How to fix ground problem with AKG mics

[micsmics]

My home studio is unfortunately in an old house with ungrounded lines. I have an AKG C1000s that I have never been able to use because it has a faint, but sufficiently annoying, low frequency hum. Thinking it was just a problem with the mic, I recently bought an AKG C414 B-XLS. Same problem. I have two other condensers-an Oktava MK 319 and a Neumann KM 184 that are dead quiet. This makes me think there is something about the design of AKG mics that does not mix well with ungrounded lines. Also, I tried the mics at my dad's house, which has grounded lines, and they are quiet.

I have noticed that if I touch the mic and the preamp (UA 610), basically creating a ground, the hum goes away. However holding both during recording is not a reasonable solution since I play guitar and sing at the same time.

Anyone have thoughts on a solution (other than the obvious one of ripping out and replacing electrical lines) that would allow me to actually use these mics? Many thanks for your input.

(As an aside, and to save time and money for those with noisy ungrounded lines, dynamic mics, specifically the SM57, SM7 and the RE20 have not worked well in my studio. They have an annoying buzz similar to 60 cycle hum you get through an electric guitar.)

 

[moresound]

So all of your outlets in your home are two prong?

You must have the market cornered on ground lift adapters.

 

[chrisghost]

Open up the plug that goes into the mic and connect pin 1 with the chassis of the plug. That ussually does the trick.

You might want to keep this cable just for those AKGs though, it might now hum on other mics.

 

[witzendoz]

Get an electrician to earth the power points before you get zapped.

Alan.

 

[chrisghost]

You can attached the ground output on one of power sockets to a central heating pipe (chip off some paint, to make metal touch metal).

This is not ideal of course, but it works.

Adding ground to an existing electrical cirquit is not a lot of work for an electrician, if you ask around for a good electrician, he should be finished quickly and it won't cost to much, You could ask him to ground just one socket, it'll save money.