vintage AKG microphone question

[Ed Storer]

I've inherited one AKG D1000E and one D2000E dynamic microphone.

 

Both have a small switch near the bottom with the positions labeled B M S.

 

Can somebody tell me what the lettters stand for or what each position is supposed to do?

 

Thanks!

[dboomer]

It's a low end roll off. As far as I remember it stands for BASS - MUSIC- Speech

[Dookietwo]

Bass,Medium,Sharp as best as I can remember.

 

Bass is more or less full range. Medium is some bass roll off. Sharp is more bass roll off.

 

Dookietwo

 

Found it.

Click on the PDF for the spec. Sheet.

 

http://www.akg.com/site/products/powerslave,id,563,pid,563,nodeid,2,_language,EN.html

 

D2000 here.

 

http://www.akg.com/site/products/powerslave,id,585,pid,585,nodeid,2,_language,EN.html

[Ed Storer]

Many thanks to both of you!

 

I was afraid I'd have to learn German.

[agedhorse]

 

It's a low end roll off. As far as I remember it stands for BASS - MUSIC- Speech

 

 

Funny, that's how I remembered it too. Maybe that was Sennheiser?

[Dookietwo]

Yes. Maybe the Sennheiser MD 421.

I believe it was the same microphone the prop guys for Star Trek turned into a phaser.

I remember watching them clicking it to stun or S position and thinking it looked alot like a MD421 backwards. (or a 441)

I believe somewhere I read that was what they used.

 

Dookietwo

[dboomer]

Funny, that's how I remembered it too.

 

Damn ... we've gotten old bro!

 

Like I said ... it's just a roll off switch

 

I do remember using these (D1000e's) in the days before sm58's (565's back then) and I do remember that one fall off the mic stand and they were likely toast. OTOH, they did sound a bunch better than sm58's. I used to put scotch tape around the XLR barrel to keep the little screws from falling out (which they were prone to do)

[W. M. Hellinger]

Damn ... we've gotten old bro! Like I said ... it's just a roll off switch I do remember using these (D1000e's) in the days before sm58's (565's back then) and I do remember that one fall off the mic stand and they were likely toast. OTOH, they did sound a bunch better than sm58's. I used to put scotch tape around the XLR barrel to keep the little screws from falling out (which they were prone to do)

um... I'm probably showing my age a little, but I believe I still have the D1000 I bought at a pawn shop back in '76... for like $5 (which seemed like a lot of money at the time).

[agedhorse]

The grille was made from compressed metal spheres that were porus. Unique to this day I think.

[Dogoth]

I've owned several D1000s over the years. I think the letters mean Bass, Middle, Sharp. The unique grill material is called sintered bronze. Overall I thought they were a very decent sounding mic (like a 57 without as much mid bump and a much extended high end). I never found them to be extremely fragile (nothing compares to Shure - maybe EV). I also don't think they needed that hpf as they weren't intrinsicly a warm sounding mic.

 

Isn't the D2000 a ball type vocal mic? I think I just sold one of those about 6 months ago (same body as a D1000 but with a windscreen). Also not a bad sounding mic.

[NUSound]

Bass, Medium, Sharp.... per this:

 

[ATTACH=CONFIG]340695[/ATTACH]

[Shaster]

Is that the bronze stuff that was on the AKG D190's? http://www.akg.com/site/products/powerslave,id,246,pid,246,nodeid,2,_language,EN.html

 

I never really liked those mics but they seemed to be everywhere in the early seventies - at least on my circuit. They had a weird mid to them IIRC. Still, for old time's sake I'd like to hear one again. Maybe it was the fault of the Shure Vocal Master PA...

[dboomer]

 

Maybe it was the fault of the Shure Vocal Master PA...

 

 

So why do you think that SM58s are voiced that way they are? They are far from "flat" ... perfect compliment to a bunch of 6x9 car radio speakers;)

[soul-x]

So why do you think that SM58s are voiced that way they are? They are far from "flat" ... perfect compliment to a bunch of 6x9 car radio speakers;)

 

 

58s have a upper mid hump that I would think only exaggerate the boxy sound of that style of speaker.

[dboomer]

Well for highs you were basically dealing with four 8" cone drivers ... not a lot of highs there. The speakers basically looked like telephone response 300-3kHz. The HF bump in the mic corresponded nicely with the HF drop-off in the speakers.