The High-End Recording Microphone That Time Forgot

[@geor664]

Hainbach, I have used B&K gear going back to 1978 and have opened up quite a few devices. The noise floor on the old devices is going to be higher than originally designed. I recommend you check all the electrolytics. I measured 100 microfarad wet electros down at 30% of original values. Same will go with filter sections. The knee points will change upwards due to lower cap. Carefully unscrew the guard cap on the microphone capsule. Don't touch the diaphragm but examine it with a loop or microscope for dust contamination. That will change the critical damping on the diaphragm and high frequency response.Use isopropanol and a very soft brush. Do not use water. Note the diaphragm is on older capsules 20 micron titanium with 40 micron spacing underneath that to the backplate. On newer capsules, they use stainless steel diaphragm (falcon range from memory). If the capsule is making a frying sound that's humidity on the spacer walls, you can use a small warming box on the capsule to remove the humidity. I also recommend you look at the 797 range of lab capsules (ROC). The company engineers were trained by Neuman engineers back in the cold war days. Good luck George

[@Hainbach]

George, this is invaluable information. Thank you!

[@MrMilarepa108]

@@Hainbach damn I love when that happens. KZbin communities, dude...

[@soundtrue6560]

how did you power the mic and the engine? with batterie with external power and how the static mic is power ? with the battery of the engine or with external 48volt power? thanks!

[@geor664]

@@soundtrue6560 First off. Information that applies to ALL B&K gear. And this is super important. Check whether the mic capsule has a red ring inscribed in the base of the metal of the capsule. The ring denotes the capsule is a prepolarized condenser mic. Do Not apply a polarisation voltage. Or you risk messing with the prepolarization charge in the electret film coated on the top of the mic base plate electrode. That in turn messes with the mic sensitivity in mV/Pa. Usually, the polarisation on off switch is hidden inside the battery compartment area. I suggest you follow Heinbach solution he did exactly what I would do. In general, B&K would create a $200 connector for them selves. The industry would create a similar connector at 1/10 the price and with the same geometry. That's why Heinbach was able to find an alternative. As a last resort, I have added a more common socket in parallel to the old socket (leaving it in) to the case to make the equipment functional again but only in extreme cases where all else fails. For super quiet set ups, I use lithium battery packs from power tools to power audio preamps. I buy a charger shoe, strip out the electronics, making sure I pick the correct electrodes on the shoe (measure the V) and use the 240V lead out as the plug /socket output. Use a couple of 24V batteries in series to get your 48V. The shoe assembly gives you a way of hot swapping batteries, and a second charger shoe,/ station. I use to charge the battery. I used Aldi Etool batteries and shoes. I opened one up, they use first class Samsung battery and BMS and they are super cheap when on special. I introduced this setup where I worked and all the technical staff wanted one for their section.

[@soundtrue6560]

@@geor664 tx i will try to understand all what you said i am french! if i found one one day, how to check if all work ? what battery need to make this work! and if there is no more battery work do you think it s worth to buy one and try to repare it? at what price do you think an non tested machine worth? tx for all!

[@dadjake]

1:32 "...because look mum no computer is buying up everything." lmao :'D

[@BenedictHarris]

Oh! Is that what he said! ahahahahaha

[@geor664]

Yes I agree

[@photonicpizza1466]

@@rockapartie "Look Mum, No Computer" is the name of another musician. He has quite a wonderful KZbin channel too, highly recommend checking him out!

[@tonizamboni7362]

hi i'm hainback good to have you bach

[@Projacked1]

lol

[@d3aph]

One of these days, he might catch us off guard with that.

[@LiMCRiMZ]

Damn it I was literally about to comment this, I thought I was original for a second 😂😂😂

[@LOOKMUMNOCOMPUTER]

woah its huge!!! i didnt realise they were that big hahaha amazing. i thought they were hand held id never have thought they were the size of a baby!

[@AugustorLazzers]

Oh no! Now LMNC is gonna buy them all!

[@cpi23]

stop buying up this nice man's toys!

[@LOOKMUMNOCOMPUTER]

​@@cpi23 theres plenty to go round! its all gooood. hoarders can coinhabit :)

[@Hainbach]

Yeah, it threw me off when the package arrived. Trying to get it into position is challenging, but it's fun to hold while singing.

[@dillipphunbar7924]

Hi Sam. How is the gameboy synth coming along? The rack system you're housing it in looks a little flimsy for the job...maybe some re-enforcement?

[@MarianKeller]

That thing is comically huge. Almost as if they designed the case first, then realized the circuit is bigger than anticipated and just scaled up the drawings to make it fit...

[@geor664]

Maybe comically huge for today's design, but it was quite compact for the limitations of the technology of the day. Try to view the equipment with respect to the period it was built in to gain an aspect of what B&K achieved at the time. From memory this was something like $24,000 piece of equipment without the filter box accessory. Only large labs could afford one. Insanely expensive kit. Now?, $150?

[@Agharta99]

I’d like to see Hainbach entering Eurovision singing with that microphone.

[@SimonTheMagpie]

I actually have a bunch of power-3.5mm for oold pedals. I can bring one to thomann and you can just see if it works or if ground is reverse polarity! Yeah

[@Hainbach]

Sweet! I really want to make a feedback box from the filters using a matrix mixer. I believe that it will sound beautiful.

[@UnoMuno]

I would REALLY love to see its innards bent.. Awesome content!

[@alexcavalco2815]

The price of those things is probably going to spike now! Great find

[@sheepkillindog]

Alex Cavalco yep. They’re getting scarce on eBay

[@TimSavage-drummer]

Just like when EEVBlog mentioned some gear he picked up off ebay.

[@omjagkundesjunga]

Wow! We used those (without the filter though) for sound level measurements when I studied at the Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm. Nice to see it used in a studio context!

[@NeuronalAxon]

What were you doing with it?

[@omjagkundesjunga]

@@NeuronalAxon If I remember correctly, we measured the sound level of some parts in a bus.

[@NeuronalAxon]

@@omjagkundesjunga - That's interesting - thanks for the reply.

[@3str]

Wow, thanks for these 18 minutes of pure nerdom! Just snagged two 1613 filters on eBay. And I still got them for dirt cheap, phew!

[@Hainbach]

Yeah, the filters are cheap as chips, which is beautiful! Can't wait to explore them more.

[@sergiodallalana]

me too, may be the last one for super cheap .. thank you Hainbach you opened my eyes

[@MrUnit731]

@@Hainbach Hei mann. Quick question: do you have a Theramin? Or do you know anything about them? I tried one a while ago, and I think I need one!

[@stuartchapman5171]

lol, that's why I couldn't find any.

[@DrMTechnik]

The analog output has a purpose that might not be obvious: This device is a certified (DIN EN 61672) Sound Level Meter. Not sure how rigorous the tests were 60 years ago, but today the PTB, which conducts the tests for certification, uses the analog output to directly measure for example the directivity of the device. It may even be required for a device to be testable, because it is very annoying to check one without. The Capsule itself is so expensive because it is very precise and its frequency response is stable for years - you have to trust these things for a long time. Brüel is nearly the only one building capsules which are that good.

[@ignorato07]

The analogue output is required to record the (calibrated) SPL to tape, so that it works as an integrating sound level meter. You could connect the tape recording to a paper plotter and determine parameters like equivalent levels, statistical levels etc over the measurement (recording) duration. Without the capability to record, the sound level meter only displays instantaneous sound pressure level, which is not so useful.

[@TheCompleteGuitarist]

Radiohead are going to be making you an offer any time soon ;)

[@mistertestsubject]

That filtered piano is SO good

[@andreyaek2266]

Yeeeeeah, the first part with the high chords especially!

[@DeadWhiteButterflies]

That filtered mic part on the piano could actually be an intro to a Godspeed! song. So cool.

[@jacktraveller8290]

Whoa, this is awesome. I work as an acoustician & we have one of these lying around in the office (long since retired from measurement duties). Might try and borrow it & see if I can do something similar!

[@thief9001]

I'm not much of an Audiophile, and i'll be honest, I"m here because of the 4 AM "How did I get here?" KZbining, but when you showed the sound on the microphone I was really blown away. The sound quality was really weird to hear. It felt like you were singing through the screen instead of being a recording. It might have just been because I was expecting the audio-change, because I'm sure KZbin does weird things to audio [Or maybe not, I'm not HYPER-technically astute], but I was really shocked by the way the sound... sounded! 5:00-5:30 is what i'm talking about. Also, what a fascinating piece of test equipment!

[@Hainbach]

Glad you found my channel! The range on that mic is unreal - it goes way into inaudible ranges, which makes for that hyperreal effect.

[@vjay4297]

The best filter I ever heard in my life.

[@izhundrikov]

this microphone sounds insanley good for 150 euros. great find!

[@ricardorodrigues4277]

insanely good is the better definition for this gadget.

[@Cyrix2k]

The filtered piano would sound great backing a horror film. It has such amazing character - distant, ancient and intriguing!

[@antigen4]

or music - even more than for film

[@DominicGo]

17:18 it’s hard to overstate my satisfaction, Aperture Science 💖

[@dr.getter7118]

We do what we must because we can! (I've got it stuck in my head now)

[@richardkoroll6198]

I remember in a lab manual for a university course the crocodile clips were called "easy hookers"....

[@MrBananovitch]

Just wanted to let you know that watching your videos has opened a whole new world of sonic possibilities for me. At the moment I am exploring what can I get out of an old cassette tape recorder, a walkman with playback direction switch and of course some cassette loops. You are truly a great inspiration. It's good to have you back!

[@TheMovieCreator]

And just a week after watching this, I just happen to stumble accros a 2203 myself. Sadly without a microphone capsule, but still...

[@christopherecatalano]

Sounded great on your voice but especially dig the range of tones it gets out of the piano using the filters. Of course I want one!

[@Eidraify]

your channel is my favorite kind of museum

[@stephenbeekcman]

could you record some Impulse Responces so we could emulate ?

[@trentcolbert1369]

Close your eyes... slingshot channel... Jörg Sprave... You are welcome.

[@jakoblindekilde5832]

I worked in Brüel & Kjaer from 1985 to 1995 and assemblied (a much smaller) successor to model 2204! The green color used on most B&K instruments was choosen by mr Brüel or mr Kjaer (i can't remember who). He was color-blind so that explains the strange green.

[@Hainbach]

That is interesting! I love the green, it's very special.

[@realcygnus]

Awesome collection of old, solid, quality, analog, apparatus ! As awesome as the disposable digital era is & all, Its certain that: They just don't make them like that anymore.

[@ChrisHahnCreative]

Broken dreams and glass, my new ringtone.

[@Hainbach]

Aww! Its a demo for play I am scoring in Essen. Going to continue composing for that this week.

[@harnroehrer77]

@@Hainbach hope that there will be a cassette or vinyl realease of this song, sounded great!

[@doak1694]

both mad and amazing. One of my favourite of your videos gave me a big smile.

[@metronohm808_6]

There is nobody like you Hainbach! Beautiful sounds

[@numo97]

9:40 some real silent hill vibes from this sound

[@leon-set]

Wie die Deckkraft zur Hintergrundmusik Stufenartig abfällt, wunderschön. Gute Arbeit.

[@Rivenworld]

Awesome piece of vintage gear, love it. Got a nice clear sound to it too. Love what you do with sound.

[@UNSCPILOT]

What a bizzarly beautiful piece of equipment, I'd love to have one with or without the filter, it sounds Devine

[@FBuilding]

What a great channel. I'm always amazed how people manage to run well furnished channels on top of work and life. Congrats. Cheers.

[@Hainbach]

Thank you! It can be a challenge and often means late nights, but it's very rewarding because of the people watching. I am always learning back.right now I am puting more of my work into the videos, like the singing parts here. So it blends more.

[@johnhbox7767]

Just subscribed, you are my newest favourite slightly eccentric person(which is my favourite type of human) playing with extremely random electrical objects and obviously really enjoying it cheers

[@churchofaggressiveaudio6498]

Very exciting! 👍 😍 Perhaps you have to acquire only a few more pieces of laboratory equipment before you can experiment with the reanimation of necrotic tissue, or open a portal to time travel! 😍

[@churchofaggressiveaudio6498]

The classic gear has to be quite satisfying to handle - all that weight tells you they were really serious about building equipment in those days.

[@dadjake]

9:00 oh my God, I love the sound of that...

[@ikosimazaki723]

"Wir müssen alle sterben" sounded a lil like a lullaby. Very dark one though. I've learnt enough German to understand that haha Great vid and amazing mic! That was unexpected

[@Momiyama808]

Finally, you mentioned the fact that Sam does have a lot this test equipment in his work space. Maybe you should do a collaboration with him. #Hainbach VS Look mum no computer

[@Hainbach]

Sam and me already hung out at my studio a good while ago. :-)

[@LOOKMUMNOCOMPUTER]

yes! looking forward for that video to finally come out!! but hainbach we should definitely do it again!

[@stuartchapman5171]

@@Hainbach we want to see a vid

[@aluncrewe3667]

Great stuff Heinbach. I used a 2204 back in the 80's for choir recording back in the 80's and everyone as amazed how good it sounded. You all seem surprised that it's so large but (and I know you're all too young to remember) when it was designed there weren't any 'chips' it was all discrete components and they took up a lot of space. BTW if you want more flexibility you can actually get an extension cable (Type AO00027- 3m, AO00028 - 10m, AO00029 - 30m, yes 30m or 100feet) which allows you to detach the microphone and preamp from the 2204 and put it on a standard mic. stand

[@Hainbach]

Thank you for that tip! I will look out for that cable, I would love a bit more flexibility.

[@ZackWebsite]

OH MY GOD !!! a few montha back i was doing research on this SAME mic and i gave up on it. THANK YOU for gathering the information and portraying it in such a concise manner. AMAZING piece of gear

[@ARC_VR]

So wholesome watching your reactions to the passive filter working haha.

[@ChrisHopkinsBass]

I think I spotted one of these on a shelf in the University I work in the other week. I’ve got to go back down there to clear out some old PCs in the week so I’ll double check

[@alanbg2278]

I am laughing with magicalness...I could never do that. So happy that you can. Love as ever....

[@macheifach]

That's so cool. I don't play piano/keyboard at all nor am I a musician for that matter but I just love the amount of experimentation and individualization of sounds through obscure equipment. Love the experimentation with the filters and the piano, sounds very dreamy. Your whole room looks more like an sound-laboratory than a music room. I'm starting to play with the thought of getting myself some sort of synthesizer with some amount of options to play with. Really cool videos.

[@Hainbach]

Thank you! Cool to hear people outside of the music sphere enjoy my videos.

[@Slope114]

sounds more open in the top end / less bass than the mic being used for the video production. nice!

[@emilcarr7190]

I just snagged one for £20! Collection only from Leeds, and I live in Glasgow, which is a bit of a problem to say the least, but I'll just send a courier!

[@LOOKMUMNOCOMPUTER]

aha!!! glad someone got that one! problem with that is i dont think it has the mic capsule. which are pretttty pricey. but still can be used with even a piezo with modification, possibly.

[@emilcarr7190]

@@LOOKMUMNOCOMPUTER it's mostly just the filter I want tbh 😊 I'm sure I'll be able to figure out some kind of adapter too

[@LOOKMUMNOCOMPUTER]

@@emilcarr7190 they are aweeesome!

[@InssiAjaton]

I have a 2209 that has a few more features. What I am missing is a filter. But not the octave band one. B&K made also a third-octave unit. But they are something beyond rare. As a curiosity, I attended a seminar at B&K once upon a time and saw some of their operations, including the assembly of these filters. No doubt, pretty much any components and especially electrolytic capacitors do age. When I got my 2209, I had to clean some contacts, but otherwise I did not find any problems. It's already a few years ago, so maybe I need to take the time to check things inside again. Regarding the size and weight, my unit has 3 possible tripod mount threads, two on the back side and one on the bottom. Obviously you select between the two on the back side depending on whether you have the filter attached or not. I also have two audio analyzers from B&K, but don't have the B&K special coaxial connectors for them. Basically, the center conductor is a 4 millimeter banana plug on the cable and jack deep inside the case. But the shield part is a large, maybe 10 to 12 mm metal cylinder, 10 cm or so long. Don't see too many of them around.

[@Hainbach]

I will get the 2209 with the third octave filter soon as a donation from a retired professor. Hopefully I can make a video on that too and share details.

[@Penguin806]

just found your channel and it's inspiring me so much. thanks for being you and producing content!

[@jogon206]

7:58 when you think your headphones broke all of a sudden. I'd love to hear Richard Hawley sing a song on that mic... Or use it when my band finally gets to record some songs.

[@kcahdp]

Simply Beautiful!

[@jasoncaldwell0613]

You can really hear how amazing that sounds. It sounds great!

[@wesmatron]

When Germans engineer microphones. 👍

[@lovfro]

Danes in this case, though Brüel & Kjær was bought by a German holding company in the early 90's.

[@andymellor9056]

Danes!

[@andymellor9056]

I have used B&K gear since graduating. It's bulletproof!

[@ALPHONSO_NANOOK]

Pepi jesi to ti? he he di te nađe :-)

[@paulriggs42]

I used to use those B&K SLMs and the B&K charge amps back at Uni in 1991..... Crazy days

[@kennethhymes9734]

omg what a find, vocal sounds amazing

[@LittleZdy]

its my favourite channel.

[@Maths1909]

Hello Hainbach, another great video.. I am using the B&K 2203, a similar device as a portable recorder with an adapter cable to the headset mic port of my smartphone, using a 1M/4k7 resistordivider. Cheers Erik

[@flyingcrowbar1599]

“Hi. I’m Heinbachch. Good to have you back” is my favorite part. I’d upvote for that alone.

[@cheesesandwich8125]

11:57 i suddenly have this humongous urge to hear ur ASMR abilities cos that lil bit right there was super pleasant

[@Hainbach]

Wish and you shall receive:kzbin.info/www/bejne/nXqkfnqrnLyMpNU

[@ast_rsk]

That sound is insanely good wow. Blown away.

[@johnpenguin9188]

That thing sounds fabulous! I guess that’s what you get when you have excellent engineers and no expense is spared...

[@Hainbach]

Yeah, that is what I love about test equipment. It's made to a very high standard.

[@CamTarn]

I've been working with modern Brüel & Kjaer accelerometers recently, for analysing vibrations in large sub-sea bearings. They're basically piezo microphones and preamps in a sturdy waterproof casing, interfaced to a very expensive digital data capture system. I thought you might be amused that, when we needed a way to very roughly test the data capture system's analysis features, including a set of configurable band-pass filters, we taped the accelerometers to the workshop's cheap speaker system and played some drum and bass through it :)

[@Hainbach]

Awesome! I can imagine that scene.

[@MrFilosoffen]

Brüel & Kjær: "A good offer on a capsule" 😂 Try Grass, they do the same thing for typically a third of the price. But I'm not sure if any of their microphones interface easily with ordinary recording interfaces.

[@SirSilicon]

Hey, do you know Wintergatan? He is building a new Marblemashine (the MMX) I really don't know if he needs any audio recording equipment but I think this Microphone would be an awesome fit for his project.

[@sordel5866]

Although they're both ultra-creative & obsessive, they represent two different aesthetic approaches really. The Marble Machine X is mechanical, digital (because its pin programming is on/off) and acoustic. Martin solves a lot of problems that just wouldn't be problems in the electronic domain, just as Hainbach solves problems that would never arise in the acoustic domain. You wouldn't really need Hainbach's solutions to record the Marble Machine X and put a filter on it.

[@julianbetonta59]

Keep him alive! He knows everything about ancient tech and modular synthesizer.

[@franciscooliveira7089]

This is probably the best mic i've heard in terms of character. Especially with the help of the filter. Great video :)

[@VeggieLard]

This video is amazing,. Really excited to see you use this, even more so, knowing the story behind it. Definitely interested in the sound pack, very happy to see that as well. Thank you for that.

[@TheDave000]

Cool stuff man, first vid I've seen o'yours, but subbed so fast! Love it! Greetings from Bristol, UK.

[@Hainbach]

Thanks! If you want to see more look at the playlisten, "Tape Techniques" and "On Composition and Instruments" for more talkies, and the ambient list if you want something to listen to.

[@Ellotus13]

I just realized one of the songs reappears in the modular composition for theater video. Dope!

[@dj_empirical]

"Wir mußen alle sterben" 😀☠️

[@dj_empirical]

@@acbulgin2 danke!

[@bitegoatie]

Very happy for you, but I admit to a bit of envy at your crazy gear. It took me a while to find time to be able to watch this one, but I’m glad to have heard the story about these machines.

[@denyel_]

oh my god it sounds insanely amazing

[@beepbeep2446]

The bass drum sounded fantastic. Deep and punchy

[@NicleT]

16:24 : electro-epiphany... and the laughters following, wow!

[@peragutt]

the filter sounds amazing

[@andreyaek2266]

All this happy time and excitement about this gear and its creative potential, and then suddenly at 7:25 "there's no sense in the world, we all have to die"... Caught me a little off guard I have to say!

[@gingerlizard63]

There's also a much smaller B&K "ray-gun style" SPL meter of that era, intended for noise surveys rather then precision measurement. I can't remember if it had analog outputs, but IIRC it used the same interchangeable mic capsules.

[@Hainbach]

Is it the Pistonphone or similar name?

[@gingerlizard63]

@@Hainbach I think the device I'm thinking of must be part of the 220x range. Perhaps the pistol grip was an accessory? IIRC, there was a "press to sample" button on the grip - so that you could hold the meter at maximum arms-length (sound reflections off the body give artificially high readings) - then pull it close to read the meter precisely. As students we were warned *not* to point it at people, as it did give the distinct impression of a handgun (or raygun - with the bulbous windshield attached).

[@SamCyanide]

The piano with filter part at 9:00 is awesome

[@VintageMusicGearTV]

Managed to pick one of these up can’t wait to try it!!

[@racializedkanadian]

i almost bought one of these but was too slow to decide .... there was one in the pawn shop under my apt. damn. lol. it was in great condition and looked so beautiful

[@MakeItB3tter]

I'm making a note here; *HUGE SUCCESS* !

[@happygolucky2231]

Wowsers, so happy to find this video! Believe it or not I just found these in a dumpster. They looked interesting eventhough I had no idea if I could use them. Any chance on getting some more info on how to make the cables and on how to use these in the studio? Thanks a bunch!

[@Hainbach]

You can use VoodooLab DC to jack adapters they make for their power supplies

[@ToreHansen]

This is so cool!! Even if my world is one Arturia midi keyboard and 100 of VSTs....

[@Jaburu]

8:43 wow. that is a crazy room node on that D frequency. first thought it was the mic

[@Vishnu-xn4vx]

Oh my god, you should sing more often, pleaseeeee

[@Luper1billion]

I havent found a piece of gear that made me want to buy it in a while. This thing seems like a must have for the price

[@teenageoperator7246]

whaaaaaat he can sing too?! seriously nice voice, ridiculous mic, I can’t wait to catch up on your videos. ps your way of telling stories is quite enjoyable, have you considered a careeer in audio books? 😜 edit: B&C + Ciat-Lombarde when?! edit 2: oh I’m a big goof... maybe I’ll finish the video before I make any more comments haha. I’m just gonna pretend I meant *aaallll* the test equipment with the CL.

[@bradswim]

Glad I caught this so soon

[@zero_G.0]

Ooooo old test gear is the bomb ✌🏼 so HQ and so hands on 🙏🏼 oh and potable 😎

[@devtank]

Wow that thing sounds INCREDIBLE!!!

[@MoritzScharf]

Your videos always put a big smile on my face!

[@brngsh5549]

Dude, that thing sounds terrific!

[@johnconnor9763]

Very nice studio bro ! Congrats i like you work

[@ednasdiscomachine6049]

16.51 you look really happy! :D Love it!

[@HowlingUlf]

Trial and error is much better than trial and prison ... umm, I've heard! :D I didn't even know I subscribed but apparently, I do. Great video!

[@whiffysole]

I love your videos. I just stumbled across your channel and it's right up my alley. Look forward to more videos like this! EDIT: The filter sounds super sick

[@Hainbach]

Thank you! Uploading another weird test equipment one right now for later tonight.

[@chrusomana]

Incredible filters, what a gem of an equipment!