Microphone popping?

[HA_DA_JA]

is anyone else experiencing microphone poppinp sounds due to the bad (humid) weather?

Hey the weather has been bad for the last 20 days with lots of rain and humid weather.
I have stored my LDC Tube mic in the bag with gel capsules to keep moisture out but when I used it recently I got random popping noises?
Could the weather be causing this?
And it is no cheap chinese mic so it does concern me as this has not happened with my other mics before.

[NYMo]

Hi there,

Dale...only on cheap chinese mics (I heard the sea !)

Cheers

N
Y
M
O

[Ben M]

Hi Dale

Could be bad phantom supply. Did you change channels or ?? to try a different supply of phantom?

Just a thought.

:)

[HA_DA_JA]

I have been emailed by the manufacturer that it is due to condensation on the capsule. This concerns me as it is stored with gel packs and the mic is only a year old.
Condensation on the capsule = oxidation (rust). So I am a bit worried about the long term life of this mic.

[Ben M]

In the past I've put mics under a warm lamp, or raised it on a mic stand up to a light on the ceiling to clear condensation or spit residue. Usually does the trick.
I would delete those gel capsules from it's storage though. They sound like their not doing what they should.

:)

[rob]

no rust on gold plated diaphrams

it is the combination of dust / fluff and moisture that is the killer...symptoms are random ticks, pops or surfing sounds and sometimes total cutout altogether ( U87's are particularly prone to this.

I just cleaned the capsule on a brand new mic, 'cause there was fluff on the diaphram...very open weave grills don't help

thus cleaning the capsule will give the best chance of avoiding any issues due to humidity...and rarely is humidity on it's own an issue

and of course....a good pop shield which keeps moisture from the breath as well as 'plosives off the diaphram

[rick]

lets just presume its not a neumann ( the only guys that use to promise no weather issues - and i dont know if they still do ? )

the reason this stuff happens is lack of pre planning by the microphone maker ( and most guys cannot make a capsule good enough ) ,
if its an early problem showing up that will be the reason

if its a older problem ( ie mic is out of warranty ) its a sign that the capsule is ending its usefull life
most vintage mikes suffer like this and limp on for years and we have all kinds of "magic cures "

but bottom line is you dont have to keep you mics locked up with silca gel unless they are sub standard or faulty .

[Chinagraf]

Are you storing it somewhere cold then putting it in a wamer room or vice cersa? Sometimes temp shifts can cause condensation. I just can't remember which way it is..

[HA_DA_JA]

I hear what you are saying or I should I say I see what you are writing.

RICK - Are you inferring that maybe this mic and others that exhibit these characteristics are sub-par mics (or should I say mic capsules)?

I do see that the head basket is very transparent, hence the absolute rule of using a pop filter on it every time.

ROB - Is that one of the design flaws of a headbasket of this type - in that it can allow in moisture and dust particles? And when are you going to start making microphones?

I have been told by another user, who has the same brand but a much higher model which also has the problems, to use a blow dryer on it gently to dry the moisture before putting the mic back in its case.

Would this do any damage?

If I just took a thin layer of Foam out of an another mic and placed it in- other then effecting the high end- would this help solve my problem?

[rob]

To designers who really care, the weave of the grill and the whole basket design has subtle effects on the pickup properties of the mic.

An open weave 'might' afford a 'better' sound than a tightly woven grill or the grill weave might be simply that that was only mesh the designer could get hold of and the price they wanted to pay.... never the less an open weave will let in more crap to collect on the diaphram. Note most Neumann mics have three different spaced and woven meshes on their grills, and the inner weave is quite fine..you will still find crap on a neumann diaphram over time.

sure, grab your hairdryer on a low heat, low fan speed and give it a blast from 5cm back, this will dry off any moisture and may blow off any crap, but won't really clean the diaphram as it should be.

Cleaning condensor mic capsules is a regular job around here and in 99% of cases takes a mic that was making noises back to working as it should.

It is not necessarily the case that the capsule is badly designed nor is old and no good...it is just dirty

[rick]

in the good old days neumann bragged that they had a humidity chamber and a polar ( ice ) that every microphone had to be able to pass before the model was released so their mics could take heat moisture and cooling fluctuations for the length of the warranty at least !.

anything less then that is substandard in my opinion ..
err and everything is just about sub standard by that definition

in a perfect world you would / should never have to clean your capsule .

in the sixties and early seventies , neither neumann or akg advised cleaning capsules as regular maintanence
they simply replaced them ! ( err at a cost )

i clean my mics capsules myself and use voodoo to keep them going ,
when the time is right i get them reskinned by a ex neumann guy in germany .
so they go another 5-10 years

so bottom line if you have pop and spilt issues realiting to the weather , your have a capsule issue , or a dirt issue at least
cleaning it and all the stuff arounf the high impedence parts will probably fix this for now
but why has this happened ( i will give you a hint its not because its raining ...)

you should not have to lock your mics up
i never have and somtimes i go months between using them

i understand what rob is saying about cleaning them, its probably all its needs but if the mic is still under warrenty and you are having to clean them already then i defer to my original idea - the mic is substandard by design

nobody talks about this stuff though , what reviewer ever said , and the great thing about this mic is it will last the distance ...?

[TimS]

I can see another AT editorial coming along......

[rick]

nah
i am way too busy at the moment write this coming issue and maybe next as well :(

what i am crapping on about here really is build specs and warranty - so you got a popping capsule within warranty ?

then its somebodies problem to sort you out ( if they dont then dont support them , if they do then damn well support them )
i have a strong feeling you will be ok if your mic is what think it is

the fact that its rained for 40 days and nights just makes the mic makers job even harder.

and we all know that silica beads have a "full point " right ?
maybe your actually causing the moisture by locking it up tight at night
who knows ?

[mics]

Hi All.

The mic in question is A BeesNeez James.

A good mic capsule is like a finely tuned race engine, it is at it's best when when it is balancing on the edge of destruction! I can make a capsule that will never pop or crackle but will it sound great; NO!! I currently have over 1300 microphones in the marketplace and only 6 have ever had this problem, i might add that in these 6 returns for warranty, only one was housed in an environmentally controlled studio.

Any mic capsule in any microphone can be susceptable to popping due to moisture ingress and dust. The info Rob has posted is dead on the mark.

Capsule technology is quite simple really, the ditance between the mounting ring or screws and the diaphragms metallic deposit is a void space and even moisture won't affect it but;; add sodium ie sweat and it becomes a conductor and all of a sudden we have snap crackle and POP. Dales mic has a lifetime warranty so basically there is nothing to worry about as it will be fixed if need be and will of course be free of charge.

It has now rained for the last 20 days in brisbane meaning that even Neumann's will be start'n to crackle, even if a mic is stored with silica gel, it too needs to be replaced every 90 days.

If any mic is popping like this, there are a few questions to ask yourself;

1/ Is the room humidity treated
2/ is the mic being used with a Pop Stopper
3/ Is the mic being stored properly

Many in the industry say that Neumanns are the best and the rest are Sub-standard, I find this amuzing considering over the last 12 months i have repaired and cleaned 60 neumanns with this exact problem!!


Cheers

[Chinagraf]

[quote="rick"]
and we all know that silica beads have a "full point " right ?
[/quote]

Hey Jamil if they are full they turn pink. You can 'recharge' them by baking in your oven...then they should go blue again. Although why anyone would bother is beyond me..

[jkhuri44]

huh? what? i didnt chime in this thread ,

am i rick now :P

[Ben M]

huh? what? i didnt chime in this thread ,

am i rick now :P

A case of mistaken identity me thinks.

:)

[Ben M]

it is at it's best when it is balancing on the edge of destruction!

Cheers

I love that. Teetering on the edge of sounding great or sounding ordinary.

I also love that localness to this problem. Cool chiming Ben.


I've been storing my mics on stands in their normal habitat (for minimum movements) and with their plastic covers for any dust control - especially ribbons with wide grill syndrome.
Also tube mics should naturally hang upside down when in use IMO (thus decreasing dust +). I can't remember why. Is it the potential heat of the tube? and then the heat and the moisture? I know there's a good reason?...umm looks good with a big boom arm??
Question: Ben have you ever considered fashioning your own Beesneez large scale weighted boom arm mic stand to make your mics look more sexy on?
I'd be in for a full set.
:)

[spandex man]

On a related topic, does anyone know if there is a solution for popping AKG CK1 capsules? A friend of mine has 3 or 4 that as far as he is aware are dead to the world because of the crackling. He said he had never heard of a solution for those particular mics.

Any thoughts?

[Gian]

Troy, get your friend to send his mic up to Ben.

[rick]

Also tube mics should naturally hang upside down when in use IMO (thus decreasing dust +). I can't remember why. Is it the potential heat of the tube? and then the heat and the moisture? I know there's a good reason?...umm looks good with a big boom arm??

:)

i think all of the super experts on the interweb have decided that its actually because it looks cool and gets the body out of the way of your throat resonance.

i use to have a bunch of theories about this and heat and convection but i have been convinced that they were nice theories - no reality

it just gets em out of the way !

the big atlas boom stands are the go for big mics
buy as many as you ever seen


and it seems beez neez are doing what they said they would in their early sell through promo in regards to support
gotta tip you hat to that - lifetime warranty? .. jeez ben i dont think ANYBODY else does that !

apparently this rain is a once in twenty year event , so your probably good for another twenty years at least !

[rick]

On a related topic, does anyone know if there is a solution for popping AKG CK1 capsules? A friend of mine has 3 or 4 that as far as he is aware are dead to the world because of the crackling. He said he had never heard of a solution for those particular mics.

Any thoughts?

i think these are in the not worth enough too hard basket
if it is anything more then a clean needed , so try getting them cleaned ! - nothing to lose everything to gain me thinks

[jkhuri44]

using your mic covers decreases dust...ppl dont use em coz it looks un-cool.

but someone wise and older than myself said that people dont do this enough, and they should.

problem is mics arent really mics, they're studio porn, and no one wants to put a hajjab on em.

[Chinagraf]

[quote="jkhuri44"]huh? what? i didnt chime in this thread ,

am i rick now :P[/quote]
Yeah, sorry Jamil I meant Dale. I get confused in the afternoons if I don't have my nap.

[HA_DA_JA]

Okay my point in question was about popping mics and I have now seen that I need to look at my storage issue a lot more closely.
Thanks I have got lots of tips on that now. I can see that this wont be a continuing problem.
I also wanted to let people know that this was NOT about the the Brand of Mic I was using as others have stated that other brands do exhibit similar problems.
I did do the unthinkable and undid 3 x screws to look at the capsule and low and behold there were 3 large dust/small alien hair thingies/particles on the capsule.
I used a can of compressed air that I normally use on my $30k drum scanner and from a safe distance I sprayed and removed the offending culprites with 1 squirt.

I shall test the mic out again this weekend.

Now I hope this has not voided my warranty but I do need to use it again for a job this weekend so sending it off and getting it fixed in the small time frame would have been an unreasonable
expectation.
Mr Mics please let me know if I have voided my warranty.
Again I must say it was not about the brand of mic.


Thanks to everyone for your comments.

[mics]

Mr Mics please let me know if I have voided my warranty.
Again I must say it was not about the brand of mic.


Thanks to everyone for your comments.

Warranty??? What warranty??? lol

[graemeh]

Re the 451 CK1s - I had trouble with the frying egg sound 20 odd years ago and it was traced to the 48v supply on the desk not quite putting out 48v or too much can't remember which. That was fixed and I've never had a problem since...

I love mine!

[rick]

my comment on the ck 1 was what they cost to reskin and hassle of getting it done
compared to what they cost to buy new
not how they actually sound - sorry if i confused any akg lovers in the audience

as for the hairdryer gag - maybe with the mics you guys own , but i can think of a couple of really good reasons no to do this
to my mics

rapid heat / membrane shrinkage and chances of blowing hot sticky air onto capsule etc
all this stuff leads to the inevitable microscopic cracks holes in the skin - then the noises that come with it

its inevitable with all capsules , but should not happen within the warranty period

i guess bens retirement plans will keep him busy in 20 years time :) (lifetime warranty)

[HA_DA_JA]

I am just not too sure how to gauge that last line in your post Rick...hhmmm
I guess it was more tongue in cheek or some could say foot in mouth or others might want to wipe the smug smile etc
But why do all those sayings have something to do with your face? - Maybe its the first thing - the image - that you see of that person or entity.
Your image in the public arena - now that could be an interesting AT article.

[Ben M]

I agree about the hairdryer. Sounds like a recipe for disaster. When you have trouble with your mics due to condensation/spit/moisture, try the ceiling light trick. Just hoist the mic up to a light and put a couple of sand bags at the base of the mic stand. It's a more even gentler heat and less blowy kind of method.
A hair dryer could actually blow dust onto the capsule that was sitting on or around the grill and then probably stick on the capsule because of the moisture your trying to get rid of. Making a new problem while trying to get rid of another is silly town.

:)