Topic: Building my own stelth mics

[Duncan]

I'm sorry to post about a topic that is bound to be covered some where on here but I've looked and not found.
I want to have a go at building my own stealth mics I'd like them to be good quality capsules and cables but I'm struggling to find where to buy the bits (I'm in the UK) and need an idiots guide to things like Battery box construction, (well the electrical aspects of it) What does balanced/unbalanced mean?

Any help would be appreciated

Duncan

[Javier Cinakowski]

No offense intended in my post, but if you don't know the difference between balanced and unbalanced, you might not want to get into the mic building hobby, yet....

There are a ton of mic building guides using the WM61a Panasonic Capsules.  There are also a ton of guides showing how to make a battery box.  Serach around on the internet, here at taperssection and maybe read about audio cables. 

Good luck!   

[Chuck]

I agree. In the long run it will be cheaper and much better to buy microphones from someone that knows what they are doing...

[Duncan]

No offense intended in my post, but if you don't know the difference between balanced and unbalanced, you might not want to get into the mic building hobby, yet....

There are a ton of mic building guides using the WM61a Panasonic Capsules.  There are also a ton of guides showing how to make a battery box.  Serach around on the internet, here at taperssection and maybe read about audio cables. 

Good luck!   

No offense taken, I've never asked or been told what the term mean so I thought I'd ask. I wouldn't draw too many conclusions as to my building abilities from the question. A new taper might not know what FOS means but once he knows it will only take him a few seconds to walk there.

I've seen a couple of guides about the Panasonic capsules but I'd end up with a pair of mics like the CSBs I've had for years.
I was wanting a better capsule and some help getting them in the UK. Same with the cable I've read about the stuff that Church use and I can't track it down in the UK. I spose I could get it from the US

I've also seen a couple of battery box guides but all they are is a poor diagram with little explanation as to how it works or what each bit does.

I did look around but didn't find that answers I wanted

Cheers

Duncan

[Duncan]

I agree. In the long run it will be cheaper and much better to buy microphones from someone that knows what they are doing...

That sound like a rubbish way to learn to me
It's not a cost or a quality thing. It's about wanting to have a go

Duncan

[Todd R]

This is probably the best place to find what you're looking for:

http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/micbuilders/

Good luck!

[Duncan]

This is probably the best place to find what you're looking for:

http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/micbuilders/

Good luck!

Thanks very much for the pointer, I never found this during my hunting

Duncan

[yousef]

That sound like a rubbish way to learn to me
It's not a cost or a quality thing. It's about wanting to have a go

If that's the case, I seem to remember Maplin offering a couple of different (cheap) capsules that are probably less than sonically great but good for practicing on.

There are always a good few UK-based Ebay sellers selling "homemade" mics, I guess you could do worse than email them to ask about suppliers or even if they'd be willing to sell you some un-made examples.

btw, it's been excellent seeing your masters appearing on Dime. I've not downloaded any yet but it's been amazing to see first generation copies of all those classic recordings appearing. Nice one. I've got a million questions about your recordings but I'll stop thread-jacking and ask you in a more appropriate place

[youngsbest]

You can get the capsules here:

http://www.felmicamps.co.uk/products/felconnectorsand.html

They are cheaper per unit from Digi Key in the US, but the minimum order and shipping costs are rather steep.

You can buy the brass tubing to mount them in at B&Q.  Plastic boxes, capacitors, resistors etc. from Maplin.  It's better if you don't use a surface mount jack socket on the box, as the plug can work loose/move.  Use an in-line socket with a 4-5 cm long cable. Maplin don't do decent black mic cable, but Canfords do:

http://www.canford.co.uk/commerce/category_2000147_2000008.aspx

Good luck - it's not particularly difficult, but soldering the cables to the caps is fiddly, make sure you have a small bit on your soldering iron.  You can also get a thing called a Helping Hands to hold the caps when you solder; makes it a lot easier.  Halfway down this page:

http://www.remtrak.com/tools/tools.htm

[Duncan]

That sound like a rubbish way to learn to me
It's not a cost or a quality thing. It's about wanting to have a go

If that's the case, I seem to remember Maplin offering a couple of different (cheap) capsules that are probably less than sonically great but good for practicing on.

There are always a good few UK-based Ebay sellers selling "homemade" mics, I guess you could do worse than email them to ask about suppliers or even if they'd be willing to sell you some un-made examples.

btw, it's been excellent seeing your masters appearing on Dime. I've not downloaded any yet but it's been amazing to see first generation copies of all those classic recordings appearing. Nice one. I've got a million questions about your recordings but I'll stop thread-jacking and ask you in a more appropriate place

Thanks for the help

With the masters I was getting a bit worried about them just going to waste so I thought I'd just get them out as best I could. I don't know if I've got a million answers :-)
It looks like the JD ones are going to be officially released but those things can change

Duncan

[Duncan]

You can get the capsules here:

http://www.felmicamps.co.uk/products/felconnectorsand.html

They are cheaper per unit from Digi Key in the US, but the minimum order and shipping costs are rather steep.

You can buy the brass tubing to mount them in at B&Q.  Plastic boxes, capacitors, resistors etc. from Maplin.  It's better if you don't use a surface mount jack socket on the box, as the plug can work loose/move.  Use an in-line socket with a 4-5 cm long cable. Maplin don't do decent black mic cable, but Canfords do:

http://www.canford.co.uk/commerce/category_2000147_2000008.aspx

Good luck - it's not particularly difficult, but soldering the cables to the caps is fiddly, make sure you have a small bit on your soldering iron.  You can also get a thing called a Helping Hands to hold the caps when you solder; makes it a lot easier.  Halfway down this page:

http://www.remtrak.com/tools/tools.htm

thanks very much

Ducnan

[boojum]

Nothing is quite as discouraging as folks telling you, "You can't do that."  This is not rocket science, requires no degrees in electrical or audio engineering and is easily done by anyone with access to "bits."  You must understand how soldering irons work.  This link will take you to a step-by-step set of instructions for those who dare to try.  Have at it, mate!


You could also probably just as easily make a set of cardioids!  With the proper capsules, of course.  They might rival anything in its size and price class.  ;o)


http://forums.minidisc.org/index.php?showtopic=11254
 

B)

[Chuck]

I agree. In the long run it will be cheaper and much better to buy microphones from someone that knows what they are doing...

That sound like a rubbish way to learn to me
It's not a cost or a quality thing. It's about wanting to have a go

Duncan

Hey, I'm a do-it-yourselfer myself. I learned the hard way, by spending lots of money making marginally usable stuff in the beginning. Your original post mentioned nothing about just learning. If it's about learning, I say "go for it". But, I still say, that if the want a quality product for not much money, you would be better off buy from an experienced builder. At least at this stage.

Let us know what you end up doing...

[Church-Audio]

I agree. In the long run it will be cheaper and much better to buy microphones from someone that knows what they are doing...

That sound like a rubbish way to learn to me
It's not a cost or a quality thing. It's about wanting to have a go

Duncan

Hey, I'm a do-it-yourselfer myself. I learned the hard way, by spending lots of money making marginally usable stuff in the beginning. Your original post mentioned nothing about just learning. If it's about learning, I say "go for it". But, I still say, that if the want a quality product for not much money, you would be better off buy from an experienced builder. At least at this stage.

Let us know what you end up doing...

I thought you might be interested in knowing how I mod my Panasonic wm-61 caps here is a cute little picture.
This is a mod I do to a simple wm-61 capsule before the mod this capsule has a distortion of about 8% at 114db at 1k after the mod the distortion is 0.5% at 114db at 1k. I simply cut the trace from the ground and put the resistor in between the two I then use the side of the resistor going to the case for ground and the other terminal becomes my output. This mod is very easy to do but you need to have very good hands to do it. I cut part of the aluminum housing away with a very sharp razor blade then I put in my 1/8th watt resistor its very important that this resistor be exactly 4.7k I use only metal film resistors, then I epoxy the back of the capsule sealing up any holes made during the cutting process any air leaks will result in poor bass response. I then put heat shrink over the capsule and wrap it in aluminum tape then I put the whole thing inside a brass tube and then epoxy that. It makes for a very solid connection that does not fail unless you use it to floss your teeth.
Although there is no skill involved in making a basic mic. Mods at this level require very advanced ability with your hands and the eyes of a hawk to see what the hell is going on with your soldering. And a very good heat controlled soldering station and a good heat sink to wick away all the heat going to the capsule if it gets too hot its game over. But it can be done I dont waste any capsules. But if you start out doing this its best to have more then a few handy as its likely that you will toast a few before you can manage this if you have never done mods before.

[johnnyb]

I drink two pots of coffee a day so i doubt i'll be trying this anytime soon