microphone death

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permanent hearing damage
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microphone death

Post by permanent hearing damage » Tue Oct 13, 2020 6:15 am

how many have just crapped out on you? i'm not talking you dropped it or spilled coffee on it.

i just had my third Beta 52 die - second in 2.5 years. I sent the last one back to Shure for replacement/"repair" and I've honestly barely used it since - Beta 91 or Beyer D71C are first choices, usually. super weird, yeah?

it's literally never happened to me otherwise in (pushing) 25 years.

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winky dinglehoffer
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Re: microphone death

Post by winky dinglehoffer » Tue Oct 13, 2020 6:24 am

With dynamics, I've had a few that have turned into "telephone mics"--very limited frequency response, generally crappy sounding. Almost all of them were made before the Beta 52 was first produced. Other than a production fault, I can't understand why a well cared for dynamic would crap out that quickly.

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A.David.MacKinnon
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Re: microphone death

Post by A.David.MacKinnon » Tue Oct 13, 2020 6:51 am

Never with dynamics but I've had a few hand held condensers go bad. I have an EV PL76 that's become super noisy and thin sounding. Also a small AT condenser (can't remember the model #). I don't have the heart to throw them out but they're pretty much useless at this point.

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Re: microphone death

Post by floid » Tue Oct 13, 2020 7:27 am

Had an EV dynamic from late 90s/early aughts. Cannot remember which model.
It had super low output, terrible bass response, was distorted, etc. But perfect for certain very specific things.

Eventually I gave up on it and dissected it. The voice coil/ diaphragm assembly was molded plastic so I destroyed it taking it apart. But when I did so, I discovered that the magnet was plated with some material that had flaked and oxidized, which interfered with the coil's travel.
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digitaldrummer
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Re: microphone death

Post by digitaldrummer » Tue Oct 13, 2020 9:15 am

I have an EV ND468 that was given to me - not working. don't really know the history, but he was a sax player so may be moisture got to it. I took it apart but could not find anything broken/shorted (I suspected the external wire that goes from body to the rotating head).

also have a Beyerdynamic M420N that a friend loaned me several years ago. I had used it on snare a few times and then one day it stopped working. Oops. I hate when that happens. And not like I could easily replace it since they don't make them anymore... luckily he was not using it and did not need it replaced (and I did some recording for him instead).

edit - I'm reminded that I did purchase a "bad" Sennheiser 441 of eBay and like VVV, I got refunded and the buyer did not ask for the mic back. But it didn't just go bad on me. it was bad when it was sent. Anyway, I took it apart and found the foam had turned to goo and that's probably what killed it....
Last edited by digitaldrummer on Wed Oct 14, 2020 7:13 am, edited 1 time in total.
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kslight
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Re: microphone death

Post by kslight » Tue Oct 13, 2020 4:31 pm

Never. Now I have a couple beta 52s I’m wondering about as they don’t get regular use (like uh all of my mic collection right now).

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vvv
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Re: microphone death

Post by vvv » Tue Oct 13, 2020 5:46 pm

Never.

I did buy a old EV 635 (I think - looks like a chrome 666) that was already bad. I use it azza effect mic after I was refunded a cuppla years ago on the Ebog and the seller didn't wanna pay return shipping ...
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Re: microphone death

Post by Zacharia Matilda » Wed Oct 14, 2020 4:34 am

I have to say never in 20+ years.
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Rodgre
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Re: microphone death

Post by Rodgre » Wed Oct 14, 2020 5:45 am

I have never had an issue except with tube mics that needed a tube replaced, until recently.

I love ribbon mics and use them a lot, but take care in what I put them on and how I place them. That said, I recently had an Oktave ML-52 about 10" out in front of a kick drum, nowhere near the blast of the hole where the Beta 52 was (never had an issue with a Beta 52 other than the "rubber" washers in the tilt mechanism disintegrating, which turns into this awful sticky goo that doesn't wash off your fingers). About four songs into tracking, the Oktava suddenly died. No output at all. No fuzzy sound. No noise. Just dead. I swapped cables and preamps and nada. I haven't had a chance to look at it since, but will put it on the workbench next week and see where it's at. I would assume that if it was the ribbon getting misshapen, it would just start sounding bad and not go suddenly quiet, right?

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Re: microphone death

Post by Scodiddly » Wed Oct 14, 2020 5:26 pm

Working for a live sound company here. It's rare but it does happen. Usually no clue as to why.

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Re: microphone death

Post by permanent hearing damage » Fri Oct 16, 2020 7:39 am

anyone know off hand if shure send new or refurbs to you when you send a busted one in and pay the fee?

just curious.

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Re: microphone death

Post by Scodiddly » Fri Oct 16, 2020 6:21 pm

permanent hearing damage wrote:
Fri Oct 16, 2020 7:39 am
anyone know off hand if shure send new or refurbs to you when you send a busted one in and pay the fee?
Almost always it's a new mic. They usually repair the more expensive wireless mics, though.

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Re: microphone death

Post by numberthirty » Fri Oct 16, 2020 7:06 pm

One Blue vocal microphone(Encore100?)

That said, my younger brother bought it for a "Haul Around..." pa to take to bars and places that didn't have their own. It saw a whole lot of use before it finally stopped working.

Looked like the "Inside The Headbasket..." guts had started to separate when I unscrewed the headbasket.

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Re: microphone death

Post by standup » Sun Oct 18, 2020 8:30 pm

Beyerdynamic m69 went down, repair guy looked at it with a microscope and said a wire inside the capsule was broken, impossible to fix. A used one was cheaper than a new capsule.

EV 767– capsule failed somehow, no mictoscope this time, but again a used one was cheaper than a new capsule.

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Re: microphone death

Post by standup » Sun Oct 18, 2020 8:31 pm

Sorry, duplicate

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