noisy condenser mic

O

omiimiish

New member
Picked up a AKG perception 200 at a pawn shop. I have used sm57s forever, recording acoustic and voice. I have been home recording since 1984 when I got my first Tascam portastudio.

I thought a condenser mic would up the quality. But I just laid down some acoustic tracks, the mic is nice and responsive but noisy. finally I recorded a complimentary track using the sm57. I got to say besides the quietness of the mic I actually thought the acoustic was better captured. Putting that track into the mix was very nice sounding.

Is it this AKG that is just noisy by nature, or is it because it is used and maybe damaged? I have 5 more days to get my money back which I am planning to do, unless some one can tell me how to reduce the noise. I only spent less than an hour playing with it, but by time I had two acoustic tracks, the noise level was evident.

just looking for some insight

thanks
dave
 
either the mic is faulty or the mic cable is going bad. does it have any noticeable damage? also, do you have any examples that you can share?
 
The Perception 200 (now discontinued) was slightly noisier than AKG's later economy offerings but not THAT much worse than their newer stuff.

As others have said, something is likely wrong, either with the mic or the cable. My money is on the mic because bad cables more often create crackling/intermittent output rather than continuous noise. Unless you can test with another cable I'd probably take the mic back while you can and wait for another deal.
 
cable vs mic

In my little test, I swapped out the sm57 on the same cable and it was quiet. Tells me it's the mic in that case. I also played with the gain and volume levels to see what I could do with levels. I must be faulty mic, I can not imagine this mic being used for anything as it is.
 
Your down to three days now bring it back for the refund and tell them that they shouldn't try to resell it for it is broken.
 
I once had a 4033 that was noisy. Turned out to be a grounding problem between the body and screen. I guess AT applied too much coating on the threads? Anyway, little bit of Emery cloth on the threads and added a very small piece of copper wire between the threads while screwing the screen back on. Wallah!!!!!! no more hum.
 
low mid range hiss

the noise is a low midrange hiss, no hum or cracking, unless I touch it. Sometimes the hiss sweeps a little in pitch or frequency.
 
omiimiish said:
the noise is a low midrange hiss, no hum or cracking, unless I touch it. Sometimes the hiss sweeps a little in pitch or frequency.
Click to expand...

If it the hum / hiss / whatever changes when you touch it, then it's a grounding issue for sure. Maybe you're not using a grounded power socket? Otherwise a tech can fix it in no time.
 
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