Capsules

Has anyone used the capsules from Blue? I am thinking of getting a k47 style capsule. the cactus one apears to be that style.

That's exactly the capsule I was considering. This whole capsule thing concerns me. I've seen clones of what are claimed to be U47 capsules with price ranges all over the place, the Peluso at $150, the Cactus at $400 and Gunther Wagner's for $650. It gets confusing. I am the most tempted by the Cactus though, thinking of using it in a U47fet clone, maybe even a mic that has a U47fet circuit switchable to a U87 or U84 circuit.
Kelley

Gus,Kelly
Do not take this a the gospel.
At AES last year I spent 1/2 day listening to mics.
It was fun. Each booth had different mics and different headphones so very difficult to compare apples to apples.
Three mics stood out that day. The smoothest (most like my voice) was the Neumann TLM170 sounded just like me. I understand this mic was designed not to have a color to it. Most other mics in the world are designed to add color.

The Telefunken U47 version. Well this is the real U47 (as close as I have gotten too) I have heard. Yes I know it is not the real thing but it had a ballsy low mids like I have never heard it should sound great on thin female vocals! Now I know why people like the U47 next time I find a longbody U47 for a dollar I will buy it!

The AEA R84 ribbon sounds real close to a RCA44 yes it was ribbon but that thing quoting the ad "it had high end for days" yes a ribbon it is a different sound than a condenser but I know I will like that mic when I buy one. Very surrprised by it's sonics.

Now to my point the Blue mics very well built and Skipper is very nice
sounded too bright for me. I am unsure I really need that brightness in the studio but compared to the mics above I felt the whole line was to bright for me that day with those headphones and the sleep I had had IMHO.
Not knocking the mics I will get a few of them but there was a big difference from the 3 mics above to the Blue mics. Yes apples to oranges comparison. Take it for what it is worth my opinion.
As for my DIY I am going with Peluso capsules as he is closer in distance
and I can buy more capsules to experment with.

Adrian,
I'm wondering though, how much of the brightness the capsule was responsible for or was it the circuit. If you took the U47 and the Cactus mics and were it possible to swap the capsules, would the brightness follow the capsule or stay with the mic?
Kelley

In regards to blue capsules, I dont know that I would personally call them "bright" but they definitley have a crispiness to them that I find useful. They arent bright like the cheaper chinese mics are by any stretch, they are real microphones. I think the sound of the mic is definitley in the capsule though, and here's why-

Ive got one of the lollipop capsules that will work on my akg c28 and c60's. On both of those tube mics, the capsule exhibits the same kind of crispiness equally on both mics. The main difference is the presence the sound has much more than the quality of the sound. This capsule is also used in the dragonfly deluxe (the green one) which is a transformerless design and again, its got the same crispiness to it, same idea, WAY different presence.

Based on my experience there, Id think that the signature BLUE sound comes from the capsule construction. I also have a mouse which is their 87 flavored mic and it is similar in vibe to the other blue mics I have heard and used, different sound. I would bet that if you took a cactus capsule and stuck it on a different amp, you might get a different sound but it would be the same idea...

dave

Sorry do not have any real experience to help above what I posted.
If the bank would hurry up and give me the loan I could go buy
the mics and listen.