Hi,

First up, sorry, if this is the wrong forum section!

I took a bit of an impulse buy on a mic that was classed as just, 'vintage mic with case' from a bits and bobs type seller. She was honest and said she knew nothing about the mic, so sold it to me as untested.

It turned up today with original case. Looks fairly decent condition as the pictures seemed too. Defo an AKG D24.
Supriesed how smaller it is compared to standard nowadays sm58 ect dynamic type! It has 200 engraved on the metal strip, so pretty sure that means 200ohm version? The bass roll off dial seems intact and doesn't spin loosely or all the way around ect.

Trouble is, as it has the old mini DIN type connector, I have no way of testing it here.

I have seen a few places can make me the correct cable to XLR here in the UK. Really helpful lot who I reached out too. I have been told these are great dynamics, but risky to work on and no guaranteed fix.

I am just a home setup type person and no way a tech/engineer head!

Just wondering with you lot who are more clued up, if these mics are worth paying out on? No nostalgia or sentimal value to me with this. Love the history and quirky side though!

Cheers!

I just ordered the cable needed. Only way I'll find out in the flesh really. I'm hoping it will work. If not, another lesson learnt on chancing vintage gear!

The cable turned up. The D24 appears to be completely dead. No signal passing whatsoever. As I'm not a tech or engineer head, only can go by basic plug it in my preamps test!

I'll most likely just swallow the loss. Anyone reckon these are worth paying out on though?

Cheers!

No, these are repairable. I don't know who works on them in the UK but you can try Land Audio Services in Nashville which is run by a former AKG factory service guy.

I don't think these are as good microphones as the currently inflated used prices would indicate, but they are useful and worth fixing.
--scott

Hi,

Cheers for the reply!

Ah, cool. From research and a few emails I was getting the idea of once their dead, their dead. Was told also it's a dynamic, nothing ultra complicated inside. Just the really old age and sourcing parts nowadays is the real tricky part.

There was one or two places I reached out to in the UK who said their willing to take a look for the bench cost, postage, VAT, but can't guarantee a fix.

If my spare money can spare it, might be worth a shot then! It does look an interesting mic, plus I like mics more on the classic mid foward vibe (not scooped or soft), which I think from specs I've seen this might have.

Cheers!

You know this was Thee Vocal Mic on...
"It Was A Very Good Year"?
Right?

So it's a very good vocal mic too.
Chris

I clocked that when researching. That made me dig a little deeper and found a few interesting articles. I could see by the vent/port design it was like the D19. Never heard of the D24 though.

Annoying it's dead from the go. Literally no signal passing whatsoever.

Now debating if I should send this off for an inspection test. It's just the costs front. I'm just a small home setup type, plus not minted!

D19 and D24 have the same element, just different grille and baffling. The D19 was the cheaper version, but since it's the one the Beatles used it sells for even more inflated prices.

The dynamic mike is a coil of wire suspended in a magnetic field, connected to the output. Some mikes use a transformer as part of that connection. If there is absolutely no output, either the wiring TO that coil is bad, or the coil itself is open, or the transformer is bad.

The D24 has no transformer, so rule that out. Wiring to the element itself is easy to fix. If the tiny wiring on the coil is bad, it's very difficult to fix but can be done (although Land can often fix them and some other folks do it, I have never been able to).
--scott

Having worked on my share of vintage AKGs, a totally dead one isn't a good sign.
I managed to solder a wire at a capsule once. It was the HF section of a D224E, and lasted about 20 minutes.

There's a listing on eBay for D19/24 diaphragms, but they're more than I'd want to pay. No idea how genuine it is, either.


Chris

Hi,

Cheers for getting back again. Nice one for all the info too!

My brains now telling me to take a chance with a tech now. Seems not many places in the UK get recommend for old AKG's. A really helpful pro audio, vintage gear shop has told me about a person in Italy who maybe able to help.

Thanks for the info Chris. Yeah, it's the proper deadness that's worrying.

What I have noticed is, the little Dinn connector on the D24 body is a little wobbley, plus I can see clear there's going to be a big load of dust and grim, just by looking close at the mesh grill.

After researching and weighing up the costs, sourcing a reliable tech, the time etc I have decided to go the parts/spares route on the D24.

If I had spare money to gamble a second time, I might of gone the repair route. Can't take the risk again. Is what it is!

To those who posted, cheers for all the info and input!

Ah, something just happend.

I tested the D24 again (hoping lol) and this time when I push on the cable into the din socket, I can hear crackle and a few pops showing up on RME Totalmix channel, also on ocassions mic taps were getting picked up aswell. I'm pretty sure I can hear a slight grounding type interference that comes and goes if I use my isolation headphones.

The din socket on the mic is a bit wobbly and loose. I reckon it may be worth sending for a test. The person who made me the din to xlr cable said it's easy enough to take a look and test, send it over for a small fee.

Sent the D24 off for a test. Be great if it's just a simple connector fix. From what I have been told and now researched, not holding much hope!

No luck. I was told it's defo something internal but they didn't want to risk opening the mic up and doing any damage to it.

Up for spares it will have to be.

Thanks.

The mic arrived back to me today. Tried plugging it in again. Nothing. Just a pop when unplugging or plugging in the cable. I think I can hear some grounding type interference, but thats when the preamp is up quite a bit. Goes when I unplug the mic.

I had a go at trying to get the connector out, no luck at all. Didn't want to go mad on it so have defo given up trying.

I decided to see what could be under the grille out of curiousity. I managed to get one screw out of the grille band really easily, the other two are really, really stuck. Ended up chewing up the remaining two screw heads in the process, so quitting that route!

I don't have the skiils, tools, brain, or spare money to attempt anymore guess work, so it looks look it has to be the spares route for this D24. Annoying, but is what it is.

Cheers to those on here who jumped in with info!

Stay a million miles away from LAND AUDIO SERVICE, that would be my honest advice.

I was scammed by a promise of a reasonably priced repair. My AKG C414 XLII fell on the floor and developed some cutting out issues. Contacted this guy via email and he said he would repair it. Under $200 was the estimate. I sent pictures for a better estimate, and then I sent the actual mic to this person for a more precise estimate.

Soon after, one morning I get a call (not email) from this guy. Luckily, I have been burned like this before so I have a recording of the conversation, available upon a request.

Without ever contacting me with an estimate like we discussed, this person went ahead and 'fixed" my mic WITHOUT giving me the precise estimate. He wanted almost $800 to send the mic back to me "fixed"!!!! What a scam!!! Thomann has this mic brand new for $849!

When I refused to pay the amount we HAVE NOT AGREED UPON, he then said he would "break up my mic again" and send it back to me, but he wanted to charge me $240 for my broken mic back??? This was more than the estimate he gave me after my detailed description of the issue and pictures.

I do not know of any repair place that would go ahead and perform the work without permission, that was almost 4 times the price of an initial estimate. This is clearly a scam and it looks like this is not the first time this person has perpetrated a scam like this.

My mic is now gone, and he will profit from it. I only wish to caution other music gear folk so that you do not end up in this situation, being scammed and without your beloved mic.

This person is an old guy who is a predatory scammer and an affront to God. He effectively stole my microphone and will sell it for profit. He DO NOT SEND ANYTHING TO THIS SCAMMER, YOU WILL REGRET IT. PLEASE STAY AWAY.