I've got 2 Neumann TLM103 mics, both bought seperately, 2nd hand. When I
recieved each one, I took the top cover off to inspect the insides (I'm
nosey like that).

The 1st one, which has serial number 00677, looks pretty much identical to
the picture here - http://www.coutant.org/diafram.jpg

The 2nd one, which has serial number 15525, & generally looks newer, Has a
rather crude looking piece of curved nylon/plastic screwed to the top of
capsule housing(?).

The screw holes are present in the one without the plastic. Can anyone shed
any light on what this is all about? Am I missing part of one mic (unlikely
lokking at the picture above), did Neumann change the design at some point,
or has somebody added this piece for some bizzarre reason?? Both mics seem
to sound similar, BTW.

I'll take a picture if anyone would like to see the item in question, any
help much appreciated.

Try sending your question to .

Hmmm... Not sure exactly what you're describing without actually seeing
it - but maybe this will help. I know that Rode mics ship with what
basically amounts to a foam earplug jammed inside the windscreen - to
prevent the capsule from moving too much during shipping (it took me a
while to actually crack open my owner's manual to figure that one out!)
.... Maybe the neweer mic has something similar? But I agree with Fred's
post - ask the professionals - and send them pics if you can. (and be
sure to let us know what the hell it is, too!)

On Thu, 25 Aug 2005 08:29:14 -0400, StudioDude wrote
(in article .com):

Hmmm... Not sure exactly what you're describing without actually seeing
it - but maybe this will help. I know that Rode mics ship with what
basically amounts to a foam earplug jammed inside the windscreen - to
prevent the capsule from moving too much during shipping (it took me a
while to actually crack open my owner's manual to figure that one out!)
... Maybe the neweer mic has something similar? But I agree with Fred's
post - ask the professionals - and send them pics if you can. (and be
sure to let us know what the hell it is, too!)


foam thingees like that are also to damp headgrille vibrations.

Ty Ford



-- Ty Ford's equipment reviews, audio samples, rates and other audiocentric
stuff are at www.tyford.com

StudioDude wrote:
Hmmm... Not sure exactly what you're describing without actually seeing
it - but maybe this will help. I know that Rode mics ship with what
basically amounts to a foam earplug jammed inside the windscreen - to
prevent the capsule from moving too much during shipping (it took me a
while to actually crack open my owner's manual to figure that one out!)
... Maybe the neweer mic has something similar? But I agree with Fred's
post - ask the professionals - and send them pics if you can. (and be
sure to let us know what the hell it is, too!)

BLUE Lollipops come with those three brass screws to hold the internal
capsule in place during shipping. What's not clear to me is should
I put those back in when not in use and remove them when using it?

I do lots of location recording, so I take my mics places. I have asked
BLUE this question but no answer. Does anyone know?

I am guesing that as the capsules are probably internally shockmounted,
the screws hold them in place against large G forces like UPS delivery
man hijinks. But what about just putting them in a case, driving
somewhere with them and taking them out and setting them up? Do I need
to secure them for that?

Anyone?

BLUE?

Skipper?

Ari?

Rob R.

At the risk of looking a complete fool, I can tell you I never removed
mine. I received no instruction to do so when I bought it, and it has
worked beautifully from day one. If you hear from others that I
definitely should have and it will sound much better without them I
will definitely feel dumb, but as I was afraid that they held the
capsule in place and I might screw up the tensioning by removing them
I never did.

On Tue, 6 Sep 2005 20:55:29 +0000 (UTC), Rob Reedijk
wrote:

StudioDude wrote:
Hmmm... Not sure exactly what you're describing without actually seeing
it - but maybe this will help. I know that Rode mics ship with what
basically amounts to a foam earplug jammed inside the windscreen - to
prevent the capsule from moving too much during shipping (it took me a
while to actually crack open my owner's manual to figure that one out!)
... Maybe the neweer mic has something similar? But I agree with Fred's
post - ask the professionals - and send them pics if you can. (and be
sure to let us know what the hell it is, too!)

BLUE Lollipops come with those three brass screws to hold the internal
capsule in place during shipping. What's not clear to me is should
I put those back in when not in use and remove them when using it?

I do lots of location recording, so I take my mics places. I have asked
BLUE this question but no answer. Does anyone know?

I am guesing that as the capsules are probably internally shockmounted,
the screws hold them in place against large G forces like UPS delivery
man hijinks. But what about just putting them in a case, driving
somewhere with them and taking them out and setting them up? Do I need
to secure them for that?

Anyone?

BLUE?

Skipper?

Ari?

Rob R.

I just confirmed it. Both of mine had a little red tag attached to one
of the screws which read, "Remove the three brass screws before
use".

A few more bits of information. I was just at a local store. They
have (I think it was) a Dragonfly which also appears to use three
screws to hold the capsule in place. We looked at the capsule
through the light and noticed that the capsule's plane had rotated
nearly 90 degrees and was out by that amount relative to the
side address grills. Had this one been exposed to some nasty
physical shocks with the screws out?

I actually used mine two weeks ago with the screws in, since I have
it on a shock mount anyway, so why bother. I was surprised that the
mic seemed to be less bright, but I did not connect these two things
at the time. Then, last weekend I recorded a singer and was
reassured that the mic had lots of top end---but I had the screws
out.

How can this be? Why would that affect its top end response? I still
suspect that it didn't and I had something else in the chain making it
sound dark when the screws were out. Anyone?
I know, I will test it again...

Lastly, more and more I love these capsules. I was using them a lot
last year in a pair for classical recordings on 452EB bodies.
While a bit lacking in the bottom end, the off axis response is
so good, they work surprisingly well in ORTF type recordings.
Lately I have started to use them on my C-60 bodies and wow!
They sound nice on voices and mic'ed guitar amps. Plus the
sensitivity is so much higher than the Ck28s and Ck1s that the
noise issues that come with C-60s become a lot easier to deal with.

Rob R.

wrote:
At the risk of looking a complete fool, I can tell you I never removed
mine. I received no instruction to do so when I bought it, and it has
worked beautifully from day one. If you hear from others that I
definitely should have and it will sound much better without them I
will definitely feel dumb, but as I was afraid that they held the
capsule in place and I might screw up the tensioning by removing them
I never did.

On Tue, 6 Sep 2005 20:55:29 +0000 (UTC), Rob Reedijk
wrote:

StudioDude wrote:
Hmmm... Not sure exactly what you're describing without actually seeing
it - but maybe this will help. I know that Rode mics ship with what
basically amounts to a foam earplug jammed inside the windscreen - to
prevent the capsule from moving too much during shipping (it took me a
while to actually crack open my owner's manual to figure that one out!)
... Maybe the neweer mic has something similar? But I agree with Fred's
post - ask the professionals - and send them pics if you can. (and be
sure to let us know what the hell it is, too!)

BLUE Lollipops come with those three brass screws to hold the internal
capsule in place during shipping. What's not clear to me is should
I put those back in when not in use and remove them when using it?

I do lots of location recording, so I take my mics places. I have asked
BLUE this question but no answer. Does anyone know?

I am guesing that as the capsules are probably internally shockmounted,
the screws hold them in place against large G forces like UPS delivery
man hijinks. But what about just putting them in a case, driving
somewhere with them and taking them out and setting them up? Do I need
to secure them for that?

Anyone?

BLUE?

Skipper?

Ari?

Rob Reedijk wrote:

I just confirmed it. Both of mine had a little red tag attached to one
of the screws which read, "Remove the three brass screws before
use".

Right. I just got this straight from Skipper:

Hi Hank,
The screws are for transporting the capsule only if needed.
An example of this is sending the unit through the US mail, UPS etc. For
all other purposes they should be left out of the assembly as it was
designed this way in the first place. This is true on all Blue products.
Kind Regards
Skipper

Skipper Wise
President

www.bluemic.com

--
ha

I have a secret tip about the screws. It involves a green Sharpie.

wrote:

I have a secret tip about the screws. It involves a green Sharpie.

Yeah, I heard about that. You have to put exactly the same amount on
each screw or the capsule goes out of balance. But if you get it right
it sounds amazing.

--
ha

hank alrich wrote:
wrote:

I have a secret tip about the screws. It involves a green Sharpie.

Yeah, I heard about that. You have to put exactly the same amount on
each screw or the capsule goes out of balance. But if you get it right
it sounds amazing.

I got a response from BLUE. The screws are only there for shipping. Keep
them and use them only for that.

Rob R.

Rob Reedijk wrote:

[to screw or not to screw]

How can this be? Why would that affect its top end response?

Screws in position MUST link housing metal resonances directly to the
capsule, if not then I want to trade the laws of physics as I know them
in for some that apply better.


Kind regards

Peter Larsen

--
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* My site is at: http://www.muyiovatki.dk *
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