Has anyone compared these directly? Is there a major difference?

D.

Daniel Fuchs wrote:
Has anyone compared these directly? Is there a major difference?

I have, and there is a slight difference. I think the KM140 has better
top end.

The two mikes have identical capsules and electronics, so the difference
is probably due to mechanical construction or parasitics in the capsule
wiring.

It's not a huge difference.
--scott

--
"C'est un Nagra. C'est suisse, et tres, tres precis."

KM 184s made since 2002 have ca. 3 dB lower equivalent noise, but
otherwise the two models use the exact same capsule in the exact same
physical arrangement and have almost identical (and neutral-sounding)
circuitry. Any difference which can be heard between them would have to
be accidental, i.e. due to ordinary variation among samples, or due to
capsules being in different condition.

The only other thing that I can think of to explain a perceived
difference in sound would be a marginally insufficient phantom power
supply, since the KM 184 requires about 50% more current per microphone
than the KM 140.

--best regards

On 12/14/05 10:50 PM, in article
, "David Satz"
wrote:

KM 184s made since 2002 have ca. 3 dB lower equivalent noise, but
otherwise the two models use the exact same capsule in the exact same
physical arrangement and have almost identical (and neutral-sounding)
circuitry. Any difference which can be heard between them would have to
be accidental, i.e. due to ordinary variation among samples, or due to
capsules being in different condition.

Isn't it true that the capsule from a 184 is not compatible with a 100
series body, and vice versa? Mic body mass and shape could also add to a
difference.

Also, anyone know why the KM183's are much more susceptible to cell
phone/RFI chatter than the 184's? I could never understand that one.


Allen
--
Allen Corneau
Mastering Engineer
Essential Sound Mastering
www.esmastering.com

Allen, the capsules are absolutely identical between the two models,
but the capsule heads (the complete units) are not: The KM 100 series
uses an "active capsule" system in which a short, cylindrical barrel
containing the FET circuit is attached to the back of each capsule,
while the KM 180 series capsule heads attach directly to the FET input
circuitry in the body of the microphone. Electrically that's not a
significant difference; it's just a question of which parts are in
which part of the overall housing. The body shape is also the same in
both cases, and mass would hardly be an issue unless the microphone
body was picking up very strong physical vibrations at audio
frequencies--which shouldn't be anyone's normal way of determining the
sonic character of a microphone, I would think.

--best regards