Topic: Disassembling the Nak 300/Primo preamp capsule

[setboy]

  I just bought some Naks (Teac ME80),

man, i got to get some of these befor you all buy them all

[CHURCH-AUDIO]

the mics that use the PRIMO em63 capsule are AT-819 AT-822 AT-831 TEAC, CROWN microphones USE alot of PRIMO capsules. I do not know what the model number TOA K3 mic there have been more then a few use this Gold Vapor capsule that sells for $17.00 at primo mics. The Nack Mics were made by the same company that made TOA mics I dont know who it is but the NACK mics are not made by Nack I think primo OEM'ED quite a few mic bodies and capsules even made the finished product. As they have been known to do the biggest mod on these capsules is to use the J102 with a 1giga ohm resistor. and replace all the shit caps with stacked film. or Poly Film. Get rid of all the electrolytics if you can. all carbon resistors should be replaced with METAL FILM this reduces noise! big time, and also lowers distortion get rid of all the 1/8 watt stuff and go with 1/2 watt and last but not least. This is one of my tricks and it does improve things Use a little bit of deoxit GOLD on the capsule pin and preamp body where the two mate. This reduces noise from tarnished contacts.
I also use fine brass screen to cover up the ports and the front of the mic if possible. This reduces noise as well everything you do in this regard lowers the noise floor. Look at the best mics they have several layers of metal screen in front of the capsule and mic body. This does two things reduces the chance of spit hitting the capsule, and reduces noise.....
So alot can be done to these mics I also get rid of any hi pass filter by changing the value of the coupling caps to 2.2 uf to 10uf or even high and expairament with diffent caps until you like the sound..


Chris Church 

You know funny enough that is the same capsule used in the crown c4 headset I use alot of primo capsules that one is one of there best I also like the em-63 that one is used by AT in some of the older mics that they made. Just thought I would add my two cents is there a J102 fet inside the mic pre and a 1 giga ohm resistor if not you can change around alot of the cheaper parts like the carbon resistors for metal film should make it a bit more quiet.

Chris Church

Hey Chris,

+T for the info.

I'm always curious to know what is used in commercial mics.   Do you remember what AT mic used the Primo caps (and what types)?  I've taken apart some AT mics, but can't find any useful markings on them.

Also, do you know anything about the Primo caps used in the Naks?  Are they back electret?  They are Nickel plated (not gold), right?  Do you know the diaphram thickness?  I heard rumours about someone "reskinning" these with better diaphrams too, but I don't know who or when.

  Richard