DIY microphones (1 Viewer)

[rich r]

I am interested in building a DIY microphone using speakerbuilder.net's design and the panasonic mic cartridges. -=-My concern is a wand!!-=-

What would be the ideal wand that could be made. My father is a tool & die maker so fabricating a wand out of steel or aluminum would not pose a problem.

My questions are:

1. what material would be best to use??

2. should the mike cartridge be recessed and flush mounted into the wand and secured with an adhesive such as epoxy??

3. What type of hook up wire would be recommended to achieve the cleanest signal?

4. what would be an ideal length for the wand to be??

If anyone has pics or info that would be useful it will be much appreciated

 

[ThomasW]

How much is your time and labor worth? This is the http://www.behringer.com/02_products/proddetail.cfm?id=ECM8000&type=110&lang=eng
It's available for less than $40. It's easily as accurate as the DIY mics. It needs a mic pre-amp with 15-48+v phantom power

 

[Pete Mazz]

I made one some time ago. I used a 3/8" D gray PVC toilet supply tube and cut the ends off. The capsule is about the same diameter. Overall, it's about 8-10" long, with about 12" of wire and plug. For the wire, I just bought a RS mono 1/8" plug patch cord and cut it in half. To secure the capsule, I used heat shrink tubing and some hot glue. Without a calibration, tho, you really won't know what its giving you.

Pete

 

[BruceD]

Here is some info on a design (brass tubing)
Link Removed
sorry I need to look for the wand

 

[Chris_Kelly]

Pete,

This is something I'm pursuing right now. I've even already gotten a couple of Panny mics from DK.

I also plan on building Eric's preamp circuit to use.

What I want to find out is how the heck do you calibrate a microphone!???!

I really want the response to be as close to flat as possible... w/in budgetary constraints of course tho.

 

[ThomasW]

Microphones in and of themselves aren't actually 'calibrated'. There aren't any adjustments inside a mic. They are calibrated (actually compared) to a known lab standard mic. A correction plot is generated with the differences between the lab standard and the mic being 'calibrated'.
Later a 'cal' file can be created from the plot and imported into some software programs.
ETF acoustics has a cal file for the RS meter. Download and take a look at it if you want to see what a cal file looks like.

 

[Chris_Kelly]

Thomas:

Ok...I knew there wasn't any way to cal. a mic per se, so I figured it MUST be something like what you mentioned. Thanks for clearing that up for me tho.

 

[rich r]

thanks for all the help so far!!

I have decided to go with the wm-61A mic cartridge due to its higher sensitivty and lower noise

I will be build a 8" to 10" wand out of Aluminum for overall density with the mic cartidge resessed and flush mounted

the Only question i have left is WIRE. Would you guys suggest a 20 to 24 guage solid or stranded wire built with copper or silver??

thanks I will keep you posted of my results!!