Have I damaged my TLM 103?

[James Price]

I just bought the TLM 103 this morning and had done a bit of recording with
it. I placed the mic in the wooden box it came in when I was done and went
to put the box up, and that's when I felt the box tap the wooden arm of the
chair I was sitting in. It wasn't a really hard hit necessarily but it gave
the box a decent jar. I took the mic back out and recorded a few clips to
check and compare it against a few I'd put together this morning.

Now, maybe it's just the mic position or some other factor I'm not
considering but after making a couple of quick recordings, it seems to be
picking up more low end and doesn't seem quite as bright. I tried adjusting
the mic position a bit. All I can say is I really hope I didn't damage it
because 1) it was brand new 2) I really liked what I was hearing and 3) the
cost (at least for me) wasn't exactly chickens feed. The question is, would
something like what I described damage the mic if it didn't take a direct
hit but was jarred (wood on wood) in the box?

[Mike Rivers]

On Apr 13, 4:17 pm, "James Price" > wrote:

>would
> something like what I described damage the mic if it didn't take a direct
> hit but was jarred (wood on wood) in the box?

It could. Try it again tomorrow when you're not quite in full panic
mode.

[John L Rice]

"James Price" > wrote in message
...
>I just bought the TLM 103 this morning and had done a bit of recording with
>it. I placed the mic in the wooden box it came in when I was done and went
>to put the box up, and that's when I felt the box tap the wooden arm of the
>chair I was sitting in. It wasn't a really hard hit necessarily but it gave
>the box a decent jar. I took the mic back out and recorded a few clips to
>check and compare it against a few I'd put together this morning.
>
> Now, maybe it's just the mic position or some other factor I'm not
> considering but after making a couple of quick recordings, it seems to be
> picking up more low end and doesn't seem quite as bright. I tried
> adjusting the mic position a bit. All I can say is I really hope I didn't
> damage it because 1) it was brand new 2) I really liked what I was
> hearing and 3) the cost (at least for me) wasn't exactly chickens feed.
> The question is, would something like what I described damage the mic if
> it didn't take a direct hit but was jarred (wood on wood) in the box?

I would think the mic was exposed to greater physical forces during
shipping.

John

[Agent 86]

On Fri, 13 Apr 2007 20:17:38 +0000, James Price wrote:

> I just bought the TLM 103 this morning and had done a bit of recording
> with it. I placed the mic in the wooden box it came in when I was done and
> went to put the box up, and that's when I felt the box tap the wooden arm
> of the chair I was sitting in. It wasn't a really hard hit necessarily but
> it gave the box a decent jar. I took the mic back out and recorded a few
> clips to check and compare it against a few I'd put together this morning.
>
> Now, maybe it's just the mic position or some other factor I'm not
> considering but after making a couple of quick recordings, it seems to be
> picking up more low end and doesn't seem quite as bright. I tried
> adjusting the mic position a bit. All I can say is I really hope I didn't
> damage it because 1) it was brand new 2) I really liked what I was
> hearing and 3) the cost (at least for me) wasn't exactly chickens feed.
> The question is, would something like what I described damage the mic if
> it didn't take a direct hit but was jarred (wood on wood) in the box?

Sorry to break the news, but it's ruined. Totally useless for anything but
door-stoppage.

Send it to me and I'll make sure it's recycled in the most environmentally
friendly way possible.

[hank alrich]

James Price > wrote:

> I just bought the TLM 103 this morning and had done a bit of recording with
> it. I placed the mic in the wooden box it came in when I was done and went
> to put the box up, and that's when I felt the box tap the wooden arm of the
> chair I was sitting in. It wasn't a really hard hit necessarily but it gave
> the box a decent jar. I took the mic back out and recorded a few clips to
> check and compare it against a few I'd put together this morning.
>
> Now, maybe it's just the mic position or some other factor I'm not
> considering but after making a couple of quick recordings, it seems to be
> picking up more low end and doesn't seem quite as bright. I tried adjusting
> the mic position a bit. All I can say is I really hope I didn't damage it
> because 1) it was brand new 2) I really liked what I was hearing and 3) the
> cost (at least for me) wasn't exactly chickens feed. The question is, would
> something like what I described damage the mic if it didn't take a direct
> hit but was jarred (wood on wood) in the box?

I really doubt you hurt the mic. Consider what it's been through in the
many phases of transportation between manufacture and you. Just think
how UPS, FedEx use their "kid gloves".

--
ha
Iraq is Arabic for Vietnam

[James Price]

"hank alrich" > wrote in message
...
> James Price > wrote:
>
>> I just bought the TLM 103 this morning and had done a bit of recording
>> with
>> it. I placed the mic in the wooden box it came in when I was done and
>> went
>> to put the box up, and that's when I felt the box tap the wooden arm of
>> the
>> chair I was sitting in. It wasn't a really hard hit necessarily but it
>> gave
>> the box a decent jar. I took the mic back out and recorded a few clips to
>> check and compare it against a few I'd put together this morning.
>>
>> Now, maybe it's just the mic position or some other factor I'm not
>> considering but after making a couple of quick recordings, it seems to be
>> picking up more low end and doesn't seem quite as bright. I tried
>> adjusting
>> the mic position a bit. All I can say is I really hope I didn't damage it
>> because 1) it was brand new 2) I really liked what I was hearing and 3)
>> the
>> cost (at least for me) wasn't exactly chickens feed. The question is,
>> would
>> something like what I described damage the mic if it didn't take a direct
>> hit but was jarred (wood on wood) in the box?
>
> I really doubt you hurt the mic. Consider what it's been through in the
> many phases of transportation between manufacture and you. Just think
> how UPS, FedEx use their "kid gloves".

I appreciate the heads up... all of you.

One more quick question. I'm using an RNP and as most of you probably know,
it doesn't have an on/off switch. Is it Ok to plug the mic in with the power
already on (and the +48 disengaged) or would it be better to hook up the mic
before plugging in the RNP? Does it make any difference? My routine has been
to hook the mics up with the RNP unplugged.

[Mike Rivers]

On Apr 13, 9:58 pm, "James Price" > wrote:

> Is it Ok to plug the mic in with the [preamp] power
> already on (and the +48 disengaged)

Yes, that's fine. It's hard to damage a microphone . . unless you drop
it.

Oh, never mind. <g>

[hank alrich]

James Price > wrote:

> I'm using an RNP and as most of you probably know,
> it doesn't have an on/off switch. Is it Ok to plug the mic in with the power
> already on (and the +48 disengaged) or would it be better to hook up the mic
> before plugging in the RNP? Does it make any difference? My routine has been
> to hook the mics up with the RNP unplugged.

It's no problem to leave it plugged in.

--
ha
Iraq is Arabic for Vietnam

[Paul Stamler]

"James Price" > wrote in message
m...

> One more quick question. I'm using an RNP and as most of you probably
know,
> it doesn't have an on/off switch. Is it Ok to plug the mic in with the
power
> already on (and the +48 disengaged) or would it be better to hook up the
mic
> before plugging in the RNP? Does it make any difference? My routine has
been
> to hook the mics up with the RNP unplugged.

In theory it shouldn't be a problem, since neither the preamp nor the
microphone has any transformers to be magnetized, which is the usual bad
result of hot-plugging and unplugging. But in practice there are reasons to
turn the preamp off first. One is that the sudden hit of phantom might still
fry some parts in the microphone. The other is that if you have the preamp
on, you might have the rest of the system on too, and the resultant BANG
could pop your speakers and/or damage your ears.

You can always put the RNP on a power strip with a switch.

Peace,
Paul

[Agent 86]

On Sat, 14 Apr 2007 01:58:23 +0000, James Price wrote:

>
> I appreciate the heads up... all of you.
>
> One more quick question. I'm using an RNP and as most of you probably
> know, it doesn't have an on/off switch. Is it Ok to plug the mic in with
> the power already on (and the +48 disengaged) or would it be better to
> hook up the mic before plugging in the RNP? Does it make any difference?
> My routine has been to hook the mics up with the RNP unplugged.

The RNP doesn't have an On/Off switch, but it does have a phantom switch
for each channel. And a pretty cool one at that, in that it mutes the
channel while the voltage comes up so you don't get any speaker pops.

It's all in the manual.