Recording - November 2020 - 51

THE

P-87

ACHIEVES HIGH OUTPUT AND LOW NOISE FLOOR

THROUGH THE USE OF A HIGH IMPEDANCE CIRCUIT AND
SUPER-LOW-NOISE FET. IT HANDLES HIGH SPL'S, WITHOUT USING
HIGHER CAPSULE VOLTAGES. THIS DELIVERS A TRIBUTE TO THE TRUE
CHARACTER OF THE VINTAGE MICROPHONE, READY FOR TODAY'S

MicParts.comU-87EQmodkit for SPC-1
It never really cut it for me-it's harsh on the top end, and the noise performance is
less than stellar. I thought a lot about what kind of mic I was still missing, and I decided
I wanted something full-bodied with a gentle, airy high frequency lift-something that
would work well on a male vocal. I had some terrific conversations with MicParts.com
owner Matt McGlynn, who steered me to the components that would help me get
what I was after. I ended up buying his T-84 circuit kit. It features a Neumann-based
design with a few intelligent tweaks. I paired it with an AKG-inspired RK-12 capsule. I
liked the idea of mixing components from two of my favorite mic designs. The project
wasn't too difficult, and the results were exactly what I was hoping for. It's now a
unique mic that's great on male vocals, and it has a bit of vintage vibe.

Tube be, or not tube be

I decided that my old Apex 460 tube mics had crossed
over to the donor category. They sound OK-they've
come in handy on bass and as as room mics, but as time
has gone by I use them less and less. This mic is a hugely popular mod platform with many options to choose
from. I ended up selecting the modification offered by
Advanced Audio in British Columbia. Owner and mod
designer Dave Thomas is a sagacious audio pro who
has been in the business for a long time. I used to record
occasionally at his Ocean Studio in Vancouver.
I sent one 460 to Dave. What came back was essentially
a bespoke Advanced Audio CM12 SE microphone with a
rebuilt power supply. It's an entirely new mic-new capsule
and a 100% new circuit. It's a full-throated tube mic with an
AKG-inspired sound-a thing of beauty. I love it so much
I'm sending my other 460 to be modded into a CM251.

LARGE DIAPHRAGM
STUDIO MICROPHONE

P87

DEMANDING DIGITAL RECORDING STANDARDS.

Warm and balanced character
Excellent on vocals, broadcast and voice-over
Excellent on any instrument, violins to drums
Center-terminated brass capsule
Cardioid, omni, & bi-directional patterns
Low self-noise for modern recording
Custom-wound transformer balanced output
Extremely durable all metal construction
-10 dB pad & 75/150Hz high-pass lter
Handmade in USA

PELUSOMICROPHONELAB.COM

The journey is the goal

I now have eight great new microphones. Researching
these projects and learning about the capsule and circuit
design is the reward. All that new knowledge and a renewed
and more complete mic locker is a pretty sweet payoff for a
reasonably small investment of time and money.

MicParts.comT-84kit assembled

Peluso Microphone Lab
RECORDING November 2020

http://www.MicParts.com http://www.MicParts.com http://www.pelusomicrophonelab.com http://www.MicParts.com

Recording - November 2020

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