Mic repair question

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FoamieOmie

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I hope someone here can help or at least turn me in the direction of someplace that can.

I have an Audio-Technica Kick/Tom mic (that's what it says on it) that is getting signal but it is very low and the sound is weak with no body. I'm not sure of the model # right now as I am at work.

It was like this when I got it (used). There are swithes (2 - I gues they're inpedence selectors) and have tried them in every combination I could but no real change except that it may get a LITTLE more volume on one ut still have to crank the gain to near 10.

I'm sorry for my lack of knowledge on this. I'm not new to gear but have not messed with internal parts of equipment, etc.

Thanks!

Todd
 
can you post a picture? Any other sort of info (like what you've been recording with it, etc. -- I know it's probably drums, but still, you know) would help, too.

I have a kick drum mic that sounds weak and wispy when I talk into it, but that's because it's expecting a big loud kick drum instead of my wispy-weaky voice
 
OK, so I'm an idiot. The mic in question is a Sampson Q3, not Audio Technica. Please excuse me as my AT works fine.

Yeah I thought the "waiting for a loud noise" theory was it but when I tried it in a live setting on a Mackie board through the nice powered Mackie mains there was minimal sound even with the gain cranked. Whispy is a good word for it. It kinda sounds like a recording of a telephone or something.

Here's a pic.

it won't let me add urls so add the w's and cut and paste, sorry!

photobucket.com/albums/p160/Jescoe/100_0450.jpg

Thanks for your help!

Todd
 
thanks -- OK, I'm out of ideas :D (that didn't take long). I don't have any experience with that mic.

Are you comfortable taking it apart? Occasionally you'll find a partially loose connection that explains things.
 
Sounds to me like a cold solder joint.

Or possibly a faulty switch.
 
I know zero about this stuff but am brave enough to try. What am I looking for?

Thanks!
 
since that's a dynamic microphone (I'm pretty sure), it's going to be fairly simple inside -- probably there will be two wires coming from the capsule and going to a transformer that will have two more wires coming from it going to two of the pins on the XLR connector. If there are switches, then there'll be extra wires for those, of course. As to how to get the housing off in the first place, I don't know with that one, but hopefully it'll be straightforward -- look for screws :)

Be careful to pay attention to what you're doing when you take it apart, so that you can put it back together is reverse order - take notes if you have to (although that probably won't be necessary just to have a look). Examine each of the places where the wires make a connection - it should look fairly solid, and be encased in a small amount of shiny solder. If one or more of the connections looks half pulled loose, or if the there's a bunch of caked dull looking solder, that could be the problem. While it's not possible to visually identify every issue, it's worth a quick look to see if there's anything obvious.
 
 
good job deconstructing it -- I agree that nothing jumps out as busted from the pictures. Just out of curiosity, have you put it back together and tried it out again, and got the same results?
 
Actually I haven't yet. Busy with the kid. I'll give it another go and tell you the results.
 
FoamieOmie said:
I hope someone here can help or at least turn me in the direction of someplace that can.

I have an Audio-Technica Kick/Tom mic (that's what it says on it) that is getting signal but it is very low and the sound is weak with no body. I'm not sure of the model # right now as I am at work.
Click to expand...

Looking at the photos, I'd just about place a wager that the problem is caused by their decision to idiotically run wires through a hinge. I bet if you disassemble the hinge assembly and the XLR connector, you'll find a wire that has been crimped into oblivion. That has certainly been the cause of the demise of a surprisingly high percentage of my laptops.... :D

If there are no real electronics in the bottom half, the first thing I'd do with that mic is probably drill a hole in the back of the thing and hard-wire about a 24" cable into the body of the mic. Otherwise, the first thing I'd do is build a new back end that's big enough to hold the guts, then drill a hole in the back of it and hard-wire a 24" cable into the body of the mic. :D
 
The wire going from the xlr input (output) is actually inside of a spring that runs between the 2 sections. From what I can see it doesn't look crimped. I see no way to get to this wire or even get to the connection points of the spring so if it's crimped elsewhere I haven't found a way to check that yet. There could be a way but as I said, I'm no expert. Before I would drill or alter this mic I would try to sell it for parts or repair. It's in great shape sans the problem. At the very least t has a real nice foamed case that someone may even put a few $ down for it if they have one and need a case. I'll save up and replace it if I have to but if it can be fixed that'd be nice.
 
Check simple stuff like wiring and switches. If that's ok, then it's a fair bet that the capsule is shagged and the mic is bin-worthy.
 
Ok, so I examined a little further and found a possible problem with the xlr wiring (see pics). It looks like there is a bit of solder where something was attached but is not anymore but I don't see any disconnected wires or anything like that. I see where there is a sort of wire bridge on one. Like I said there's a signal, just weak and whispyish.

https://i127.photobucket.com/albums/p160/Jescoe/mic/100_0488.jpg
https://i127.photobucket.com/albums/p160/Jescoe/mic/100_0489.jpg
https://i127.photobucket.com/albums/p160/Jescoe/mic/100_0491.jpg
https://i127.photobucket.com/albums/p160/Jescoe/mic/100_0493.jpg
https://i127.photobucket.com/albums/p160/Jescoe/mic/100_0494.jpg

Thank you all for the help!!
 
Could be a ground problem? Not sure what went where that solder is but I figure it MAY be at least part of the problem. Any ideas?
 
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