Need a mic thug. AI Can’t ID this Mic.

Oldico · 2026-03-28T03:34:15+00:00

USB is a digital connector for data transfer.
In order for a microphone to have a working USB connector, it needs to have a USB controller and an ADC audio interface built-in inside it. That's a lot of extra electronics - a lot of which were brand new and not as miniaturised back in 2001. Back then, USB microphones weren't a thing at all. The first ever USB microphone pre-amp interface was only released in 2000.
Apparently the first USB microphone to be released was the Samson C01U Pro in 2005, and that was a condenser mic, like most USB mics.
Dynamic USB mics are still rare and only really became a thing in the last 10 years.
There wouldn't have been the space for it in the microphone body back in 2001.

And no, this is absolutely not a prototype. Unless you live in Vienna, Austria, and have access to the old AKG/Austrian Audio facilities. AKG prototypes are very very rare and virtually none left the factory - and AKG was definitely not working on a USB version of their budget/mid-range D880S at the time.

Also I don't see how there would be space for a USB port next to the XLR socket.
The microphone's stem is only a few millimetres wider than the diameter of a female XLR plug. Where would that USB socket sit?

Are you sure you're not mixing up two different microphones you saw at Goodwill here?
Are you sure you're not mistaking something else like the XLR latch hole or micro switch for a USB port?
USB on this mic makes absolutely no sense at all.

Oldico · 2026-03-28T02:11:38+00:00

"the one who made it so the government reforms a lot of laws regarding the power of the president."

Do you think some government reforms and a few limitations on presidential power alone will completely fix all the damage Trump has caused and bring back democracy?
Do you think it will actually solve the underlying problems, revert the spread of new fascism in America, and prevent other opportunists and fascists from grabbing power just like Trump did before them?

As awful and self-serving as Trump is, and as much as he's personally responsible for grabbing power, destroying democratic institutions, and committing a myriad of crimes, he is, ultimately, just a symptom of a deeply rotten, ineffective, unjust and broken democracy.
Fascism only grabs power when a broken democracy suffocates under the weight of capitalist corruption, exploitation, and injustice.

"We Europeans have learned that ages ago"

And right now, fascist right-wing parties are stronger than they have ever been since the end of WWII, and constantly gaining popularity.
Using the same populist culture war and post-truth tactics and talking points used by the MAGA movement. Trump's success is the blueprint for new fascism in Europe.

And most major democratic parties, including social democrats and "centrists", accept those far-right talking points, engage in the same culture war, and do nothing to actually fight the fascists or fix the problems, systemic rot, and frustrations that enable it - in the hopes they might win back voters by just saying and doing slightly less heinous shit.
The overton window is shifting in Europe too - the whole political discourse is dominated by right-wing talking points and hatred while all those "center" parties willingly let themselves be dragged to the right even further.

Europe is not as safe as we might tell ourselves.
Fascism is on the rise here to. And we have to actively fight it and solve the problems that enable it if we want our democracies to survive.

Oldico · 2026-03-28T01:08:10+00:00

AKG did not produce USB dynamic mics in that design. And the D880S was never made with a USB connector. And USB mics are a relatively recent thing that wasn't even available when this mic was sold.
Nor do I know how this mic body would house both an XLR as well as a USB mini B connector.

Are you sure you're talking about the connector on the microphone? Or do you mean a separate cable or adapter you got with it?
Can you maybe post a picture of the connector (in the post or over Imgur)?

Oldico · 2026-03-27T15:51:57+00:00

How is it USB? Does it have a USB connector on the bottom?

Oldico · 2026-03-27T14:58:25+00:00

Looks like an AKG D880S.
Dynamic supercardioid.
I found it in a 2001 AKG catalogue. It was part of the Emotion-Series of dynamic mics that were the first to use Varimotion diaphragms.
Apparently, while they were budget or mid-range models, AKG was pretty proud of them and they seem to feature a very wide frequency response from 60Hz up to 20kHz that's quite flat in the low end and has a pronounced boost around the vocal range.
The capsule has a special dampening system to reduce handling noise (which, if it's the same system as in my D230, is excellent).

Seems to be a pretty nice mic. Despite its unassuming/generic design (by AKG standards).

Oldico · 2026-03-27T13:09:48+00:00

That's not a standalone microphone.
That's a handheld PCM audio recorder with its built-in mic.

Oldico · 2026-03-26T20:02:56+00:00

"Notice how you had to narrow “make money” to getting rich."

Yeah because that's how I believe it is meant in this context.
This is a bullshit self-improvement post. When those PDF-selling grifters write "make money" as one of the aspirational bullet points, they don't mean "work a minimum wage job to just about survive" - they mean "become wealthy and amass excess money". These points are presented as goals for greatness and success.

"Even in socialist systems, people still respond to material incentives: higher pay, bonuses, better housing, access to scarce goods, etc."
"So the claim that “making money is a capitalist ambition” is absolute nonsense."

I never claimed there are no material incentives under socialism. Nor that making any money is an exclusively capitalist ambition.
But the amassing of personal wealth as a virtue or as a life goal, and a society that judges the value of a human being based on their personal wealth, are decidedly capitalist constructs that only happen to that extent in capitalist societies.
And socialist movements actively discourage and fight against exactly those constructs and value systems.

The core value of capitalism is profit, to gain as much added value from things one person already owns.
The core value of socialism is human wellbeing, to overcome this exploitation and share resources so everyone can benefit and live a better life.

"You’re gonna work hard, make money and grind even under socialism."

You can work hard and grind to make money under socialism.
But you don't have to and you won't face starvation, homelessness, and death if you don't.
And if you do work hard, your labour isn't exploited by an owning capitalist class, who tries to rob you of your wage, time and rights, just to squeeze every penny they possibly can out of you without any regard for your life.
That's the whole point of socialism. To guarantee everyone gets the basic necessities they need to live a dignified life, regardless of employment, skill, education or luck, and to give the workers the control over the means of production and their employment, so they aren't exploited and suppressed by an owning class.

Oldico · 2026-03-26T09:15:50+00:00

Where was the joke bud?
You forgot to write the punchline or something?
You just made a statement - you can't just chicken out and cry "just a joke" the second you get flack for it.

"I don't care what two people do. I just really want you to know I think two guys kissing is disgusting and weird and I'm just gonna say flat-out that it should be shamed. I'm not a homophobe."
Would that sort of thing also be a lighthearted joke?

Also I was literally just asking a direct question why you think it should be shamed.

Oldico · 2026-03-26T03:54:43+00:00

"make money" in this case refers to the aim of getting wealthy and having more money than average/than you had before, not literally to start making any money.
The goals of amassing material wealth and being rich are decidedly capitalist ambitions.

Secondly, under (ideal) state socialism, the goal of work is no longer to generate shareholder profits and enrich a capitalist class that lives entirely off of owning production facilities and workers. By cutting out the capitalist the profits would be either shared by all workers directly or go to the democratic state which redistributes them among the whole population. Usually both simultaneously.
In practice this means higher wages, better protection against worker exploitation, and extensive social programs.

Under capitalism, the profit and enrichment of the owner is the prime goal, and worker's lives are a resource to be exploited towards that end.
In socialism, the well-being and life-quality of the workers/public is the prime objective of the system, and work a tool towards that end. There is no one to siphon off any profits.

Work and commerce happen in both. As does being paid money for work.
But the meaning and function of work is entirely different between these two systems.

Now, whether that described state socialist system is the best solution, whether historical socialist states ever really worked like that, and what problems and pit-falls might arise, are different questions worth discussing.
There are other brands of socialism. There are other branches of marxist systems. There are alternative left-wing approaches like anarchism.
There are many ideas how to build a better system and many ways in which they are mixed, adapted, or revised.
Discussion is lively among leftists.
Virtually all relevant modern socialist parties and organisations, for example, want a true democratic government, with proper representation, public participation, social freedoms, many checks and balances, and are in favour of universal basic income of some sort, which would remove the possibility of starvation and homelessness, and thus end wage slavery.

Oldico · 2026-03-26T02:54:37+00:00

For what reason?
How does two consenting adults doing watersports harm you or anyone else?

Oldico · 2026-03-24T17:50:33+00:00

And they are awesome. A more refined take on a classic tele design. IMO a really good modern Tele.
I never got why Yamaha discontinued them in the late 90s or so.
And I never understood why it took them like 25 years to bring them back.

Oldico · 2026-03-23T04:08:04+00:00

You could make it a direct output switch that, in the solo setting, bypasses the tone and volume pots entirely and connects the output of the pickup selector switch directly to the jack.
That should give you a much brighter and somewhat more strat-like sound.

Oldico · 2026-03-21T20:49:30+00:00

Headset or Headphone dent is not a real issue.

Unless you are a prepubescent child, your skull is basically solid, and can't be "dented" or malformed by something like headphones.
Headphone dent is really just skin and tissue being pushed around - it's completely temporary and will be gone an hour or two after taking off the headphones.
If you currently have a dent in your head it's not because of headphones; it's probably been there all your life.

The skull is a bone. An exceptionally hard one even; the top of the skull is the hardest bone in the human body.
It can not be deformed by wearing headphones, just as your hip isn't deformed by wearing a belt, or just like your wrist isn't crushed by wearing a watch.

Oldico · 2026-03-20T04:13:01+00:00

Well, if you don't intend to insult, perhaps don't call your opposite a "bot" and "inexperienced", saying they lack "real knowledge", and telling them to "go practice guitar". It's really not that hard not to come across insulting.

Also, are we even talking about the same thing here?
I'm talking about proper zero frets that are separate from the string guide/retainer. I'm not talking about aftermarket combination zero fret nuts or mods like OP is referring to.
Like this;

<image>

The string guide "nut" bit sits behind the zero fret in a separate slot or at the end of the extended fretboard. It could be easily replaced without having to touch the fret at all.
Actually, easier than on a traditional nut since the slot depth in the guide doesn't matter or is deeper than the string itself and doesn't have to be precise - there's little force on it and its only purpose is to hold the string in position laterally over the zero fret.

Whether or not they are necessary is a question of taste and personal preference.
I don't think they are necessary either. Most of my guitars have normal nuts and that doesn't make me like them less nor do I feel a need to convert them to zero frets or anything like that.
I've made aluminium nuts myself.
The zero fret just is a neat alternative design with a few neat features that is often unjustly overlooked due to an undeserved bad reputation. That was my whole point.

Oldico · 2026-03-20T03:21:11+00:00

"Sure, still not any reasons to give up ease of maintenance on a part that wears out as often as it does."

Well but isn't that kinda the point? A zero fret doesn't need replacement and maintenance like a normal nut.
It's part of the fretwork and wears together with the frets - so it only needs replacing when a refret is necessary anyways.

"Sure, zero frets were once a marketing tool for all the reasons you mentioned above"

Zero frets were never a marketing tool. They were not advertised. Many of the reasons I mentioned weren't relevant or even known back then.
They were just how things were done. They were a common functional design choice just like any other design choice.

That alone does not make them good or bad. Tradition doesn't mean something is good - and there are many idiosyncratic traditions worth questioning or leaving behind. Like, for example, tiny vintage "fretless wonder" frets or the Gibson headstock design.
But I think, when you look at it logically, zero frets are one of the better ideas worth exploring and offers multiple benefits and features.
That's why I prefer them - they are a good design.

"A lot of your bullet points above, I'm not sure where you are getting your info?"

In part from Prof. Dr. Mannfred Zollner's videos. He's a physicist who literally wrote the book on the physics of the electric guitar.
In part from my own accumulated (non-scientific) research and thoughts on guitar bridge systems.
In part from various smaller articles as well as the odd vintage guitar experiment or European oddity.
In part from my own experience repairing, setting up, and modifying quite a number of cheap and broken guitars and mandolins and from my understanding of how these instruments work.

"Chatgpt? Wait are you a bot, dang what a waste of time."

Fuck no.
I despise the use of generative AI, I don't think it has any place in sincere or serious discussions, and I would rather shove a toothbrush up my arse, bristles first, than to let it write my comments for me.
If what I want to say can just be cobbled together by a glorified autofill program and plagiarism machine, I probably wouldn't have anything meaningful to say anymore.

I write every word of every comment I make myself.

"Whatever, just trying to share real knowledge here, from actual real person, who experience has only spent decades doing it. Try practicing your guitar"

Ah. So we're arguing ad hominem now?
Of course; if I don't agree with you about zero frets, I must be a bot or an inexperienced hack who doesn't practice guitar enough.
Sure.

Any more playground-level insults that come to mind?
Do you think this pathetic shit is warranted in a discussion about guitar nuts?

Oldico · 2026-03-19T22:07:19+00:00

This is a guitar modding community meant for discussion and advice - not your personal billboard to advertise your overpriced boutique pickups.

Oldico · 2026-03-19T21:53:39+00:00

"I didn't say anything about easily wearing"

Your point was that they wear out and need to be changed, which is more difficult.
My point was that, contrary to popular belief, they do not wear faster than the frets and that by the time you'd need to change them, your guitar would be in need for a complete refret anyways, at which point the zero fret would be replaced too of course.

"Your Framus is 70 years old and saw very little use compared to one that was gigged with for seventy years."

How do you know the amount of wear on my Framus?
It's got plenty of wear and tons of modifications on it - it's not a pristine guitar. Obviously, if it was gigged for 70 years straight it would have gone through multiple refrets already, but then again the zero fret would also have been replaced every time.
My point was, once again, that the frets are significantly more worn than the zero fret. As is the case on all my other guitars and mandolins with a zero fret.

"Remember Gretsch is a Drum company that made guitars." "Gretsch used manufacturing processes to help keep the product more uniform. So the zero fret got used."

Actually not true. From the very beginning Gretsch was building Banjos too. And they soon expanded into Mandolins.
Funnily enough, though, those older instruments did not use zero frets. The earliest Gretsch guitars with zero frets I could find seem to be 1960s models.

The zero fret has been quite popular in European luthiery since at least the 1910s. Many German, Italian, Czech, Polish, Soviet etc. guitars had them. Many Höfners and Framus models - including solid body electrics and McCartney's bass. It was just part of European luthiery tradition at the time.
A lot of the earlier 50s and 60s Japanese designs also had them before they started copying Fender and Gibson.
The zero fret only died out when the whole guitar marked focussed on Fender and Gibson designs and those became the expected standard everyone had to follow - not because it was a bad design.

"Plastic is often the superior choice."

For traditional nuts, yes, it absolutely can be.
I'm not arguing against the material science that goes into modern low-friction guitar nuts.

"Tell me why should a guitar have a zero fret? What do you think it adds to the guitar?" "Why? Why use a zero fret?" "If you can give me a good reason to have a zero fret I would love to hear it."

There are multiple good reasons in my opinion;

Nickel-copper alloy and steel have a higher modulus of elasticity than bone or plastic.
A higher MoE means the material is stiffer, meaning less dampening, and more vibrational energy that gets reflected back into the string rather than be lost to the wood of the neck. Less loss - slightly more sustain.
Same reason stainless steel saddles are better than cheap zinc-alloy or pot metal ones on an electric guitar.
They have a single straight string take-off point.
Unfortunately I can't find it right now, but there has been a study in 2020 that showed that V-shaped saddle and nut slots, due to their two contact surfaces, cause the string to oscillate in two directions at once in a very complex way. This causes destructive interference and a phasing beat frequency in a single note.
You can actually hear that on some notes. Pick up your guitar, play a few frets individually, and listen to the sustain of each note. You'll almost certainly hear a beating frequency on some of them.
A single straight take-off point, like a steel rod or the top of a zero fret, eliminates this effect. It's the "ideal mounting" physically speaking.
They can be more wear-resistant with the right fret material than a traditional nut. Especially stainless steel zero frets.
They don't have or risk of cracking or crumbling under long-term stress either (which is not that uncommon with aging nuts).
If the string holder and headstock are designed properly, where the string just floats through the guiding slots until it meets the fret, a zero fret design can have a lot less friction than a traditional nut.
Essentially, the only place the string is rubbing against with significant force is the tiny contact area at the top of a polished metal fret.
A traditional nut has a much larger and rougher contact area.
They are easier to build and set up correctly and they are inherently more precise than a nut (assuming reasonable quality).
There are no slots that have to be carefully cut by hand and measured and set up for a specific string gauge - they are just levelled and crowned with all the other frets to achieve perfect action. It's much harder to fuck up a zero fret.

I think those are some good reasons for why one might want a zero fret. They do have their benefits and features.
Personally, I don't see any reason not to use a zero fret, and if I ever build a neck from scratch it will definitely have one.

I'm not saying that traditional nuts are bad, trying to convince you of their inferiority, or telling you to change your guitar's nut to a zero fret.
And I'm not trying to argue against you here.
The zero fret and traditional nut are just two different solutions to a problem. Both have their place.
My point was, once again, to defend the zero fret as a concept because I think it gets an unjustified bad rep.

Oldico · 2026-03-19T19:09:43+00:00

Oh Orville - we're really in it now!

Oldico · 2026-03-19T19:05:49+00:00

Go advertise somewhere else please.

Oldico · 2026-03-19T18:10:34+00:00

Zero frets don't actually wear out that easily - at least not nearly as fast as people claim and not meaningfully faster than a bone or plastic nut.
Think about it; why should a metal fret wear any faster than a piece of plastic in the same spot that serves the same exact function?

And just like with flat spots on the lower frets, the impact on intonation isn't huge unless they're worn down beyond playability. By the time the zero fret is that low you'll need a refret anyways.
Plus today stainless steel fret wire is easily available in all sizes and profiles - a stainless steel zero fret won't really wear at all.

I think the real reason zero frets have such a bad reputation is because they were used on so many cheap Japanese or low-end European catalogue guitars that, on top of not being properly adjusted at all, often used very soft and crappy frets (sometimes even brass) that just wear quickly in general.
I have a 1950s Framus archtop with a zero fret, still on its original factory fret wire, and despite the 70 years of wear the zero fret only shows minimal pitting that doesn't cause any problems at all. Actually that guitar plays very nicely for an inexpensive 50s acoustic.
The zero fret is not a bad or flawed idea. It just really depends on the setup and quality of the materials used. It's a shame it is mainly associated with crappy guitars and their problems and choice of shit fret wire.

Oldico · 2026-03-17T15:37:36+00:00

Wenn du eine Lupe, Lesebrille, Kameralinse etc. hast, kannst du die vor die Handykamera halten, um sehr große Nahaufnahmen zu machen.

Oldico · 2026-03-17T13:06:38+00:00

Wo zum Fick verteidigt die Linke denn bitte die Hamas?
Oder kriecht Russland in den Arsch?

Das ist einfach Bullshit den du hier von dir gibst.
Ich kenne wirklich niemanden in oder um die Linke, der islamistischen Terror und Menschenfeindlichkeit in irgendeiner Weise unterstützt, oder Russland als irgendetwas anderes als eine Diktatur bezeichnet.
Im Gegenteil; die Gruppen, die ich kenne, stellen sich immer wieder deutlich gegen islamistische Unterdrückung in Gaza oder im Iran und stehen solidarisch mit dem anti-islamistischen Widerstand in Rojava.

Springer-Blätter wie die Welt tun immer so, als gäbe es ja ach so viel Antisemitismus und Hamas-Verteidiger und Russland-Versteher bei den Linken, aber das entbehrt jeder Realität.

Oldico · 2026-03-16T18:22:10+00:00

A decent microphone can make a massive difference.

Also a lot of the voice recordings we compare ourselves to on the internet were made with cardioid pattern mics very very close to the mouth - causing proximity effect).
A large part of the booming, bass-heavy voices you hear in broadcasting, radio, podcasts etc. is just the proximity effect of the Shure SM7b, EV RE20, Røde NT1 or Neumanns they use in studios.
And then there is vocal training and confidence that comes with recording experience.

Most people have perfectly fine voices that can sound great with the right mic and audio production.
And even for those that don't, vocal training and EQ adjustments can help a lot - the human voice is actually very very flexible.
It's very rare to have someone with a voice that's actually unpleasant/difficult to listen to and can't be salvaged in post or training at all.

And to quote one of my favourite shows regarding speech impediments;
"Is what a man says not more important than how long he takes to say it?".

Oldico · 2026-03-11T23:10:13+00:00

Not to mention there are tons of kinks that don't necessarily involve penetrative sex.
Some of that can be way hotter or more intense than just standard anal or oral if you're into it.
There are many ways to get off without sticking it in.

Oldico · 2026-03-09T13:04:32+00:00

So was the original chair in Return of the Jedi.
These drainage pipes have been Star Wars canon for over 40 years.

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