Members redEL34 Posted June 23, 2019 Members Share Posted June 23, 2019 Thinking of buying one, not cheap. The one I have sounds really good actually. But the rest of the mic is 251.It still holds up in shootouts I`ve heard with the real thing. It almost sounds better.. A mic that sounds really good, or a mic that is more faithful? That`s the $300 question, because that`s what it costs to have a AKG spec chambered and skinned capsule for $300. Pretty impressive. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members redEL34 Posted June 25, 2019 Author Members Share Posted June 25, 2019 Yes I`m buying one. There is literally 3 (maybe 2, not sure if one quit or what) people I could find in the world that make the original spec c12 capsule. AKG gave up on them even apparently. Supposedly "50 parts"(I`m guessing that includes the screws:p) Many layers of chambers and backplate holes that must be lined up PERFECTLY. Seems like the best one for the price is this guy in Australia that I`m going to buy one from. Beesneez or something like that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil O'Keefe Posted June 25, 2019 Share Posted June 25, 2019 Ben Sneesby. The other person who is supposed to really nail them is Tim Campbell. His CT12's are a bit more expensive than Ben's capsules IIRC. I think he also frequently has a waiting list. The original brass CK12 is an amazingly complex capsule. AKG hasn't made them since the early 1980s when they switched to the various teflon versions. What are you using currently? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Balthazar Munoz Posted June 25, 2019 Members Share Posted June 25, 2019 The original AKG c12 capsule mics- how much are they used? Are they prone to failure? Are they a quintessential addition to the vintage Neumans and old RCA studio mics?Asking for a friend. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil O'Keefe Posted June 25, 2019 Share Posted June 25, 2019 The original AKG c12 capsule mics- how much are they used? Quite a bit. AKG stopped making them with the original capsules in the early 1980s, but they made quite a few of them before that. Every single AKG C12 used one, as did every single Telefunken ELA M 251 and ELA M 250. While those are fairly rare mics, they also used the brass CK12 in every single C12a, C12b, C412 and all of the original C414's up to and including the original C414EB models (but not the P48 versions). If it's an AKG '414 from the 1970's or before, it has a brass CK12 capsule - UNLESS it was sent back to AKG for service after they switched over to the teflon capsules; if the mic needed a capsule replacement, then it received one of the new (and IMHO inferior) capsules. Are they prone to failure? Not particularly. While any condenser mic can develop problems over time, the CK12 doesn't suffer from some of the issues that some other capsules do, such as the M7 capsules Neumann originally used. They had PVC diaphragms that would dry out over time and lead to a serious loss of bass response. The mylar diaphragms of the CK12 don't suffer from the same issue, although they can accumulate crud and require professional cleaning occasionally, and can also suffer from other issues... but they can be rebuilt and reskinned, so even if one has an "issue", it shouldn't be thrown away... Are they a quintessential addition to the vintage Neumans and old RCA studio mics?Asking for a friend. A good Tele 251 in excellent condition is one of the most expensive and desirable vintage microphones on the planet. Same for the AKG C12. Best of all, you can still get tubes for them - unlike the literally unobtainable VF14M tubes needed to keep an all-stock Neumann U47 or U48 operational. Yes, they rank up there with the best mics that RCA and Neumann ever made. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members redEL34 Posted June 25, 2019 Author Members Share Posted June 25, 2019 Ben Sneesby. The other person who is supposed to really nail them is Tim Campbell. His CT12's are a bit more expensive than Ben's capsules IIRC. I think he also frequently has a waiting list. The original brass CK12 is an amazingly complex capsule. AKG hasn't made them since the early 1980s when they switched to the various teflon versions. What are you using currently? I have a Peluso now, which sounds good but horribly overpriced. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members redEL34 Posted June 25, 2019 Author Members Share Posted June 25, 2019 The original AKG c12 capsule mics- how much are they used? Are they prone to failure? Are they a quintessential addition to the vintage Neumans and old RCA studio mics?Asking for a friend. I appreciate you asking:). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members redEL34 Posted June 25, 2019 Author Members Share Posted June 25, 2019 Ben Sneesby. The other person who is supposed to really nail them is Tim Campbell. His CT12's are a bit more expensive than Ben's capsules IIRC. I think he also frequently has a waiting list. The original brass CK12 is an amazingly complex capsule. AKG hasn't made them since the early 1980s when they switched to the various teflon versions. What are you using currently? Yeah he emailed me back last night. He has a "forever warranty" which is really cool. Also the least expensive of the 3(or 2) available. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil O'Keefe Posted June 26, 2019 Share Posted June 26, 2019 Yeah he emailed me back last night. He has a "forever warranty" which is really cool. Also the least expensive of the 3(or 2) available. Was there someone other than Ben or Tim you heard about who is currently building good CK12 replicas? I am aware of the Microphone-parts, Peluso and Maiku capsules... but I don't think they're really doing a full-on proper CK12. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members redEL34 Posted June 29, 2019 Author Members Share Posted June 29, 2019 Was there someone other than Ben or Tim you heard about who is currently building good CK12 replicas? I am aware of the Microphone-parts, Peluso and Maiku capsules... but I don't think they're really doing a full-on proper CK12. No they aren`t, and I recently found out why. And why I`m sticking with the capsule I have. This is all anecdotal, as is most talk with these, but from what I have read, the original Peluso capsule was engineered by an ex Neumann capsule technician. And instead of the chambers, he just added more holes in the backplates to compensate for the "lining up" of the chambers. I have graphs on my cell phone, but the "new design", even though AKG now actually uses the $30 Rayking capsule(on Alibaba-I have one but it`s in a box), is actually a smoother curve mid-high. There is a weird little spike in the original design, not that it`s bad, that`s probably what made them sound the way they do. It`s not worth it. They have made them too close now, maybe better. I decided if it sounds good(which it does), no reason to go all OG which they themselves don`t use anymore(I think instead of AKG it`s Samsung now). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil O'Keefe Posted July 2, 2019 Share Posted July 2, 2019 No they aren`t, and I recently found out why. And why I`m sticking with the capsule I have. This is all anecdotal, as is most talk with these, but from what I have read, the original Peluso capsule was engineered by an ex Neumann capsule technician. And instead of the chambers, he just added more holes in the backplates to compensate for the "lining up" of the chambers. I'm not a capsule designer, but I know engineering pretty well... and I really don't see how extra holes in the backplate can compensate / substitute for an acoustic chamber. I guess I need to read up some more on the Peluso capsule design. I have graphs on my cell phone, but the "new design", even though AKG now actually uses the $30 Rayking capsule(on Alibaba-I have one but it`s in a box), is actually a smoother curve mid-high. There is a weird little spike in the original design, not that it`s bad, that`s probably what made them sound the way they do. It`s not worth it. They have made them too close now, maybe better. I decided if it sounds good(which it does), no reason to go all OG which they themselves don`t use anymore(I think instead of AKG it`s Samsung now). It's too bad that you can't get one and hear it before making up your mind. I have mics with original CK12's, as well as some that came with some of the better reproductions (Soundelux), and also some of the less expensive reproductions (Warm Audio), and also a mic or two with the modern AKG "nylon" CK12's in them, and even a mic with an original CK12 that was rebuilt by Stephen Paul... and of all of them, the originals (and the Stephen Paul mod) sound the best IMO, followed very closely by the Soundelux mics - there really is something darned near magical about the high end response of a deep dish original CK12... the modern ones that stick to that original design as closely as possible really do sound better than the ones that don't IMHO. The older, shallow-dish CK12's from the 1950's tend to have a smoother high frequency response... but IMHO, they also lack some of the magic of the later (post 1960) versions. That high frequency zest is what makes the old AKG and Telefunken mics so special. But hey - if you dig the way your mic sounds now, there's absolutely no reason to mess with it any further. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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