Goal: To learn what it takes to modify my own microphones

Target: Cascade M20 large diaphram mic

I've decided to document and share my experiences here, in case there are other beginners who are interested.

Step 1: Taking the mic apart

Here is a pic of the Cascade M20 microphone. It is a large-diaphram condensor manufactured in China and I received two of them free when I purchased my Aardvark Q10 some 4 years ago. It has both bass rolloff and 10dB cut switches.



First, I had to unscrew the base of the microphone. I had never tried it, so I didn't know how easy this would be. It's really easy!




Now the body of the mic is loose, so you can simply pull it off.



Taking the basket off:

There are two screws (at least on this mic) that hold the basket in place.



Use a small screw driver to loosen. There are two tiny little washers also, so be careful not to lose them.



After removing the two screws, use caution to remove the basket, so you do not damage the capsule.

The microphone is now taken apart!

Ok, so I'm not actually sure what mods I'm going to do to this mic yet, but I had to take it apart first to investigate! Any suggestions?

Whenever I figure out the mods, I will try to document that process as well. That's all for now.

This mic is very similar to the "Shangahai mic" mentioned in this article, aka the Scott Dorsey mod.

At this point, I do not want to pursue completely new electronics, I would rather make improvements to the already existing electronics and circuit board.

Thanks for sharing, great pics!

Peter

Good job. Thanks. Looking forward to what's next.
WE

I've never modded a mic like that before, but I've done some other mods......try swapping out Germanium resistors for the cheap ones in there. Works great in most other mods.
Good Luck!!

Hey, thanks for the tip! Hopefully I will get to try it out sometime this year I've been pretty busy cause I'm getting married this Saturday

I thinking a transformer change would be a worthwhile mod. But there is no part number on the existing transformer. I want to pick out a replacement Cinemag or Lundahl, but I have no idea which specific part to order

quote:

try swapping out Germanium resistors for the cheap ones in there. Works great in most other mods.

Germanium resitors? New one on me. Where do you get those?

Regards
Peter

Probably meant, transistors...

Hello
I've donethis a few time atmy locl eletronics s tore take the peice i'm working on with and lethem have a lok ath eparts .
The sales guys were realy greati helping with ne wparts
I'm clueless to most of this stuf as well but can solder .
Don't mes with diapahrma at all don'ttouchit ect .
maybe warpit up tilyou puthe lid backontoprotect from damge .

A trans former transpalnt sems to the ongoig fav for starters an maybe someof the cpas to beter grade & quaility as well.
.
The hard part is doing clean work
use a vise to hold the unit while your workig will help a whole lot .
A low watt iron as well you don't to fry the new parts with to much heat or fry the etchings on the circut as well.
.
lots of luck
james

How did you load pictures onto your post? I've been trying it for about a week. I tried JPEG and bitmap; maybe the files are too big... Please HELP!

quote:

Originally posted by celestial:
How did you load pictures onto your post? I've been trying it for about a week. I tried JPEG and bitmap; maybe the files are too big... Please HELP!

I think in order to make images appear in your post you have to find a 3rd party to host the image. In my case, I have my own website and just uploaded the pics there.

But I'm pretty sure there are free image hostings. I just googled and found this

Then you can use the Image URL button (at the top, 2nd from right) to insert a picture into your post by entering a URL. You can also just type the following without the underscore.

[IMG_]http://url.com[/IMG_]

looks like that mic was made to be modded...if that's all it took to open it up.

One challenge that particular mic presents is the headbasket.

That multi-layer, perforated headbasket has very little open-area - the sound of the capsule is colored by the reflections that occur between it and the headbasket.

Any developments on this "Project Mic?"

Unfortunately no. Turns out I have higher priority "projects" to take care of first.

I'm optimistic that I should see more free time in 2008. The mods I'm planning to do are

1. As Michael suggested, remove the inner mesh of the headbasket

2. transformer swap

Thanks. Let us know.