Beyer M-500

[mrmoe]

I have an old Beyer M-500 ribbon mic that I've had for over 30 years.....I was told last night that using it with a mixer's phantom power turned on could damage it....having done that exact thing several times, I wonder how I might test it to see if it's "intact".....

 

[pohaku]

Generally not true. The actual risk from phantom with a ribbon is if there is a short in the cable. While it is generally a good idea not to run phantom to a ribbon (unless it is an active ribbon requiring phantom) because of the possible risk from a bad cable, phantom power itself doesn't damage ribbons. And when it does, it's catastrophic so you would know if your mic was damaged -- it would not be working. So if your mic works, it's fine.

 

[Gilliland]

I have an old Beyer M-500 ribbon mic that I've had for over 30 years.....I was told last night that using it with a mixer's phantom power turned on could damage it....having done that exact thing several times, I wonder how I might test it to see if it's "intact".....

Actually, the biggest risk is if you connect the mic to the input while the phantom is on. In that case, you can trigger quite a substantial surge through the ribbon if you happen to connect one side of the XLR before the other. But Pohaku is right that if the mic were damaged, you'd know it.

I've got an old M500 here, too. I dropped it once, but it still works.