It’s amazing the number of small manufacturers creating great microphones. It’s good to have a “palette” of different sounding microphones to record with, and the large number of companies building quality microphones and providing modification kits and services makes it easier to build a diverse microphone collection.

I’ve acquired Studio Projects C1 and C3 microphones as these microphones have outstanding electronics. Both the “B” and “C” series Studio Projects microphones use a transformerless circuit based on the Schoeps design. Brent Casey of PMI adapted the design and it is built with quality components. Some find the microphone a little too bright and there are a couple of solutions.

I have upgraded the circuit in the C1 with an upgrade kit from microphone-parts.com.  This mod kit provides an adjustable high-frequency roll-off to tame the brightness of the microphone. If you have never modified a microphone before, this kit is a good place to start because it is very simple, and the C1 and C3 microphones are large and easy to work on.

Another way to reduce the high-end on the mike is to replace the capsule with a darker capsule like the MicParts RK-47. With this capsule, the EQ kit isn’t necessary. I replaced the capsule in the C3 with an RK-47 capsule. I’m looking for another C3 that I will modify with the circuit upgrade kit and install an RK-12, AKG style capsule. I used these mikes on a brass section and they sounded great. I can’t wait to try them out on other sources including vocals.