[Drums]

We have a vocal mic that is very noisy unless the gain is down all the way.
Of course then you have to get right up on the mic.
I told the owner of the mic that is the way to use it but he insist you
should be way back from it and have the gain way up. The noise is like a
hiss and rumble sound. We have tried several cords. It runs through a Mackie
board. It's ok with the gain down. Any ideas?

[-zero]

"Drums" wrote in message
...
We have a vocal mic that is very noisy unless the gain is down all the
way.
Of course then you have to get right up on the mic.
I told the owner of the mic that is the way to use it but he insist you
should be way back from it and have the gain way up. The noise is like a
hiss and rumble sound. We have tried several cords. It runs through a
Mackie
board. It's ok with the gain down. Any ideas?

You could try putting it under a lamp (40-60 watt) for an hour or two.
If that doesn't do it send on a trip to someone's service bench for a
physical.

-zero

[Drums]

So obviously this is not normal. It's brand new but I suppose it could be
defective.
everything he own is somehow defective so I would not be surprised. ;o)

"-zero" wrote in message
. ..

"Drums" wrote in message
...
We have a vocal mic that is very noisy unless the gain is down all the
way.
Of course then you have to get right up on the mic.
I told the owner of the mic that is the way to use it but he insist you
should be way back from it and have the gain way up. The noise is like
a
hiss and rumble sound. We have tried several cords. It runs through a
Mackie
board. It's ok with the gain down. Any ideas?

You could try putting it under a lamp (40-60 watt) for an hour or two.
If that doesn't do it send on a trip to someone's service bench for a
physical.

-zero

[Ty Ford]

On Sun, 1 Oct 2006 21:53:19 -0400, Drums wrote
(in article ):

So obviously this is not normal. It's brand new but I suppose it could be
defective.
everything he own is somehow defective so I would not be surprised. ;o)

"-zero" wrote in message
. ..

"Drums" wrote in message
...
We have a vocal mic that is very noisy unless the gain is down all the
way.
Of course then you have to get right up on the mic.
I told the owner of the mic that is the way to use it but he insist you
should be way back from it and have the gain way up. The noise is like
a
hiss and rumble sound. We have tried several cords. It runs through a
Mackie
board. It's ok with the gain down. Any ideas?

You could try putting it under a lamp (40-60 watt) for an hour or two.
If that doesn't do it send on a trip to someone's service bench for a
physical.

-zero

Sounds like a contaminated capsule. Someone getting right up on it and
spitting or breathing into it can cause this. Not just marshall, but any
condenser mic.

Ty Ford




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

[Scott Dorsey]

Drums wrote:
We have a vocal mic that is very noisy unless the gain is down all the way.
Of course then you have to get right up on the mic.

What model mike is this?

I told the owner of the mic that is the way to use it but he insist you
should be way back from it and have the gain way up. The noise is like a
hiss and rumble sound. We have tried several cords. It runs through a Mackie
board. It's ok with the gain down. Any ideas?

How does turning the gain down reduce the noise of the mike? It should only
help with the noise of the preamp.
--scott
--
"C'est un Nagra. C'est suisse, et tres, tres precis."

[Drums]

Scott, I will find out what model the Mic is.
Turning the gain down reduces the bad rumble and hiss enough to make it
usable
but the noise is still there. You are right. I would expect a hiss sound if
the gain were to high.


"Scott Dorsey" wrote in message
...
Drums wrote:
We have a vocal mic that is very noisy unless the gain is down all the
way.
Of course then you have to get right up on the mic.

What model mike is this?

I told the owner of the mic that is the way to use it but he insist you
should be way back from it and have the gain way up. The noise is like a
hiss and rumble sound. We have tried several cords. It runs through a
Mackie
board. It's ok with the gain down. Any ideas?

How does turning the gain down reduce the noise of the mike? It should
only
help with the noise of the preamp.
--scott
--
"C'est un Nagra. C'est suisse, et tres, tres precis."

[Don Pearce]

On 2 Oct 2006 00:29:05 -0400, (Scott Dorsey) wrote:

Drums wrote:
We have a vocal mic that is very noisy unless the gain is down all the way.
Of course then you have to get right up on the mic.

What model mike is this?

I told the owner of the mic that is the way to use it but he insist you
should be way back from it and have the gain way up. The noise is like a
hiss and rumble sound. We have tried several cords. It runs through a Mackie
board. It's ok with the gain down. Any ideas?

How does turning the gain down reduce the noise of the mike? It should only
help with the noise of the preamp.
--scott

Turning the gain down reduces everything that originates before the
gain control. How could it be otherwise?

d

--
Pearce Consulting
http://www.pearce.uk.com

[Mike Rivers]

Drums wrote:
Scott, I will find out what model the Mic is.

There isn't a big difference between the self noise of MXL mics. If
it's really too noisy, it's broken.

Turning the gain down reduces the bad rumble and hiss enough to make it
usable

What we usually described as "rumble" is often caused by vibration
carried through the mic stand, wind noise, or just low frequency noise
in the air that you don't notice because you aren't listening for it.

Is the phantom power turned on? Is the mixer providing sufficient
voltage? The Mackie powered mixer series has 15V phantom power.

Is there another mic you can try with the same mixer and cable to
narrow the problem down?

MXL will be happy to check it out and repair it if it's defective, or
if it's truly brand new, the dealer should exchange it for another one.

[Drums]

You know that might be the problem. One of my Berhinger mixers has 24 volt
phantom power.
I didn't try that. It just seems odd that a $1500 mixer would not
accommodate mic's that use 24 volt.


"Mike Rivers" wrote in message
ups.com...

Drums wrote:
Scott, I will find out what model the Mic is.

There isn't a big difference between the self noise of MXL mics. If
it's really too noisy, it's broken.

Turning the gain down reduces the bad rumble and hiss enough to make it
usable

What we usually described as "rumble" is often caused by vibration
carried through the mic stand, wind noise, or just low frequency noise
in the air that you don't notice because you aren't listening for it.

Is the phantom power turned on? Is the mixer providing sufficient
voltage? The Mackie powered mixer series has 15V phantom power.

Is there another mic you can try with the same mixer and cable to
narrow the problem down?

MXL will be happy to check it out and repair it if it's defective, or
if it's truly brand new, the dealer should exchange it for another one.

[Drums]

Well all I can say is that the noise is coming from the mic.
I am sure the rumble is not from vibration. It's foreign electronic noise.
I am 100% sure of that. Turning the gain down reduces the noise going into
my sound card it does not make it go away
I should have explined that better. What am I doing it getting rid of enough
noise to make it usable. The best way I can explain it is the
Mic is wayyyyy to hot. It actually works with the damn gain all the way off.




"Don Pearce" wrote in message
...
On 2 Oct 2006 00:29:05 -0400, (Scott Dorsey) wrote:

Drums wrote:
We have a vocal mic that is very noisy unless the gain is down all the
way.
Of course then you have to get right up on the mic.

What model mike is this?

I told the owner of the mic that is the way to use it but he insist you
should be way back from it and have the gain way up. The noise is like
a
hiss and rumble sound. We have tried several cords. It runs through a
Mackie
board. It's ok with the gain down. Any ideas?

How does turning the gain down reduce the noise of the mike? It should
only
help with the noise of the preamp.
--scott

Turning the gain down reduces everything that originates before the
gain control. How could it be otherwise?

d

--
Pearce Consulting
http://www.pearce.uk.com

[Don Pearce]

On Mon, 02 Oct 2006 12:00:35 GMT, "Drums"
wrote:

Well all I can say is that the noise is coming from the mic.
I am sure the rumble is not from vibration. It's foreign electronic noise.
I am 100% sure of that. Turning the gain down reduces the noise going into
my sound card it does not make it go away
I should have explined that better. What am I doing it getting rid of enough
noise to make it usable. The best way I can explain it is the
Mic is wayyyyy to hot. It actually works with the damn gain all the way off.


But of course, with the gain way down, the wanted stuff is reduced as
well. What actually matters is the difference between the wanted and
the unwanted. How is that? If it works well in those terms, it may be
that you were simply turning up the gain to an unrealistic level
before.

(BTW, could you post replies at the bottom rather than the top. That
way we don't lose all the useful preceding stuff)

d

--
Pearce Consulting
http://www.pearce.uk.com

[Russ Benoit]

Drums wrote:

Well all I can say is that the noise is coming from the mic.
I am sure the rumble is not from vibration. It's foreign electronic noise.
I am 100% sure of that. Turning the gain down reduces the noise going into
my sound card it does not make it go away
I should have explined that better. What am I doing it getting rid of enough
noise to make it usable. The best way I can explain it is the
Mic is wayyyyy to hot. It actually works with the damn gain all the way off.

Tom, my MXL 990 had the same problems, turns out it was due to moisture.
Put the mic in a ziplock bag with a bag of desiccant (those packs you
get with electronics gear that say "do not eat") for a few hours then
give it another shot. I had this issue with 2 condenser mics at the same
time after inadvertently leaving them out on stands for a few nights.
Drying them up using the desiccant worked like a charm. Let me know how
you make out.

-Russ

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Russ Benoit
AIM: ltricshoes
http://www.myspace.com/russtopherax
http://thebruinsreport.blogspot.com

'Cause the radio sucks and I can't listen...
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

[Scott Dorsey]

Drums wrote:
Scott, I will find out what model the Mic is.
Turning the gain down reduces the bad rumble and hiss enough to make it
usable
but the noise is still there. You are right. I would expect a hiss sound if
the gain were to high.

Turning the gain down, however, also reduces the sound level as much as it
reduces the noise. That makes it useless.

Rumbling sounds are usually caused by contamination inside the mike.
--scott

--
"C'est un Nagra. C'est suisse, et tres, tres precis."

[Drums]

Hey now. See, it took another drummer to figure it out.
See, we are not so stupid after all. ;o) I am sure that's the problem.
Thanks Russ.

"Russ Benoit" wrote in message
...
Drums wrote:

Well all I can say is that the noise is coming from the mic.
I am sure the rumble is not from vibration. It's foreign electronic
noise.
I am 100% sure of that. Turning the gain down reduces the noise going
into
my sound card it does not make it go away
I should have explined that better. What am I doing it getting rid of
enough
noise to make it usable. The best way I can explain it is the
Mic is wayyyyy to hot. It actually works with the damn gain all the way
off.

Tom, my MXL 990 had the same problems, turns out it was due to moisture.
Put the mic in a ziplock bag with a bag of desiccant (those packs you
get with electronics gear that say "do not eat") for a few hours then
give it another shot. I had this issue with 2 condenser mics at the same
time after inadvertently leaving them out on stands for a few nights.
Drying them up using the desiccant worked like a charm. Let me know how
you make out.

-Russ

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Russ Benoit
AIM: ltricshoes
http://www.myspace.com/russtopherax
http://thebruinsreport.blogspot.com

'Cause the radio sucks and I can't listen...
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

[Drums]

"Don Pearce" wrote in message
...
On Mon, 02 Oct 2006 12:00:35 GMT, "Drums"
wrote:

Well all I can say is that the noise is coming from the mic.
I am sure the rumble is not from vibration. It's foreign electronic
noise.
I am 100% sure of that. Turning the gain down reduces the noise going
into
my sound card it does not make it go away
I should have explined that better. What am I doing it getting rid of
enough
noise to make it usable. The best way I can explain it is the
Mic is wayyyyy to hot. It actually works with the damn gain all the way
off.


But of course, with the gain way down, the wanted stuff is reduced as
well. What actually matters is the difference between the wanted and
the unwanted. How is that? If it works well in those terms, it may be
that you were simply turning up the gain to an unrealistic level
before.

(BTW, could you post replies at the bottom rather than the top. That
way we don't lose all the useful preceding stuff)

d

--
Pearce Consulting
http://www.pearce.uk.com


You have to give a little more credit. I am no dummy. I am a smart drummer.
Yes they do exsist. The noise is electronic, meaning foreign.
It's not a result of an un realistic gain setting. There is something wrong
with Mic as I suspected
but either way I will post a follow up when we get to the bottom of it.
Thanks for all the input.

[Drums]

That's what is is. Rumble and hiss city.

"Scott Dorsey" wrote in message
...
Drums wrote:
Scott, I will find out what model the Mic is.
Turning the gain down reduces the bad rumble and hiss enough to make it
usable
but the noise is still there. You are right. I would expect a hiss sound
if
the gain were to high.

Turning the gain down, however, also reduces the sound level as much as it
reduces the noise. That makes it useless.

Rumbling sounds are usually caused by contamination inside the mike.
--scott

--
"C'est un Nagra. C'est suisse, et tres, tres precis."

[Julian]

On Mon, 02 Oct 2006 20:44:23 GMT, "Drums"
wrote:

Hey now. See, it took another drummer to figure it out.
See, we are not so stupid after all. ;o) I am sure that's the problem.
Thanks Russ.

Except Russ, if you go back to the very first reply to your question
by "zero" he said to put it under a 40 or 60 Watt light bulb for a
couple of hours. Presumably for the same reason - to dry it out!

Julian

[David Grant]

smart drummer.

....I'm biting my tongue.



--
Posted via a free Usenet account from http://www.teranews.com

[Arny Krueger]

"Drums" wrote in message


We have a vocal mic that is very noisy unless the gain is
down all the way. Of course then you have to get right up
on the mic.

Bad mic. If new, take it back and get another.

I told the owner of the mic that is the way to use it but
he insist you should be way back from it and have the
gain way up.

This should work fairly well with a good example of a mic like this.

The noise is like a hiss and rumble sound.
We have tried several cords. It runs through a Mackie
board. It's ok with the gain down. Any ideas?

I had the exact same problem with a bunch of Marshall mics back in the day
when the MXL 603 was a new product. Marshall replaced them all, and all was
well.

As intelligence about the problem evolved, there was a problem with an
adjustment in the mic that related to phantom power.

If misadjusted, the mics were noisy when the phantom voltage was on the high
side, but within nominal limits. I happened to have some consoles and other
phantom supplies that tended to be on the high side.

IOW, the mics were only noisy with certain consoles.

This may explain why the owner reports no problems. His console may have a
lower voltage phantom supply than yours.

Or it could be about something else. See the other posts, they may be right.

Like I said, Marshall replaced my noisy mics and all has been well with them
for a number of years. I eventually bought more MXL 603s, and they were fine
right out of the box.

[Arny Krueger]

"Mike Rivers" wrote in message
ups.com

The Mackie powered mixer series has 15V phantom power.

Really? Last time I measured my SR32 I thought I saw something above 40
volts.

Likewise, my AT quad phantom box runs about 45.

My Behringer MXB 1002 is more like 25, and other Behr products run as low as
12-15.

[Scott Dorsey]

Arny Krueger wrote:
"Mike Rivers" wrote in message
oups.com

The Mackie powered mixer series has 15V phantom power.

Really? Last time I measured my SR32 I thought I saw something above 40
volts.

That's not a powered mixer.

Do note, however, that if you plug 32 phantom-powered mikes into that
thing, it doesn't stay at 48V any more.
--scott

--
"C'est un Nagra. C'est suisse, et tres, tres precis."

[Arny Krueger]

"Scott Dorsey" wrote in message

Arny Krueger wrote:
"Mike Rivers" wrote in message
ups.com

The Mackie powered mixer series has 15V phantom power.

Really? Last time I measured my SR32 I thought I saw
something above 40 volts.

That's not a powered mixer.

Oh, I get it. Powered mixer meaning mixers with power amps.

Thanks for the info.

Do note, however, that if you plug 32 phantom-powered
mikes into that thing, it doesn't stay at 48V any more.

IOW the phantom supply loses regulation. Marginal engineering.