Who knows about AKG451e and what do you think about them?

Derrick · Post by **Derrick** » Tue Jul 03, 2007 12:05 pm

Hello, I am looking at purchasing an AKG 451e withCK2 (omni) capule locally. The seller says that every now and then it would crackle a lot when he first hooked it up to 48v power... after ten minutes or jiggling the cables or unscrewing and replacing the diaphragm the problem egoes away. It now happens more often than not, where it sounds like it's crackling or someone is blowing furiously into the mic at close range.

I'm good with electronics... does this problem sound familliar to any of you guys? I'm trying to decide if I should get it. Because this is intermittent, I don't think it's a bad capsule. Sounds like a connection needs to be touched up of that the capsule is getting humidity (he does mention that he brings it from his house to his garage to record and it's humid around here). Also, I don't know much about this model... is this a good model mic?
Thanks!

Max · Post by **Max** » Tue Jul 03, 2007 2:50 pm

It's a good microphone, a standard mic in many studios.
Whenever one of mine crackles, I unscrew the capsule and clean the connection with a q-tip and alcohol I use for the tape heads. It helped so far.

chetatkinsdiet · Post by **chetatkinsdiet** » Wed Jul 04, 2007 9:50 am

What's the price? I'd factor in the $100 to have AKG in Nashville refurb it.

m

cgarges · Post by **cgarges** » Wed Jul 04, 2007 3:17 pm

chetatkinsdiet wrote:What's the price? I'd factor in the $100 to have AKG in Nashville refurb it.

With my experience, I'd never send anything else to AKG for repairs, ever. Contact Richard Land at Land Audio in Nashville. That's who AKG contracts for their service, so you'd get the real deal job without the near-criminal bullshit hassle of dealing with AKG. Richard is a superb dude. His contact information is listed on a thread from a few months ago, so using the search engine should give it to you.

Chris Garges
Charlotte, NC

joel hamilton · Post by **joel hamilton** » Wed Jul 04, 2007 9:27 pm

I love that mic on certain things...

Derrick · Post by **Derrick** » Wed Jul 04, 2007 11:25 pm

Hey, thank so much guys. I will contat the seller to see if he still has it. So it seems like a nice mic worth having... as for the crackling, there is one post saying to clean the contacts. Are there any others out there experiancing nois like crackling or like someone was blowing into it intermittently? What else could it be?
Thanks!

Ryan Silva · Post by **Ryan Silva** » Thu Jul 05, 2007 1:20 pm

I had a Pre-amp do what you described after turning on 'Phantom'. After a while it did go away, but after a long while(6 months) the pre-amp just stoped working. I thought it was a my mic for awhile but it just turned out to be the 'Focusrite Twin Track' if that helps at all.

Ian · Post by **Ian** » Thu Jul 05, 2007 6:35 pm

I have two 451's(from the late 70's) and both have started to exhibit the crackling you describe. I'm just gonna send mine out(not to AKG) and have them fixed...just need to get around to it

Derrick · Post by **Derrick** » Thu Jul 05, 2007 11:11 pm

Thanks again guys. Ian, it would be interesting to know what AKG finds is the problem. I've read a few posts on the net about this vary problem with these mics.

cgarges · Post by **cgarges** » Fri Jul 06, 2007 10:56 am

I think mine had caps replaced. I mean, those are electret mics that are somewhere between 10 and 25 years old. Most of them are probably due for some work.

Chris Garges
Charlotte, NC

Derrick · Post by **Derrick** » Fri Jul 06, 2007 11:01 am

Oh, those are electret mics? That's a pretty cheap type of elelment right? Also, don't they still sell these mics?

Ian · Post by **Ian** » Sat Jul 07, 2007 7:22 pm

Derrick wrote:Thanks again guys. Ian, it would be interesting to know what AKG finds is the problem. I've read a few posts on the net about this vary problem with these mics.

I won't be sending them to AKG. I think Peluso will refurbish old AKG mics.

ubertar · Post by **ubertar** » Sun Jul 08, 2007 8:29 am

cgarges wrote:I think mine had caps replaced. I mean, those are electret mics that are somewhere between 10 and 25 years old. Most of them are probably due for some work.

Chris Garges
Charlotte, NC

On what basis do you say they are electrets?

Here are some spec sheets: http://www.coutant.org/akgc460b/index.html
I don't see anything to indicate these are electret mics. Not that there's anything wrong with electrets, necessarily... I just don't think these are.

ubertar · Post by **ubertar** » Sun Jul 08, 2007 8:44 am

Ah, just found this:

some guy on the internet wrote:the capsules of the original C 451 series were DC polarized, but AKG's "reissue" C 451B series uses electret capsules.

Derrick · Post by **Derrick** » Sun Jul 08, 2007 9:14 am

ubertar wrote:Ah, just found this:

some guy on the internet wrote:the capsules of the original C 451 series were DC polarized, but AKG's "reissue" C 451B series uses electret capsules.

OK, so I'm looking at the 451e. How do I know if it is a reissue or how old it is or if it's electret?

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Who knows about AKG451e and what do you think about them?

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