Has my microphone gone bad? Maybe some other piece of equipment?

  • Thread starter Thread starter Purebe
  • Start date Start date
Always check to see if it is plugged in; advice I always follow. So to your problem there is a way to check. Plug in another mic from a friend that you know works. See if it happens with it. Then plug your mic into your friend's system and see if it has the same problems. That ill tell you if it is the mic. If it isn't, then take everything out of the chain and see if that helps. If it does, then add each thing back one at a time until you find the culprit. It might be something bad in your DAW or in the electrical system. If you don't have a friend who records, you need to network more. Good Luck,
Rod Norman

Purebe said:
I use an MXL-2003a patched through to an m-audio fast track 2 on Windows 8 (with a clean install of the latest fast track Windows 8 drivers.)

When I turn my mic on and listen to it via direct monitoring (or software monitoring) the first minute or so when I plug it in there is a terrible sound, almost like loud wind is blowing into the mic. Once that calms down there is are pops or crackles every 5-15 seconds that aren't overly loud but loud enough to be a large distraction from the recording. On top of that, once in a while, the insanely loud "wind" comes back.

I keep the mic in the travel case that came with it along with several fresh silica gel packets, and I put keep that inside of a drawer. I used to just live it out on the stand, but once this problem started happening I thought it might be due to humidity (my room is connected to a bathroom with a shower, so sometimes the area gets water on the walls/etc from the humidity.) I've read a lot about LDC mic's and understood that humidity could affect them, but that it wasn't a big deal if you just let the mic dry out or stay plugged into phantom power for a while.

I can't seem to find much information about this or how to troubleshoot it. Does it sound like the mic? The cord? The audio interface? Something else entirely? Any help at all would be greatly appreciated, thanks!
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Well I finally got my hands on another mic to test it, and it appears the mxl 2003a is to blame :(

Here are sound samples, first from the mxl 2003a:

https://soundcloud.com/purebe/mxl2003a-troubleshoot-test

then from the behringer c-1 I used as comparison:

https://soundcloud.com/purebe/behringerc1-troubleshoot-test

I haven't detected any cracks or pops on the behringer c1 at all, I monitored it for around 20 minutes. Before I take the hair dryer to the mxl 2003a, I just have to ask: if you review that minute long sample with the noise - that sounds like it's a water issue, yea?

I am not excited to do this lol

edit: Also, the longer the mxl 2003a is powered on to phantom power, *it appears* the less frequent the cracks and pops are. I mean, it's gotten a bit better after keeping it in the tupperware with the silica gel for a few days, so I guess that's another point towards it likely being water on / in the capsule or something, but man how hard is it to dry these darn things? :confused:

final edit: also, if you notice in the samples my computer fans are kind of annoying. they're on all of my recordings >< Until I move out there's not a lot of rearranging I can do to get the computer further away from the mic. I bought the quietest computer case I could find and run the fans on pretty low speeds to try to combat it, which helps but it's still there. Here's a picture:

SrNozcE.jpg


I know the setup is really quite bad for recording, but, can anyone see any ways that I could possibly reduce the computer fan noise in this setup, maybe with a baffle or something?
 
If you could move your computer under the table, it would help a bit. Maybe you can also move away from computer with the mic and find a quietest place on the room.
Some guys build a isolation boxes for their computers, but it has to be well ventilated to keep computer from overheating.
 
Yeah there's no space under the desk area, the computer is just too big. It's not a massive deal since I'm moving in a couple of months and I'll be able to get it away from my recording area, but I'm just thinking in the meantime something really dense and big placed between them might help?
 
It would help with direct sound coming to the mic, however reflections will still reach the mic. So yes, it could help a bit, but won't eliminate the problem.
 
Bobbsy said:
Usually, gently drying the mic with warm air (for example a hair dryer a couple of feet away) will restore the mic with minimal damage, though some high end detail may be gone forever.
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NO - NO - NO !!!

Dry the mic. by putting it in an airing cupboard or, failing that, near a radiator (but not too close).

NEVER - use a hair dryer.
 
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