Mark LaCoste Posted July 18, 2004 Share Posted July 18, 2004 I got this LDC that craps out. It's a chinese cheapo, so I'm willing to play with it a bit. I have isolated the thing that triggers the crapping out. The mic sounds fine and works great until a certain loudness is reached - easily reached by speaking into it 1 inch from the grill. within seconds it will just fade out. So I wait, silently, and in ten or fifteen seconds I hear the mic start working again. Wierd! The two small pcb's inside the mic have lots of resistors and capacitors. No IC's. Two transistors. There is a transformer, too. I have inspected for cold solder connections. Wires to and from the diaphragm seem fine. I can't imagine such behavior being caused by a cap or resistor... is this a bad transistor? I'm willing to chuck this mic, but it would be cool if it were fixed! It's a Cascade M20, by the way. From Bayview Pro Audio, in Olympia, WA. Went out of waranty before I got fed up with it. -mark Rubber Lizard Studio Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bunny Knutson Posted July 18, 2004 Share Posted July 18, 2004 I can't help you fix your mic, but I can point you here: MXL 990 LDC mic on Musician\'s Friend. <---CLONK IT!!! Or you can go to Guitar Center this weekend and get an MXL 990 and an MXL 991 together for $99.99. Those are really decent mics for such a low price. Might as well replace one cheap Chinese LDC with another. https://bunny.bandcamp.com/ https://theystolemycrayon.bandcamp.com/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Philip OKeefe Posted July 18, 2004 Share Posted July 18, 2004 I'm no mic expert in the class of someone like Klaus Heyne, but I'd be willing to give you a few possible causes... first of all, moisture is a major enemy of a condenser mic. If breath moisture is hitting that capsule, it could easily cause the type of symptoms you're describing. Another possible cause would be a failing capacitor on the circuit board - also not unheard of with cheap mics. A third possibility is that the capsule is shorting out when you sing into it. A condenser mic's capsule is basically a capacitor... and if the diaphram and back plate are coming into contact with each other - it shorts out and pffft. A collapsed capsule on a cheap condenser isn't worth trying to rebuild, and you probably couldn't successfully do it without a lot of knowledge, tools and experience. Based on the symptoms you're describing, I'd bet it's one of those three issues. However, you probably wouldn't want to dig into the capsule - it would be simpler to either replace it or just get a new mic on a cheap mic like that. If one of the circuit board capacitors is visibly leaking, then you could unsolder the old one and replace it. And as for the moisture issue, use a good pop screen and keep it a couple of inches away from the mic - I really like the Stedman pop filters, since they are probably the most effective ones I've ever tried, and since they're metal (instead of nylon) they can easily be cleaned and disinfected. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Philip OKeefe Posted July 18, 2004 Share Posted July 18, 2004 BTW, you might want to contact Bayview anyway - even though it's out of warranty, some companies will repair or replace their products either for free or for very little money. I'd start by trying that - yuou have nothing to lose. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark LaCoste Posted July 18, 2004 Author Share Posted July 18, 2004 Thanks for the leads, Phil. I'll look at the mic again with those things in mind. The caps are mostly tantylum (sp?) and there are no electrolytic ones to leak. This thing is probably toast. Cascade offered to fix it *if* I bought another one (I had mentioned to them that I wanted to use a pair for overheads). Nah, not worth it. I'll replace it, like Mr. Spencer suggests. Spencer mentioned the MXL mics, and I could give them another try, but I am a fan of Alan Hyatt's Studio Projects mics. When I thought my C1 was buzzing, even out of waranty, Alan was encouraging me to send it in. I will probably buy a Studio Projects B1, and a B4 (has patterns) so I can learn about various stereo micing techinques. Rubber Lizard Studio Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bunny Knutson Posted July 18, 2004 Share Posted July 18, 2004 You callin' me Spencer? BTW, I own Studio Projects mics and MXL mics, and they're both good quality Chinese mics for such a low price. If you're going to be using them for overheads, I'd suggest a pair of MXL 991s. But, that's just me, and I prefer small diaphragm condensers for OH mics. https://bunny.bandcamp.com/ https://theystolemycrayon.bandcamp.com/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark LaCoste Posted July 19, 2004 Author Share Posted July 19, 2004 Ooops, sorry, Bunny. Where did that Spencer thing come from? I dunno. I already have a pair of Crown CM700's to use as overheads. Experience will probably teach me the wisdom of your words and then I'll want more SDC's. Right now, I want not only overheads, but some mics that can be set up for... oh dang... forgot the name. You set up one figure 8 so the lobes of the pattern are left and right of the target. Then another mic (preferably with matching sonic characteristics) uses cardioid pattern. I think you sum the two to create one track, then reverse the polarity of the figure 8 track and sum again to create a second track. This creates a stereo image somehow. That's where I'm headed, anyway. Sorry 'bout calling you Spencer. Rubber Lizard Studio Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mats Olsson. Posted July 19, 2004 Share Posted July 19, 2004 set up for... oh dang... forgot the name Mid-Side (M/S) ? http://www.lexam.net/peter/carnut/man.gif What do we want? Procrastination! When do we want it? Later! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bunny Knutson Posted July 19, 2004 Share Posted July 19, 2004 Originally posted by Mark LaCoste: Ooops, sorry, Bunny. Where did that Spencer thing come from? I dunno. ... Sorry 'bout calling you Spencer.Haha, no problem. I've been called a lot worse. I think I confused you when I used Arrel's infamous phrase, "CLONK IT!!!" for my link. BTW, I've told you before, but Ashland is one of my favorite towns in Oregon. Great place! https://bunny.bandcamp.com/ https://theystolemycrayon.bandcamp.com/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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