S
soundchaser59
Reluctant Commander
It's worth getting fixed if you can do it under $250.
In my experience the C414ULS is very good:
1. Under a snare when using sticks
2. Pointed at the snare when using brushes
3. Over-Head and room mic for drums
4. Acoustic guitar (better for soloing rather than rhythm)
5. Clean guitar amps
Even under $400, if it's otherwise in nice cosmetic condition, it's a bargain. IMO, it's good for everything except vocals, and it will blow away ANY budget condensor on vocals, so like was said above.......there is nothing for which it is a bad choice. I have two of them. I use them for everything except vocs, but I will will use one as a second voc mic for a double track. It blends wth anything.
If you have a family/locally owned sound & light shop nearby, I would take it there first and talk to them about repair options. Sounds to me like it has a loose connection, which should be a piece of cake for any tech to fix without sending the darn thing all the way back to Austria. Maybe some dork kicked the cable during a session and simply pulled a solder joint loose. Sounds like something minor..... if you do your homework, you should be able to get something like that fixed for a lot less than $200 bucks, if that's all it is......
But if you ship it somewhere, make sure you mark it in some secret way, so you can verify that you actually receive the same mic back from the repair gurus.....