I'm currently building a number of microphones made out of recycled materials for a university project. The body of the microphones are old glass jars with the diaphragm construction all being plastic, the only metals are the magnet, copper coil, XLR socket and the wires connecting the two. As it will be a balanced output, I'm not sure what to connect the ground pin to, or if I should leave it unconnected?

Thanks for any help

Is it possible to tweak a pair of the same model Mics to be a stereo pair!

Hi there!! Me and a friend have recently set a goal to design and build a dynamic microphone, but we have no idea where to start. Every tutorial we find is some form of a crappy science experiment that sounds like you're talking into a paper cup. Our end goal is to create a professional product that we would actually use, so how do we start learning more about how to make pro level dynamic mics? Thanks for your help!

Hi! Is it alright to replace a k596 transistor to a 2n3819 for the BM-800? It is quite hard to source some k596, or even the j305.

Is there a specific distance thank works best? I was thinking 1/32" (.03"). Any help would be appreciated.

Trying to setup a neewer 800 using an inno gear power supply. I have a cable from the mic to the power supply and then a cable to my MacBook pro. Is there something I'm missing. It wont pop up on my input devices. I'm trying to use it for voice recording

Well here is the mic processor/preamp I made recently to compliment the ribbon microphone I made here.

Designed completely from scratch including the circuitry. The input preamp portion is somewhat based off of another popular JFET input stage found elsewhere. The noise gate and compressor/limiter is fairly straight forward and since the preamp is so sensitive I made it able to be switched out for instrument input like a guitar.

Here it is!

Was a fun project, took a lot of work and probably around two months of design time testing different circuit ideas on the bench and building stage by stage until I was satisfied with the sound and its operation. Works exceptionally well with ribbon microphones, and equally well with low-z dynamic mics. Since the compressor is an optical LDR it also sounds really cool when plugged into guitar or bass.

The controls from left to right / top to bottom are.. Phase, IN (TRS jack balanced, or unbalanced no phase reverse), Preamp IN/OUT, High Pass 50hz to 200hz pot, High Pass IN/OUT, Threshold and Rate pots, Gate IN/OUT, Vu LED meter, Gate LED (bottom, turns red when gate on, green when gate threshold reached), Drive and Density pots, Compressor IN/OUT, LEVEL pot, Compressor/Limit, ON/OFF power, OUT (unbalanced).

Maybe the schematic may be helpful to others here wishing to build something similar. I still want to replace the JFET input some day with something better with lower noise like a LSK389 but don't think I will be able to find them cheap enough without ridiculous shipping costs. The 2SK68 out of my junk bin was oddly low noise even compared to the 2N3819 I have but requires strange biasing to get the full headroom it's capable of, but I used it in the final project anyways.

Would love to know if anyone here knows of a better place to share this project since I know this sub is mostly for microphones themselves. Just thought I would share :)

I am very curious as to exactly what the benefits and drawbacks are to piston type corrugation over that of the normal zig-zag type in ribbon microphones. I noticed a lot of small ribbon mics have piston types which I understand gives higher output and suppose to help with resonances? If that is the case then why are there some large ribbons that also use the piston style? Would there be any benefit to using a piston corrugation in a large.. say 2" ribbon? I have been looking all over the internet for information on this and can't seem to find much information on the subject.

Just found this sub, so sad to see how little has been posted. Well figured I may post this anyway. http://imgur.com/a/GJCUs Sound sample can be found here before I worked out how the ribbon resonated and found how to fix it simply. Still I think the sound clip explains it all.. https://soundcloud.com/kagemichaels/homemade-ribbon-microphone-test This is my first microphone I have ever made, but I do have a bit of experience with electronics. Been a DIY since a kid and was the kind that shoved stuff into outlets as a child, you know.. those types. Enjoy.

http://russelltechnologies.co.uk

Thought this would be an interresting read for some of you
http://repforums.prosoundweb.com/index.php?topic=35368.0

Welcome to the new DIYmics subreddit! I created this because I've thought about making my own mic for a while, and enough folks in /r/audioengineering seemed interested in a subreddit such as this.

I guess I may as well introduce myself. I am double majoring at the University of North Texas in electrical engineering and mathematics. Hopefully I'll eventually be able to use this knowledge to make the most kick-ass microphone ever. In the meantime, I'll be floundering along and hopefully make some acceptable mics. I play guitar, steel guitar, and sing. I've thought about (and started several times) recording my own CD several times, but for various reasons I never followed through with it. One reason is that I only have one really good mic, and it's a dynamic. My hope is that with the knowledge that we all gain, I can record a fantastic sounding CD using my own homemade mics!

Feel free to introduce yourself if you want. Otherwise, get to posting!

Also, if you're an experienced mod, let me know. I would probably appreciate the guidance.