[Im_Beta_00]

Richard Crowley wrote:
Im_Beta_00 wrote:

snip

which makes me wonder if condenser microphones have a limited
lifespan in general, just from the humidity in the air. Is this
something I should worry about? If it is, what can I do about it? I
have heard of some people protecting their microphones by sticking
them in rubber balloons.

I don't live in a sunny state, I live in Portland, Oregon, and the
summer is over, and we are proceeding into our rainy season.

Moisture of any kind, and particularly "conductive" moisture like
breath condensation will short out the ultra-high impedance of the
condenser capsule and wiring. Even partial shorting of this high-
impedance node will cause significant noise and loss of signal.
That is the primary vulnerability of condenser mics to moisture.

Unless the water leaves conductive residue behind, once the
moisture is gone, no permanent damage remains. However a
secondary mode of long-term deterioration is leaving the surfaces
sticky and more prone to collecting and holding dust, etc. from
the air. This may be the "permanent damage" MXL is referring
to. It can be cleaned, but it is a delicate operation best done
by skilled and experienced technicians, and so maybe beyond
the cost/benefit of fixing a low-cost microphone.

I also live in the Portland metro area (Hillsboro) and I am not
concerned about ambient humidity harming any of my many
condenser microphones.

Hate to confess it, but I am a teensy bit hard of hearing. Is there any
software that will let me 'see' what the difference is, between a new
microphone, and one that has been compromised? I mean, compromised from the
accumulation of grease and dirt after the water has evaporated. Not only
that, but I was wondering about the possibility of those little metal ribbons
inside condenser microphones. Do they ever corrode?

Which software do you suggest for generating a sound spectrograph?

My setup, is an unexpanded Mac mini, and the aforementioned MXL V67G
microphone. It may seem a little old-fashioned, but I was thinking of using a
tuning fork at about a foot's distance, and set my Fostex FR-2LE's gain more
or less to the middle. Would that work?