nice to see these clever ideas, please update the thread on how the Krylon Fusion works out for you. You might want to duplicate your build post in the TSKB Archive for reference purposes. I may give your idea a try since I have a couple of Audix-D Clips that don't get used anymore.
Thank you. I'll try the Fusion paint this week and let you know how it works. I like the dark grey color on the PVC, so I'm going to keep that the same color.
I'm going to take some more photos and write up a more detailed procedure with a list of materials I used this week. I'll post in the TSKB Archive and here again when I have all that done.
Yes, I had seen your low profile mounting solution too. I think it is also very good.
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For that small part, I would just use a sharpie on it
Or you can always wrap gaff tape around it ;D
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I just found this: http://wildguzzi.com/forum/index.php?topic=42992.0
which looks promising for dying the nylon bolts black.
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Hey what about Plasti-Dip? http://www.amazon.com/Performix-11603-6-Synthetic-Plasti-Dip-Coating/dp/B0000DD1PF/ref=pd_sim_sg_3
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Hey what about Plasti-Dip? http://www.amazon.com/Performix-11603-6-Synthetic-Plasti-Dip-Coating/dp/B0000DD1PF/ref=pd_sim_sg_3
I'm not sure about that stuff. It looks like it would get in the threads and make putting the nut on difficult.
I think the Rite Dye is probably going to work well. So, I'm going to try that.
I did a short write up on my blog site with pictures and part numbers on how I made the fixture:
http://www.timebetweenthenotes.com/review_shockmount.html
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Chucks lightweight stereo bar is similar to but a big improvement over a Shure A27M vert bar which is extremely heavy and requires adding adding mic clips instead of having them built in and wouldn't work well in a shock mount.
(http://www.dv247.com/assets/products/29279_l.jpg)
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Thank you for the very kind words DigiGal.
I am a former Shure vert bar owner and this project was partially inspired by my perceived failings of that product.
I've been doing some reading about dying nylon parts. The model builders have been doing this for years with Rit fabric dye. I'm going to give that a shot. The dye is cheap and I really don't care for the white ends of the bolt and nut.
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Update: The Rit dye worked very well.
1 packet of black Rit dye
1.5 cups of water
.5 cups of white vinegar
Heated to just below boiling. Drop the parts in and let them sit in the dye for 30 minutes.
(http://www.timebetweenthenotes.com/img/images_shockmount/bshock.jpg)
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Nice work chuck. Color came out nice too!
Hmmm...put my DPA XY/ORFT and you have 4 way mount.
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Nice Chuck! I always hated the insane weight of the vert bar.
RIT dye? Please tell us there will be a tie-dye version.
Are you able to get enough grip on the hex heads to tighten and loosen? Is there any tendency for the mounts to move when you tighten it?
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RIT dye? Please tell us there will be a tie-dye version.
Are you able to get enough grip on the hex heads to tighten and loosen? Is there any tendency for the mounts to move when you tighten it?
I have no desire to make more than I need myself. Maybe you could adapt it and make some out of Delrin if there is enough interest? Or someone could make a bunch the way I did.
The most expensive part is the Audix clips. They sell for around $10 each. Maybe there's another less expensive option for the clips. I just used what I had around the house at the time.
I did buy a PVC cutter at Ace Hardware for $15. Cutting the prototypes with my cheap miter saw was too much work, because I had to sand the ends and I wasn't getting accurate cuts. The PVC cutter makes very clean and accurate cuts.
The PVC pipe I bought has a wide tolerance on the ID and OD wall thickness. The ID is pretty far off center on every piece I have bought. For my purposes, that's not a huge factor, but it's not perfect.
The 3" nylon bolts are around $1 each at Home Depot. PVC pipe is cheap. The O-rings were around $3 for ten at Home Depot.
I have tightened the fixture I made with wrenches, so it's pretty tight. But, it's still possible to move the clips for different angles. The way it is now, the nut and bolt don't move at all when I adjust the angle. But, it works pretty well when it's just hand tightened too.
One more thing. I replaced the bands in the Busman shock with some nice black hair ties I found at the Dollar store. They are solid rubber (not fabric covered) and are more taut than the bands on the stock shock mounts. I'm hoping they will be tight enough to accommodate the fixture with my C-480 bodies loaded. I haven't done any bump testing on the stand with the new bands yet. So, that's something I have to do.
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Super sweet work Chuck! Somehow I missed this thread earlier. That's some of the nicest, cleanest DIY work I've seen in a while. Amazing that the dye worked so well.
I was going to say that from a technical shock-mount performance perspective, a bit of increased weight from a metal bolt can actually be benefital in lowering the compliant frequency of the shock mount (effectively isolating from lower frequency vibrations) as long as the elastic parts can handle the load. The spring rate of the elastics is the other part of that equation. It's a mass / spring-rate relationship. The goal is to be as loosely springy as possible to achive the lowest resonant frequency while still holding the mics securely enough, and that's harder to do with very lightweight mics.. But thats all technical details which don't hold a candle to that clean pro-looking stain job! The take away for everyone from my rambling here is simply this- for best shockmount performance, use the most compliant elastics in your shocks that you can get away with.
Nice Chuck! I always hated the insane weight of the vert bar.
X2. Simply rediculous how heavy the Shure Vert is.
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Thanks Gutbucket!
I can actually try a heavier bolt, because the whole thing comes completely apart and using another bolt is no problem at all. I still have not done any bump testing on it yet. When I do, I'll test heavier vs lighter bolts. I've been collecting round rubber bands (woman's hair ties in some cases) with various lengths and strength to use in the tests.
That's great info about the weight you provided. I did not think excess weight would be a good thing. I will keep it in mind as I do the tests.
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More mass = more inertia so it takes more energy to get it to move. In a practical sense more mass also means you can use heavier bands for the same amount of isolation.
Of course lighter is better before you press 'record' and after you press 'stop'.
It's the opposite of race car 'unsprung' weight reduction efforts, where reducing the weight of the wheel, tire and brakes (all the parts which are outside the 'sprung' weight of the suspended car) is more critical than reducing the 'sprung' weight of the car itself, allowing the tire to move up and down more quickly with less inertia which translates to better grip. But the same in that you want the most compliant suspension possible for the best grip, given the other constraints.
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I went to buy the parts to make one of these. Local Home Depot does not carry the PVC pipe or the nylon acorn nut. The pipe is called Schedule 80 PVC nipple, a local True Value hardware store had it in 8 inches which should be enough. True Value didn't have the nylon acorn nut either. Will pick this project up later but wanted to share what I found in obtaining the parts.
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Try ACE Hardware for the acorn.
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Try ACE Hardware for the acorn.
Thanks, no ACE hardware in the area but I'm headed out of town for weekend and there's one along the way so I'll stop and see if they have them. Looking at your photos it looks like you've also got a nylon washer at the bottom??? One photo looks like you originally picked up a regular nylon nut, I did as well at Home Depot but the acorn nut gives it a slicker finished appearance.
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Yeah, I played around with nylon washers, but finally decided it works better (stays tighter) without the washers.
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Still no luck finding the 3/8 16 acorn nut at the out of area Ace Hardware. Will try some other hardware stores back home or search online purchase. Send all the stores have stock the nylon acorn nut up to 1/4" and that's it.