sauno%6 Primo BT-EM172 «The View Up Hers The View Up Here Random scribblings about kites, photography, machining, and anything else Posts Tagged ‘Primo BT-EM172’ DIY Microphone: EM172 Capsule and XLR Plug Posted by Tom Benedict on 05/03/2016 This is the last in a four part series about powering the Primo EM172 microphone capsule. Part 1 (https://tombenedict wordpress.com/2016/01/16/powering-the-em172-capsule/) outlined the problem of how to provide 5-10v to the capsule and predicted some results. Part 2 (https://tombenedict.wordpress.com/2016/02/06/powering-the-em172-capsule-part-2- results/) shared some results and pointed out that the gain differences between inputs on my recorder invalidated my predictions. Part 3 (https://tombenedict, wordpress.com/2016/02/23/powering-the-em172-capsule-part-3- capitulation/) discussed my reasons for going with XLR connectors on all my microphones, and some of the details of that. This last part puts it all together into a step-by-step DIY for building microphones with Primo EM172 capsules, powered by 48v phantom power on an XLR plug. If you need to build a microphone based around the EM172 capsule that plugs into the 1/8” mic jack on your recorder, or a laptop, tablet, whatever, there are already several excellent tutorials out there. Rather than adapt this one to your needs, refer to one of the existing tutorials. The two I used when I first started building EM172 microphones were the ones on Zach Poff’s page (http://www.zachpoff.com/diy-resources/low-noise-binaural-mics-primo- en Z2h and the one on Wild Mountain Echoes cal ae . hitps:ftorbanedict. wordpress comfaglrimo-bk-em 172! snosawa0%6 PrimoBT-EM172 «The View Up Here In this DIY I'm going to assume you already have a plan for making a mic body. I made mine out of Delrin bar stock on a lathe. Others have used Sharpie pen caps, which also provide a nice clip for clipping the mic to things (see the tutorial on Wild Mountain Echoes), PVC pipe, brass tubing, etc. When mounting the mic in the mic body, make sure the front of the capsule is flush with or slightly proud of the mic body. Don’t recess it. 1 made that mistake with my first set of mics and wound up with mics that sounded like they were inside a sewer pipe. If in doubt experiment by wiring up the mic completely, plugging it in, and listening to it as you slide it in and out of the mic body you plan to use. After all, this is DIY. Experimentation is part of the deal Credit for the circuit goes entirely to David McGriffy, and credit for the component choice goes entirely to David McGriffy and Richard Lee. Richard Lee's writeup, SimpleP48wm61. (https://beta.groups,vahoo.com/neo/groups/micbuilders/files/Ricardo/SimpleP48wm61, goes into the theory of the circuit and the reasons for the component choices in depth. It’s the real reference for this. (In order to use that link to download Richard’ file, you may need to be a member of the micbuilders (https://beta.groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/micbuilders/info) group on Yahoo!. If you're doing this DIY you’re a mic builder, so it’s not a stretch.) For my build I used the following: © Primo BT-EM172 microphone capsule (http://www .frogloggers.com/bt-em172/ (http://www. frogloggers.com/bt-em172/)) © Neutrik NC3MXX male 3 pole XLR cable connector (Mouser Electronics Link (http://www.mouser.com/Search/ProductDetail.aspx? R=NC3MXXvirtualkey56810000virtualkey568-NC3MXX)) 120k 1/4W 1% metal film resistor (Mouser Electronics Link ° 120K virtualkey57620000virtualkey603- MER-25ETES2- 120K) 0 4.7uF 25v aluminum electrolytic capacitor (Mouser Electronics Link (http://www.mouser.com/Search/ProductDetail.aspx? R=UMW1E4R7MDDvirtualkey64700000virtualkey647-UMW 1E4R7MDD’ Mogami W2697 microphone cable (http://www.redco.com/Mogami-W2697.html ° hiips:ftombanedict. wordpress comMagprim-b-em 1725 210sauno%6 Primo BT-EM172 «The View Up Hers (http://www.redco.com/Mogami-W2697.html)) also used some metal tape (copper in my case, from the local gardening center), heat shrink of various sizes, and the solder I found on the bench in the lab. (My Alphametals solder I've been using for the past 20 years isn’t ROHS certified, so I can’t say “use this stuff, it’s great!”) Not including the tools necessary to fabricate the mic bodies, you'll also need: © Soldering iron (temperature regulated if possible) © Source of heat for heat shrink (heat gun, lighter, etc.) © Assortment of wire cutters, strippers, fine tip pliers, etc. Since most of the bodies people use for these require the mic to slide in from the front end of the housing, welll start with the mic capsule. chttps://www. iickr.com/photos/tbenedict/25441430771/in/dateposted, The first step is to strip one end of the cable, trim back the red and white wires to a workable length, and still leave plenty of shield exposed. The red and white wires are then soldered onto the appropriate pads on the capsule. Warning: The EM172 capsule is sensitive to heat. These twvo photos were made with a capsule Vd killed using an unregulated soldering iron, which is why the capsule looks a little ugly. If you have access to a regulated iron set your iron no higher than 735C and don't hold the iron on a pad for more than a few seconds. If you don’t have access to a regulated soldering iron, be sure to get EM172 capsules with stub leads already soldered in place. The tutorial on Wild Mountain Echoes uses capsules with stub leads, so you can see how she did it. Do all your work on the stub leads. Don't fry your microphones! hitps:ftorbanedict. wordpress comfaglrimo-bk-em 172!sauno%6 Primo BT-EM172.« The View Up Hers 0s) 553i Now we build the shielding around the capsule itself. Insulate the sides and back of the le with some heat shrink. ips tombenadic wordpress comiaglrimo-bhern 172)sauno%6 Primo BT-EM172 «The View Up Hers (hi ‘ka 1 /in/phe my m/photos/tben« Be sure to account for every strand in the shield as you bring it up and over the heat shrink. Wrap with foil tape and trim back the shield so no wires protrude. Be sure no wires cross over the heat shrink and touch the front of the capsule. (hi iwww.flickr.com/photos/tbenedict/ 11430521 /in/photostream, Apply a second layer of heat shrink over the foil tape. I like to apply a short length of colored heat shrink to help me identify which mic is which when I'm running wires and plugging things in out in the field. ips tombenadic wordpress comiaglrimo-bhern 172) 10rime BT-EM 172 «Tha View Up Hers Lhttps://www flickr.com/photos/tbenedict/25415652482/in/photostream/) At this point go ahead and run the mic cable through your mic body, but don’t mount the capsule just yet. Once you've soldered the connector end of the cable, it’s a good idea to test everything to make sure you didn’t make any soldering mistakes, and to make sure the capsule didn’t get damaged during soldering. Strip the other end of the cable, leaving a little more wire to work with than on the capsule end. Thread the wire through the end cap for the XLR connector and set it aside. Since the XLR connector provides its own shield you don’t have to do any metal tape trickery on this end. Gather the wires from the cable's shield, twist into a bundle, and cover with heat shrink tubing. This is also a good time to apply a length of colored heat shrink to match the capsule end of the cable. ips tombenadic wordpress comiaglrimo-bhern 172) arosaun0%6 Primo BT-EM172 «The View Up Here Ess fli mn/ph 5415652432/in/photostream, Grab the XLR connector body in a vise or some other holding fixture. If you don’t have a vise, a set of vise-grip pliers with tape over the serrated part of the jaw works well. Just don’t grab it so hard that the connector body is damaged or distorted. Another way to hold these connectors that works great is to have the mating connector screwed into a board. Plug the connector you're working on into its counterpart and solder to your heart's content. (I used a vise.) Trim back the leads on the capacitor and resistor to something reasonable that'll fit inside the XLR connector. Save the snipped off bits of the leads. One of these works well to bridge from pin 1 to the ground tab. hiips:ftombanedict. wordpress comMagprim-b-em 1725 mosauno%6 Primo BT-EM172.« The View Up Hers ww. 0s) (252385652! Solder a leftover component lead from pin 1 to the ground tab. Next, solder one end of the resistor to the ground tab as well. Next, solder the (-) end of the capacitor to pin 2, Finally, tie the two free ends of the capacitor and resistor together. hips tombenadict warcpress.comiaglrimo-bher 1721sauno%6 Primo BT-EM172 «The View Up Hers 5534185245, All that's left is to solder the cable onto the plug. Red goes to pin 3, white goes to the (+) lead of the capacitor as well as the free end of the resistor, and the cable's shield is soldered to the ground tab. (In this photo the connector is rotated 180 degrees from how it’s drawn in the schematic, but that’s how the solder cups are oriented. Flip it around in your mind and it'll www. flickr,com/photos/ths At this point your microphone’ electronics are finished. Put the connector together and screw things tight. This is a good time to test the mic to make sure nothing went wrong. Plug it into your recorder, turn on phantom 48v power, and dial up the gain. If all went well you should have a low noise microphone ready to be installed in its mic body. If not, go back and check each step to find out what went wrong. hiips:ftombanedict. wordpress comMagprim-b-em 1725 anosauno%6 rime BT-EM 172 «Tha View Up Hers Have fun recording! Tom Posted in Audio, Electronics, Engineering | Tagged: Audio, DIY, EM172, Field Recording, Micbuilder, Microphone, P48, Phantom Power, Primo BT-EM172, Sound, XLR | Leave a Comment » Blog at WordPress.com. | The Andreas09 Theme. hiips:ftombanedict. wordpress comMagprim-b-em 1725