Old Schoeps vs new Schoeps

[Michiel]

Since there are occasionally very old (20+ years) Schoeps mics for sale (like here), I was wondering if anybody has experienced difference in the sound quality. Things like noise and high frequency behavior. One time I heard an older Schoeps hypercardiod and I had the idea it was a bit 'dull' sounding.

[Jeff Wexler]

I still use some of 20 year old Schoeps mics but I have been slowly replacing all of them with new Schoeps (primarily because of the new RF proof design). The older miss still sound very good but not as good as a new mic. With age they lose detail and transparency, and usually a loss of high frequency response making them slightly dull sounding. I would be somewhat wary of a 20 year old mic without clear history of its use. In my case, I know exactly how the mic has been used and maintained, but something purchased off eBay might be a lot more difficult to determine.

[Philip Perkins]

Well, I can't tell my older (mid 1980s) and later Schoeps apart sonically, including ones that have been recently refurbed by Schoeps, so either they are all equally beat up or I just can't hear the diffs (likely, both!).

phil p

[old school]

I have one from 83, one from 88, and one from 92/3 and they all sound good to me. I am about to buy a new one because of the rf issues Jeff mentioned. I am not selling any of mine, but I would buy a used one from a friend like Jeff or Phil, but not a rental house or on ebay.

CrewC

[Peter Kurland]

The capsules are a bit susceptible to dirt and oil. I have mine cleaned regularly (like once every ten years) and they sound like new again. THe worst offender is usually smoke, particularly from oil crackers. Mine also accumulated some foam dust from disintegrating windscreens. I think they like the trip to Germany though. I expect almost any capsule when it got cleaned and adjusted would sound as good as new. You might factor that into a used price.

I believe the RF sensitivity change is mostly an amplifier thing.

[Michiel]

Thanks all, no old mic's for me then even if only for more RF issues

What Jeff mentiones about duul sound for older mics, will presumably be the same for all brands. I hired a Sennheiser mkh 60 once (don't know how old) and it sounded dull too without the high shelf (duller than flat). But that could me the mic, not the age.

@Peter: didn't see your post, so cleaning could be an option but presumably will be rather pricey and with the risk that it still doesn't sound as new.

[Philip Perkins]

Thanks all, no old mic's for me then even if only for more RF issues

What Jeff mentiones about duul sound for older mics, will presumably be the same for all brands. I hired a Sennheiser mkh 60 once (don't know how old) and it sounded dull too without the high shelf (duller than flat). But that could me the mic, not the age.

@Peter: didn't see your post, so cleaning could be an option but presumably will be rather pricey and with the risk that it still doesn't sound as new.

I don't know about all mics, but in general I call your assumption wrong. I have a lot of really old, very used mics that sound great. The Schoeps and Neumann and Senny refurbs basically result in a brand new mic in the old body, unless (as in my case) they decide to change out the body too! Sending a Schoeps off for a German Vacation isn't cheap, but it's WAY cheaper than buying a brand new Schoeps! Mics can be abused, hence Crew's comment about knowing the history of one's mics, if possible--it is possible to screw them up in many ways. But age alone shouldn't be a reason to not consider a given mic. Check out how people are knocking each other down to buy vintage tube mics, which are much fussier and more needful of maintenance than solid-state mics.

phil p

[Jeff Wexler]

I don't know about all mics, but in general I call your assumption wrong. I have a lot of really old, very used mics that sound great. The Schoeps and Neumann and Senny refurbs basically result in a brand new mic in the old body

phil p

I agree with Phil here --- I did not mean to imply that every older mic, Schoeps, Neumann, Sennheiser, will sound different (dull) than it did when it was new. When I mentioned that some of my older miss sound a little dull, it is a very subtle thing --- the older Schoeps, in my case, are still totally fine for current use and I do use them.

[Michiel]

Thanks for the extra insight Philip and Jeff.

In the end I'll probably end up with an MKH 8060 (if I can EVER try one here in NL) and maybe an Ambient Emesser.. But that's another story.. I like to record atmospheres so that's where a Schoeps CCM MS set would work nice while still beïng able to use it for dialog. But I'm going off-topic...

[cjh]

my cmc5 / mk4 (for sale :-) is an older one, I got it nearly new 2nd hand in 1995, still sounds the same to my ears and couldn't pick a difference from a cmc6 combo I used it with recently. Mine has had reasonably light use as mkh50's are our standard go to for int dialogue, the schoeps only came out when we had bad acoustics / overlapping dialogue / needed a good place mic / needed the knuckle etc. They are a nicer sounding mic than a 50 but only when in close enough or dialogue at a good level etc (in my opinion :-)

on a side note, now using a cmit5U for int and ext, lovely mic.

C.

[Noah Timan]

I agree with Peter and others here...a trip to the factory can do restorative wonders. I've had my older Schoeps worked on in Germany and my Sennheiser/Neumanns worked on in Connecticut. When getting them back from service I couldn't hear a difference when A/Bing them with newer mics.

[resonate]

I recently bought the CMC4/MK41 Schoeps from Trew Audio. Serial number of the amp body is 12xxx and the capsule is numbered as 33xxx. Both are silver. Do any of you guys have an idea how old that might be? Sounds perfectly fine, btw. Compared to my Kmr81 more transparent, open and airy.

[Peter Kurland]

I recently bought the CMC4/MK41 Schoeps from Trew Audio. Serial number of the amp body is 12578 and the capsule is numbered as 33563. Both are silver. Do any of you guys have an idea how old that might be? Sounds perfectly fine, btw. Compared to my Kmr81 more transparent, open and airy.

My CMC4s have serial numbers in the 10xxx range and my 41 capsules in the 30xxx range. I bought them from Posthorn in 1984. Still work and sound great.

[resonate]

Thank you Peter. So mine would be from the 90's maybe.

[studiomprd]

" I got it nearly new 2nd hand in 1995, still sounds the same to my ears and couldn't pick a difference "

if the mic has been well treated, then your hearing has probably changed more than the sound of the mic!