hi there
looking for any feedback on the sound of a km56 which i might buy but
cannot try. How does this mic compare to the km84?
Thanks for any feedback
Julian

On a basic level, the KM56 is brighter and has more harmonic content as
compared to the KM84.

Nathan Eldred
http://www.atlasproaudio.com
http://www.atlasrecording.com


julian moore wrote:
hi there
looking for any feedback on the sound of a km56 which i might buy but
cannot try. How does this mic compare to the km84?
Thanks for any feedback
Julian

From: "Nathan Eldred"
Newsgroups: rec.audio.pro
Sent: Sunday, March 20, 2005 5:21 PM
Subject: km56 in comparison to an 84

On a basic level, the KM56 is brighter and has more harmonic content as
compared to the KM84.


On a somewhat more basic level, it's a 3 pattern mike that's considered
among the very best sounding ever made. The potential problems are that the
diaphragms supposedly deteriorate and they always seemed a bit noisier than
later top of the line small diaphragm condensers.

--
Bob Olhsson Audio Mastery, Nashville TN
Mastering, Audio for Picture, Mix Evaluation and Quality Control
Over 40 years making people sound better than they ever imagined!
615.385.8051 http://www.hyperback.com

Bob, just to complete the thought: Neumann hasn't made capsules like
that in decades, and they ran out of replacement parts stock a long
time ago--which is no surprise, since the ultra-thin nickel foil is
easily perforated.

Thus if the capsule of a KM 56 needs replacement--which many of the
ones on the used market seemingly do need--you have only some rather
poor choices: "reskinning" with unpredictable sonic results, versus
looking around for a genuine Neumann replacement capsule which will
probably cost you around $1000.

I would never buy one of these without a guarantee based on an expert
third-party inspection; there are too many rejects floating around, and
too many "vintage" equipment dealers who have played fast and loose
with their verbal descriptions and in some instances, with the parts
inside the microphone case.

--best regards

David Satz wrote:
Bob, just to complete the thought: Neumann hasn't made capsules like
that in decades, and they ran out of replacement parts stock a long
time ago--which is no surprise, since the ultra-thin nickel foil is
easily perforated.

Gefell, however, can rebuild these capsules, and if they aren't perforated
they are extremely stable. So we have a good reference to judge the Gefell
rebuilding jobs by, and they are excellent.

Thus if the capsule of a KM 56 needs replacement--which many of the
ones on the used market seemingly do need--you have only some rather
poor choices: "reskinning" with unpredictable sonic results, versus
looking around for a genuine Neumann replacement capsule which will
probably cost you around $1000.

Not at all. Gefell will probably charge something outrageous for a
rebuild, though, especially with the dollar so low.
--scott


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

On 21 Mar 2005 08:21:19 -0800, "David Satz" wrote:

Bob, just to complete the thought: Neumann hasn't made capsules like
that in decades, and they ran out of replacement parts stock a long
time ago--which is no surprise, since the ultra-thin nickel foil is
easily perforated.

Thus if the capsule of a KM 56 needs replacement--which many of the
ones on the used market seemingly do need--you have only some rather
poor choices: "reskinning" with unpredictable sonic results, versus
looking around for a genuine Neumann replacement capsule which will
probably cost you around $1000.

I would never buy one of these without a guarantee based on an expert
third-party inspection; there are too many rejects floating around, and
too many "vintage" equipment dealers who have played fast and loose
with their verbal descriptions and in some instances, with the parts
inside the microphone case.

--best regards

Can't Gefell work on those mics?

Al

[Fletcher]

Originally Posted by play on

On 21 Mar 2005 08:21:19 -0800, "David Satz" wrote:

Bob, just to complete the thought: Neumann hasn't made capsules like
that in decades, and they ran out of replacement parts stock a long
time ago--which is no surprise, since the ultra-thin nickel foil is
easily perforated.

Thus if the capsule of a KM 56 needs replacement--which many of the
ones on the used market seemingly do need--you have only some rather
poor choices: "reskinning" with unpredictable sonic results, versus
looking around for a genuine Neumann replacement capsule which will
probably cost you around $1000.

I would never buy one of these without a guarantee based on an expert
third-party inspection; there are too many rejects floating around, and
too many "vintage" equipment dealers who have played fast and loose
with their verbal descriptions and in some instances, with the parts
inside the microphone case.

--best regards

Can't Gefell work on those mics?

Al

Sure they "can", the question is "will" they... the answer is pretty much "nope, sorry". There are some new/old stock capsules floating around... but as David mentioned they usually run around $1k [I want over $1k for the one I have].

There is no company other than Microtech Gefell that I know of that has the ability to work on metal capsules... so for the most part, if you capsule goes, your "S.O.L."

play on, my understanding from correspondence with Microtech Gefell is
that they consider such repairs only as a service for their own
customers. In other words you would have to be the owner of some of
their microphones, and they would consider it then.

They still make nickel membranes for their measurement microphones, and
their M 582 microphone series had an M 62 cardioid capsule which seems
to resemble quite strongly the Berlin K 54 capsule. Since the K 56
capsule was made basically from the same parts as two K 54s, it's at
least plausible that they would know how to do this type of work.

But I don't actually know anyone who's had a KM 56 (or KM 88) repaired
by them, and as a musician and an increasingly older person, I know
that forty years is a long time to keep doing things exactly as they
were done before. After forty years I don't know how anyone can be sure
what "the same way" really is!

--best regards