Was Rode NT5 and Rode NT2 moisture problems...

[RoKKo]

A month ago i began a thread "complaining" about the unpredictable
behavior of "some" of these mics (Rode NT5 & NT2) in locations with
high relative humidity.

I think i must retract at least regarding the NT5s. I thought the
problem was the capsule being extremely moisture sensitive. I was
wrong. Nothing to do with the capsule itself but with the contact
components between the capsule and the body. Cleaning with alcohol -
as with most similar modular mics it seems - cured the problem. They
have been working perfectly since then. Cant say the same of my
C451E+CK1 which membrane is actually damaged...(no cleaning will bring
my capsule back to life).

NT2's construction is different from what i expected. The Capsule
(including switches and grill) is actually plugged into a 3 pin
socket. I dont know if this is common. I've taken a look inside other
LD mics and usually wires coming from capsules are soldered to an
input point in the boards. I was wondering if this contacts will
suffer just as much as within a modular system. I've carefully
"cleaned" NT2's membranes just with compressed air...well to some
extent at least, and cleaned capsule's (3) pins with alcohol. Now its
working a bit better... but still goes mad if humidity is too high.
I was wondering if the Behringer B2 is constructed in the same
way...they're very cheap and maybe i could use the complete capsule as
a replacement for the NT2s one... i mean just if its constructed in
the same way (no soldering should be required) and quality is similar.

That's it.

Regards

Rocco Flores Oneto

[Richard Freeman]

"RoKKo" > wrote in message
m...
> A month ago i began a thread "complaining" about the unpredictable
> behavior of "some" of these mics (Rode NT5 & NT2) in locations with
> high relative humidity.
>
> I think i must retract at least regarding the NT5s. I thought the
> problem was the capsule being extremely moisture sensitive. I was
> wrong. Nothing to do with the capsule itself but with the contact
> components between the capsule and the body. Cleaning with alcohol -
> as with most similar modular mics it seems - cured the problem. They
> have been working perfectly since then. Cant say the same of my
> C451E+CK1 which membrane is actually damaged...(no cleaning will bring
> my capsule back to life).

I am glad your Experiences have improved with the NT5.
I have to admit that even though I was reasonably confident with the Mics
your posting did cast a seed of doubt so that when I started having odd 2
kHz squeals at a gig a couple of weeks later on a very very Humid evening in
Sydney my first suspicions fell onto the NT5s ( along with a muttered S*%t
maybe rokko was right after all ! ) It actually turned out to be a Sabine
EQ/Delay/Feedback exterminator going Psycho but of course I only discovered
this after changing out the 4 * NT5s I had on stage ;-)

> NT2's construction is different from what i expected. The Capsule
> (including switches and grill) is actually plugged into a 3 pin
> socket. I dont know if this is common. I've taken a look inside other
> LD mics and usually wires coming from capsules are soldered to an
> input point in the boards. I was wondering if this contacts will
> suffer just as much as within a modular system. I've carefully
> "cleaned" NT2's membranes just with compressed air...well to some
> extent at least, and cleaned capsule's (3) pins with alcohol. Now its
> working a bit better... but still goes mad if humidity is too high.
> I was wondering if the Behringer B2 is constructed in the same
> way...they're very cheap and maybe i could use the complete capsule as
> a replacement for the NT2s one... i mean just if its constructed in
> the same way (no soldering should be required) and quality is similar.
>
> That's it.
>
> Regards
>
> Rocco Flores Oneto

[Geoff Wood]

RoKKo wrote:
> A month ago i began a thread "complaining" about the unpredictable
> behavior of "some" of these mics (Rode NT5 & NT2) in locations with
> high relative humidity.
>
> I think i must retract at least regarding the NT5s. I thought the
> problem was the capsule being extremely moisture sensitive. I was
> wrong. Nothing to do with the capsule itself but with the contact
> components between the capsule and the body. Cleaning with alcohol -
> as with most similar modular mics it seems - cured the problem.

Try Caig ProGold for a lasting (and enhancing ?) result.

geoff