Mad Minute, the furious Humboldt Park Punk band, assaulted Kilo with a slew of great songs that are to be the band’s next album. It was a whirlwind of wailing drums, blaring bass, screaming guitars and some actual screaming, and turned out to be a super fun, very interesting project. Watch out for their new LP – it will definitely whoop you with great tones and stellar performances.
The man with the magic turntables comes back for his third set with Mitchell. His work can be witnessed on his website – 3DJ – a combination 3-Dimensional visual extravaganza and DJ set site. Grab your 3D glasses, turn up the level and get ready for some dancing.
Kilo Studios just got a new Mac Pro. Quick, ask how many cores it has! EIGHT. Now ask how much ram! A TON. This machine is going to run Pro Tools even faster than before, and that translates to better audio for you.
This is an SM57. Are you listening, class?
I’m sure everyone out there has at least heard the number ‘57′ in respect to recording gear. It is a VERY widely used microphone and has been around for a long time. But this isn’t a history lesson. This is a modification lesson.
Today, I’m going to remove the transformer from this 57.
“Are you mad? It’s an SM57, it’s supposed to sound like an SM57!”
I know. I’m not modding this microphone to make it ‘better’. I’m modding it to make it different. I’m creating a different tone to use, a different brush with which to spread the paint across the canvas. I’m actually modifying two because I have an OCD complex when it comes to stereo pairs of things.
Removing the transformer has been claimed to make the modded SM57 susceptible to phantom power damage, so beware.
Please read all steps before attempting to do this yourself.
1. Unscrew XLR pin structure toward the ‘bottom’ of the mic using a tiny .4mm screwdriver.
This is what happens after you carefully pull it out:
2. Unscrew the hollow portion from the diaphragm portion of the microphone, at this joint:
This is what happens after you carefully do this:
3. Desolder the 4 points, 2 at the XLR connector end and 2 at the diaphragm end. The result will be 2 wires coming up one side of the hollow portion and 2 wires coming down the other side of the hollow portion:
You can clearly see the transformer suspended in some goo. Our goal is to remove that transformer.
3. Boil the hollow portion. Seriously. This will melt the goo and allow you to dislodge the transformer. Keep in mind I am modding 2, that’s why there are 2 hollow portions in the boiling water. DO NOT PUT THE DIAPHRAGM PORTION IN THE WATER, LEST YOU CARE TO END UP WITH A BROKEN SM57!
4. When enough of the goo has dissolved and the rest is soft, pick up the hollow portion while it is still hot, using tongs or some other device so as not to burn yourself on boiling-hot metal, and using pliers or a similar tool, grab that transformer and carefully slide it out. You do NOT want to fling molten goo on your skin, so be gentle. Once the transformer is freed, this is what it looks like. Remember, I removed 1 transformer from 2 different microphones. Now, let the hollow metal portion cool off.
5. Make new wires and solder! I used hot and cold leads from a short length of microphone cable – they were the perfect size. It is easiest to solder the XLR connector first, connecting the wires to the cups. You may have to add some solder for a secure connection. Then, feed the wires through the hollow portion of the microphone and screw the XLR connector back into place, from the first picture above. Now, solder the 2 wires to the 2 eyehole pins on the diaphragm portion of the microphone. One is clearly marked with a + and that pin should be connected to the hot pin of the XLR connector. The XLR connector is also labeled clearly.
Remember (for most modern applications):
Pin 1 = Ground/Earth
Pin 2 = Hot
Pin 3 = Cold
This is the result:
6. Cram the wire (gently) into the cavity and screw that mother back on. Clean up any excess goo that ended up on the chassis of the microphone and then JUBILEE! You’ve successfully modded an SM57! That is, IF it works. Here is what the final result should look like (duh):
Now test it! You should notice a few tonal changes (the reasons for doing the mod in the first place):
-The frequency response goes a little further in both the low and high frequencies
-That carefully sculpted midrange ‘presence boost’ should be smaller
-The overall frequency response should be a little flatter
Something to note as well:
-The output of the microphone will drop dramatically, about 10-12dB which means it probably won’t be suitable for quiet sources (not that the 57 is great for quiet sources anyway) and it will require more gain from the preamp it is used with, so noisy preamps probably won’t work out so well
Overall, the tonality changes are subtle, but if you are looking for a little spice in your SM57, this mod is great.
Let’s Record.
-Mitchell
Pushing forward with modifying the console, I tinkered with some input channels next. The Dynamix 3000 by design has a warm, ‘vintage’ sound, imparted mainly through the input transformers and less-than-modern opamps. This is something that we cherish at Kilo – it has so much more character and depth than modern comparable products. However, I was curious to see how an input channel reacted sans the transformer.
The process was painfully easy. I just desoldered the transformer, took it off (with a little coaxing from a flathead screwdriver – there was some old glue), made little jumper wires, soldered those into place, and I was done. I wish there was more of a process to write about, but it really was stupidly simple. So simple, that I decided to do an opamp swap to kill some time. A Burr Brown OPA134 took the place of the classic 5534 opamp. This was done in a flash. I was pouring excitement, ready to hear a world of difference. The comparison test was a very technical one…
…which consisted of an SM57 on a snare, through the same channel, before and after the removal of the transformer and opamp switch. I recorded some snare hits and patterns into ProTools with both configurations. I was literally blown away. Not at how different they were, but by how similar they were. Sure, there were absolutely some differences, but on a single track of snare drum through an SM57, it sounded just like an SM57. Then it hit me. It sounded just like an SM57. I know, I know, you can’t REALLY say something sounds like a specific microphone because of all the variables, but stick with me.
I tried out several other microphones. The results were similar: more characteristics of the microphone were shining through. That meant that the channel was far more transparent. Excited, I modded three more channels in about as many minutes (I told you, it was an easy mod). Now the Dynamix has 4 channels of transparent preamps as well as 12 channels of warm goodness.
Hurray!
-Mitchell
