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#1
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Breaking in a mic?
Got a question (or two, whatever):
Like breaking in a new car engine, new guitar strings, new tubes in a guitar amp, is there any reason to break-in a new mic? If so, how would you go about it? Not talking dynamic mics, but condensor and ribbon mics? Would the mic being solid-state or tube make a difference? The reason I ask is that I was going through some old magazines and cutting out the articles of interest. I do this every three months or so to make space at home. Ran into a review where the reviewer mentioned that he plugged the mic he was testing into a preamp, turned on the phantom power, and let it run like 24 hours or so. To me, this almost sounds like a burn-in or break-in deal. Anything to this? -- de Jack N2MPU FN20 Modeling the NYC and NYNH&H in HO and CP Rail and D&H in N Proud NRA Life member addy: |
#2
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On Sun, 27 Feb 2005 20:40:13 -0500, Jack wrote:
Got a question (or two, whatever): Like breaking in a new car engine, new guitar strings, new tubes in a guitar amp, is there any reason to break-in a new mic? If so, how would you go about it? Not talking dynamic mics, but condensor and ribbon mics? Would the mic being solid-state or tube make a difference? I like to drop mine onto the floor a few times to give them that "broken-in" feel. The reason I ask is that I was going through some old magazines and cutting out the articles of interest. I do this every three months or so to make space at home. Ran into a review where the reviewer mentioned that he plugged the mic he was testing into a preamp, turned on the phantom power, and let it run like 24 hours or so. To me, this almost sounds like a burn-in or break-in deal. It might have been tube gear, some people like to get tubes well heated and stable before using the gear. Al |
#3
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Jack, this may sound as if I'm trying to make a pun, but condenser
microphones don't like condensation (overt moisture) no matter whether the microphone is powered on at the time or not. If you bring a cold microphone indoors to where it's warm and humid, or if you leave the microphone outdoors overnight, you may get condensation which needs to evaporate before the microphone will work properly or be at its best. Also, if there's a DC converter in the microphone, that may take a few seconds to get up to speed but it should stabilize very quickly once the proper powering is applied. Other than that, in ordinary solid-state condenser microphones there really is no such thing as a break-in or warm-up period. Microphones with tube circuitry are another story, of course. --best regards |
#4
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"Jack" wrote in message
. .. The reason I ask is that I was going through some old magazines and cutting out the articles of interest. I do this every three months or so to make space at home. Ran into a review where the reviewer mentioned that he plugged the mic he was testing into a preamp, turned on the phantom power, and let it run like 24 hours or so. To me, this almost sounds like a burn-in or break-in deal. Anything to this? That might've been my review. I burn them in for 24 hours for two reasons. First, I want to see if the thing still works after 24 hours. Don't laugh -- I had one mic kick the bucket when I did that. Second, and perhaps more important, I want to give any electrolytic caps in the microphone a chance to completely form their dielectrics. Peace, Paul |
#5
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Quote:
On some mics, you'll find that they'll "mellow" over time [like I used to work at a studio that had some of the 1.5 micron Stephen Paul diaphragms installed that were so damn bright and zippy on the top end they were basically unuseable for like the first year, year and a half... but after they had a chance to settle in a bit were absolutely drop dead gorgeous]. Best of luck.
__________________
Fletcher http://www.mercenary.com Roscoe Ambel once said: Pro-Tools is to audio what fluorescent is to light |
#6
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#7
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On Sun, 27 Feb 2005 20:40:13 -0500, Jack wrote
(in article ): Got a question (or two, whatever): Like breaking in a new car engine, new guitar strings, new tubes in a guitar amp, is there any reason to break-in a new mic? If so, how would you go about it? Not talking dynamic mics, but condensor and ribbon mics? Would the mic being solid-state or tube make a difference? The reason I ask is that I was going through some old magazines and cutting out the articles of interest. I do this every three months or so to make space at home. Ran into a review where the reviewer mentioned that he plugged the mic he was testing into a preamp, turned on the phantom power, and let it run like 24 hours or so. To me, this almost sounds like a burn-in or break-in deal. Anything to this? If it's not right in a half hour (usually less) something's wrong. Regards, Ty Ford -- Ty Ford's equipment reviews, audio samples, rates and other audiocentric stuff are at www.tyford.com |
#8
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"Jack" wrote in message
. .. Got a question (or two, whatever): Like breaking in a new car engine, new guitar strings, new tubes in a guitar amp, is there any reason to break-in a new mic? If so, how would you go about it? Not talking dynamic mics, but condensor and ribbon mics? Would the mic being solid-state or tube make a difference? The reason I ask is that I was going through some old magazines and cutting out the articles of interest. I do this every three months or so to make space at home. Ran into a review where the reviewer mentioned that he plugged the mic he was testing into a preamp, turned on the phantom power, and let it run like 24 hours or so. To me, this almost sounds like a burn-in or break-in deal. Anything to this? Did it happen to be a CAD Equitek brand mic? Like a model E100, E200, E300, E50, etc? They have internal batteries that are supposed to be charged before you use them. More here : http://www.americanmusical.com/manua...200_manual.pdf John L Rice |
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