Whole other ballgame... the capsule backplates are now whipped out on CNC lathes, and no more gasket diaphragm spacers...

The step is now machined into the backplate and the tolerance went from one micron flatness and parallelism to more than two tenths!

The response went from an average -3 at 15kHz to -5 at 15kHz...

Same fate to the 87... always took a mod, but now you =really= need one!

Originally posted by Stephen Paul:

Same fate to the 87... always took a mod, but now you =really= need one!

I made the mistake of buying a new U87, mainly because I remember how much I loved singing into one in the 1970s. But it sounds nothing like it did in those days. I can't bring myself to spend an additional $1000 or more on a mod. Is there a simpler mod that could improve this mic? :(

Not really... the reason that we don't approve of simply removing the high-end rolloff like someone else who does only electronic work we know of, is because the capsule was designed with a fairly high-Q peak at 10k... the ear really doesn't like narrow-band boost resonances, and so it's rather a harsh fix to do that and leave the stock diaphragms on.

It's still a great platform, we just have to do more work to retolerance the newer ones to our window and precision guidelines. They've really messed up what was a gorgeously hand-made work of art capsule in the K67/87... shame... though we can make them absolutely sparkle and create a world-class killer out of them.

In fact, there really is nothing I know of out of the box that can touch an 87 mod, tube or solid state, made today, IMHO, and in the opinions of thousands of others. If you'll pardon me.

Originally posted by Stephen Paul:

So you might consider it bucks well-spent. We ain't gettin' rich doin' it, I can tell you that!

I own a SP 3 micron U87 which is simply outstanding. It's my first choice for vocals 9 times out of 10, highly recommended.

I was shocked the first time I heard one of those mods where the anti-sibilance EQ had been removed. It defeats the whole point of the 67/87 which was optimization as a close vocal mike.

There's a huge difference between a mike sounding different and a mike sounding better.

I just want to state for the record that Bob is not talking about our mods! ;)

This is the very situation we avoid by not doing this with stock capsules... the high-end is unusable in my opinion, as it is harsh and makes those digital filters go WANGGGG.... :eek:

Enter thin-film and good design to the rescue!

Stephen,

I have a U87 FET that I purchased new in 1972, I think. It has the blue dot on the connector housing, so I guess it's been "Gothamized". What mod(s) would you recommend for this mic?

Thanks!
Gary

Hey Gary... we have a whole bunch of very cool options...

The best thing to do is write me through the RO email thing, and I'll send you my number and we can klatsch a bit about all the goodies available...

I keep trying to find the time to update the website but I'm goin' nuts (short trip!!) so phone is easiest right now...

Somthing hangin' me up having to do with MPEG encoding now!! :eek:

Thanks...

[QB]Neumann came out with a re-issue of the U67 in 1991. How does it compare sonically to the original U67?

How long was this available? I have seen every Neumann and Neumann USA catalog for the past 1/2 dozen years or so and never saw even one mention of a reissue U67. Was it just a limited edition model that sold out quickly and disappeared? I've never seen one offered for sale on the used market either.....

Steve
sjp@pacbell.net

How long was this available? I have seen every Neumann and Neumann USA catalog for the past 1/2 dozen years or so and never saw even one mention of a reissue U67... Was it just a limited edition model that sold out quickly and disappeared?

Well, it did exist- I saw some. Going six years back, of course doesn't get you even close to 1991...

They only did a limited run- I think it had to do with the limited availability of certain components.

They made a run of 50 of them as I recall, mostly for Japan and one of the film studios.

Stephen Paul, post: 45438, member: 49170 wrote: They made a run of 50 of them as I recall, mostly for Japan and one of the film studios.

i have 5 vintage ones and a 1991 reissue. they all sound very slightly different, probably because they aged in different environment, but the 1991 is very very close to the vintage, maybe slightly quieter. if you open it the pc board is green instead than dark yellow but it looks identical, altought i do not know as much as Paul to mach caps brand etch. i have not heard the current reissue yet