Damaged SP B-1

[MrFeed]

I'm a newbie who has been lurking for a very long time and need some advice from the friendly and knowledgable folks on this board. I have had my Studio Projects B-1 for about a year now and it has been a great performer. Recently however I noticed some "buzzy" distortion on my vocal tracks, almost like the voice is being filtered through a kazoo. The distortion was present even at low input or output levels. I checked my entire signal chain and have been able to confirm that all is well except for the mic. I have few questions about what happened.

1. Can I assume that this is not a fixable problem and the B-1 is history?

2. Is this a common problem for LD mics?

3. Anyone have any idea what might have caused this? I just ordered a new MXL V67G and I want to make sure that nothing like this happens to my new mic.

Any and all help or advice is appreciated.

MrFeed

 

[Rimshot]

I am no mic expert, but let me ask. Do you keep the mic out all the time, or do you pack it up in a dehumidified space when you are not using it? Is it possile that
it has gotten damp? That is one possible cause. If that is the reason, the mic will survive, but it has to get dry. How you go about drying it out, I don't really know the specifics. I do know that you DON'T use a hair dryer. No force of air should hit the mic.
A friend of mine that has become quite knowledgable about this got me into the habit of putting my mics away in a sealed case with silica pellet packets in it. Humidity in the air and constant humidity from breath can eventually lead to a moist mic.
Your problem could be many other things, but this is what immediately came to mind.

 

[Han]

It seems to me there must be something wrong with the diapragm, perhaps the membrane.

You can best contact Alan Hyatt and ask him what to do.

You will find many posts of Alan on this board and he has his own forum on recording.org

Hope this helps

 

[Richard Monroe]

Both posts above sound right. Put the mic about 8" from a 100 watt light bulb for about 6 hours. If that doesn't fix it, call customer service at Studio Projects and they *will* help you.-Richie
P.S. They will also answer their phone, unlike Avalon.

 

[billisa]

Agreed on the humidity thing...

I found out directly from SP about sealing mikes in a glass jar with silica gel -- but I think that should be more commonly known, because I'd probably have just let the mike sit out on a boom... The owner's manual does warn against dampness, but most people like me don't know how much damp is too damp.

 

[MrFeed]

Thanks so much for the advice. I rarely use the mic and put it back in the original pouch and box when not in use (although I did throw away the silica gel pack that came w/ the mic). I live in southeren california where there genreally is very low humidity (although we are currently in the midst of the "June gloom" so it's a little damper than normal), and I always use a pop screen so I don't believe that I have spit into the mic or subjected it to much if any saliva.

I sent an e-mail to SP tech support on the website a week or two ago about my problem and haven't heard back (which is why I posted on this board). I don't recall exactly when I bought the mic (although I did register it w/ SP) but I believe it's now out of warranty, so if the membrane is damaged I'll just have to pay for repair or probably just toss it in the trash and pony up for a new unit.

I just want to make sure that whatever went wrong with this doesn't happen to any new mic, so I don't have to continually buy replacements.

 

[tmix]

MrFeed,
I actually had the same thing happen but it was my mic cable going bad. as I put more signal to it it broke up more,
Have you tried another cable?

 

[DJL]

There seems to be a lot of people saying their having this type of a problem with their Studio Projects B1 mic's lately.

I've had a Marshall MXL V67G set up on a stand for about 4 or 5 months now and it still works great.... so I don't think you'll have a problem with it like your having with your SP B1. If putting your SP B1 under a 100 watt light bulb for about 6 hours (3" above the mic) doesn't help..... just send it back and they'll most likey fix it or replace it for you.

 

[ausrock]

I'm not 100% sure, but I thought SP had a toll free phone number. If so I would be using that to contact them.

If there is a problem with the mic I doubt that it being in or out of warranty will be an issue.

 

[Han]

There seems to be a lot of people saying their having this type of a problem with their Studio Projects B1 mic's lately.

I've had a Marshall MXL V67G set up on a stand for about 4 or 5 months now and it still works great.... so I don't think you'll have a problem with it like your having with your SP B1. If putting your SP B1 under a 100 watt light bulb for about 6 hours (3" above the mic) doesn't help..... just send it back and they'll most likey fix it or replace it for you.

I have a Neumann M149 that's set up on it's stand since 1996 and it works like a charm.

Mmmmm.........

 

[DJL]

I have a Neumann M149 that's set up on it's stand since 1996 and it works like a charm.

Mmmmm.........

Sometimes it takes a while after a product has been on the market before we start to hear about all the problems with it.

Comparing Neumann with Studio Projects is like comparing a Volkswagon with a Bently IMO.... and we get what we pay for.

 

[Treeline]

.... and we get what we pay for.

Who told you that?

You get what you pay for when you pay too much.
You get what you pay for when you let the price be your only guide and end up with a poorly engineered cheap mic.

But do a little research, and in this market, you can get pretty awesome performance for not much cash. The SP B1 and the MXL 603s are examples of that, as far as I can see. But then I'm a newbie and I'm just not comfortable with spending a couple grand for a mic, no matter how good someone tells me it is. I'm a happy SP & MXL customer, though.

 

[DJL]

Who told you that?

You get what you pay for when you pay too much.
You get what you pay for when you let the price be your only guide and end up with a poorly engineered cheap mic.

But do a little research, and in this market, you can get pretty awesome performance for not much cash. The SP B1 and the MXL 603s are examples of that, as far as I can see. But then I'm a newbie and I'm just not comfortable with spending a couple grand for a mic, no matter how good someone tells me it is. I'm a happy SP & MXL customer, though.

Ok, and you may very well be correct........ and time will tell.

 

[Han]

"And time will tell".

Time has told us how great a microphone like a Neumann U47 or M49, just to mention a couple, really is.

I too have a SP B1 and I'm pretty impressed by this baby.
In case this mic is working decent within 10 years from now, then this mic is much too cheap.

Might there be a serious problem with it in a couple of years, I'll throw it in the dustbin and never buy another again.

A Neumann may be much too expensive, compaired with the many inexpensive LD condensers that have come to the "market" the last couple of years, and some sound really wonderful.

But hey, a Neumann still is one of the very best mics around.

 

[DJL]

There seems to be people saying their having problems with their Studio Projects B1 mic's lately.

I've had a Marshall MXLV67G on a stand for months now without any problems....... and I just setup a Studio Projects C1 and B1 on stands in the same room.... I'm going to leave them there just to see which one craps out first,

 

[Slackmaster2K]

Out of fairness, there have been more complaints here about MXL reliability than SP!

I think the point is that when you're buying a cheap mic, you're probably not going to get something that's built like a tank. Maybe a little extra care is in order - or maybe not. When you have a mic that isn't worth much you can at least replace it, thus it's really less of a worry than a $5000 neumann that you don't even feel comfortable using!

Slackmaster 2000

 

[DJL]

Out of fairness, there have been more complaints here about MXL reliability than SP!

I haven't had any...... what kind of problems have people been having with the Marshall MXLV67G?

 

[Slackmaster2K]

I didn't say *I*. I'm talking about folks using MXL603's and V67 reporting crackling problems and weird "ocean" sounds. Quite a number of them actually. I believe Emeric was one, and he sent the mic back and received another that eventually developed the same problem.

They're decent enough mics...I'm just trying to not single out SP.

Slackmaster 2000

 

[DJL]

Oh ok, I was just asking because I haven't read any problems with the Marshall MXLV67G on this board and I have with the Studio Projects B1 and etc..... in fact, we're on another Studio Projects B1 problem thread right now, and there's another "C-1 Distortion Problem" post on this board just few post down from this one right now.......... and some more Studio Projects mic problem posted on the other pages of this board and etc, etc. No big deal, I was just wondering about the Marsahll MXLV67G. Thanks

Hey Emeric, if you read this thread..... and if you had a problem with your Marshall MXLV67G please tell me about it. Thanks

I made a spelling correction....... my spelling sucks.

 

[ausrock]

Slack is correct. DJ, these mics have been talked about here longer than you have been a member.

Another observation...........there have been times when extremely new members have turned up to either talk up or talk down a product.........often their appearance seemed to coincide with some sort of "turmoil" about that same product. Make of it what you will.