can xlr cable's ground disconnecting ruin a microphone?

Nola

Nola

Well-known member
if the ground disconnected inside the xlr, will that ruin the microphone? i opened a connector today b/c i heard noise and the ground solder doesn't look great. if that disconnects will it fry my microphone?

if not, is there any other scenario that i should be aware of were a bad cable can fry a microphone?
 
It may be possible in a Phantom power situation. Without the cable wired correctly, you could end up with voltage in the wrong place.
 
Farview said:
It may be possible in a Phantom power situation. Without the cable wired correctly, you could end up with voltage in the wrong place.
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i think the only mic i have that uses phantom power is a small condenser.

so with any other mic like a ribbon or tube large condenser or plain dynamic mic if the ground disconnects it won't ruin the mic? i think it's still connected just looks bad so i'll solder it soon but i guess i'm just wonderin' for future reference or just to know if cables can ruin the mic in any situations.

i guess i'd also wonder can the cable ruin a preamp if there's a short or grounding issue and what should i do to prevent that if it's possible? thanks guys
 
Lifting signal ground is a common solution to some problems. I don't think it's likely to cause harm, but it may disable some mics until the ground is restored.

As I understand it some ribbon mics can be harmed by phantom if the cable is faulty or you hot plug it, and it's a lifted hot or cold leg that would open it to damage.
 
bouldersoundguy said:
Lifting signal ground is a common solution to some problems. I don't think it's likely to cause harm, but it may disable some mics until the ground is restored.

As I understand it some ribbon mics can be harmed by phantom if the cable is faulty or you hot plug it, and it's a lifted hot or cold leg that would open it to damage.
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Yeah I was just reading about it on Royer's website and that's what caused me to freak out a bit. They said

Ribbon microphones, especially passive varieties, require high quality cables to minimize signal loss. High resistance or high capacitance "economy" cables greatly degrade the performance of ribbon microphones. Shorted cables or poorly wired connectors can cause even worse problems because they can place phantom supply voltages where they don't belong, sending current to the ribbon element and possibly resulting in total ribbon failure.

They say shorted cables can ruin it.

I notice my ribbon mic sounded kind of...brighter...last time I used it, and then I noticed the cables make noise around the connector. I really hope I didn't ruin the ribbon in it. It's not a Royer, but still, repairing it 'cause of a bad cable would stink.
 
Nola said:
Yeah I was just reading about it on Royer's website and that's what caused me to freak out a bit. They said

Ribbon microphones, especially passive varieties, require high quality cables to minimize signal loss. High resistance or high capacitance "economy" cables greatly degrade the performance of ribbon microphones. Shorted cables or poorly wired connectors can cause even worse problems because they can place phantom supply voltages where they don't belong, sending current to the ribbon element and possibly resulting in total ribbon failure.

They say shorted cables can ruin it.

I notice my ribbon mic sounded kind of...brighter...last time I used it, and then I noticed the cables make noise around the connector. I really hope I didn't ruin the ribbon in it. It's not a Royer, but still, repairing it 'cause of a bad cable would stink.
Click to expand...

Is your ribbon active? If not, just make sure when power is off when using it.
If phantom power is out of the equation, I can't see why a broken or shorted cable could cause any damage to your mic.

With phantom power in the equation, yes, you certainly could cause damage to the mic, preamp or power supply.
 
I would bet that the short would have to be between the ground and either the hot or cold leg to cause damage. What you have sounds more like a open, intermittent or resistive fault.
 
Just re-solder it when as soon as you can.
Like others have said, there are times when people will break the ground to try and solve a *problem*...otherwise, always have the cables wired as intended first. You can't go wrong with that.
 
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