KSM32 Failed, Dead

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bkwallen

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I purchased a Shure KSM32, used, about 6 months ago. It was in perfect condition, came in the original case, and I love it. It's served me well for those 6 months. I recently put it in it's plush velour bag, and locked it up in it's hard case for a short period of time when I knew I wouldn't be using it.

I got it out, set it up, and it was dead. Didn't work. No sound from my recording interface, so I plugged into my live sound mixer, and all I heard was static. The mixer has indicator lights on the channels, and whenever I tapped on the mic, the green light lit up with each tap, but the only sound that came out was static.

It's not the cord. I've tried three. It's not the mixer. I've tried two.

Has anybody else had this problem, and if so, what can I do to fix it? Help!

Thanks.
 
bkwallen said:
I purchased a Shure KSM32, used, about 6 months ago. It was in perfect condition, came in the original case, and I love it. It's served me well for those 6 months. I recently put it in it's plush velour bag, and locked it up in it's hard case for a short period of time when I knew I wouldn't be using it.

I got it out, set it up, and it was dead. Didn't work. No sound from my recording interface, so I plugged into my live sound mixer, and all I heard was static. The mixer has indicator lights on the channels, and whenever I tapped on the mic, the green light lit up with each tap, but the only sound that came out was static.

It's not the cord. I've tried three. It's not the mixer. I've tried two.

Has anybody else had this problem, and if so, what can I do to fix it? Help!

Thanks.
Click to expand...

The static might be moisture baking off the diaphragm. Put the mic up on a stand and leave it powered up for a day or 2. You could also place it over a low wattage standard light bulb to help with drying it out.
 
c7sus said:
Sure your phantom power is working???
Click to expand...

With two mixers, unless the OP forgot to turn on phantom, it's probably safe to say it isn't a phantom failure.

If you're getting a little bit of sound but it is really faint and crackly, that could be a sign of a cold solder joint somewhere that makes just a partial, high resistance connection. Crack the sucker open and look for solder joints that are not shiny. Reheat those and let them cool, screw the case back on, and see if that fixes it.

The first contacts I'd check are the ones in and around the power supply section, and particularly the wires between the jack and the main PCB.
 
dgatwood said:
The first contacts I'd check are the ones in and around the power supply section, and particularly the wires between the jack and the main PCB.
Click to expand...

I'm pretty sure KSM32 is all SMT, so if it's not the jack or capsule moisture, I'd leave it to Shure repair.
 
The first thing I would have done was call Shure.
The second thing I would have done is follow their instructions.
The third thing I would have done was post about my positive experience with Shure on this board.

Call Shure.......good luck.......
 
Thanks for all the responses and suggestions.

Madguitrst, I DID email Shure, last night, at the same time I posted this topic. I just wanted to see if anybody else had encountered this problem.

Shure sent back an email with the information on sending it in for repair, so I guess that would be the best thing to do.
 
mshilarious said:
I'm pretty sure KSM32 is all SMT, so if it's not the jack or capsule moisture, I'd leave it to Shure repair.
Click to expand...

*raises eyebrows*

I'd be surprised if the capacitors used in the power supply were anything other than electrolytic cans given the required values and the need for higher voltage ratings. Possible, I suppose, but I'd be surprised.

That said, I generally agree. If you inspect all the solder joints for non-surface-mount parts and don't find any problems, I definitely wouldn't attempt to resolder any surface mount parts.
 
A buddy of mine has had issues with the 32's dying while on the road. We have had issues with 27's in the studio. Having said that, Shure has been stellar in making it right.
 
dgatwood said:
*raises eyebrows*

I'd be surprised if the capacitors used in the power supply were anything other than electrolytic cans given the required values and the need for higher voltage ratings. Possible, I suppose, but I'd be surprised.
Click to expand...

They are, and they're SMT! At least in the 27. I don't remember if I took apart my 44. 32, I dunno.
 
A similar thing happened to my CAD m177...nothing working...if I crank the gain then I see the level meter rise and fall slightly...but apart from that she's dead. One day it was working the next day it was dead. No bangs bumps water moisture...it's a mystery.
 
I was reading this thread a couple of days ago thinking how weird it was because Shure stuff is usually so dependable. I put my KSM27 up for an acoustic guitar today and...dead like the proverbial doornail. Oh well.

Frank
 
Weasel9992 said:
I was reading this thread a couple of days ago thinking how weird it was because Shure stuff is usually so dependable. I put my KSM27 up for an acoustic guitar today and...dead like the proverbial doornail. Oh well.
Click to expand...

That's three posters with dead KSM mics in the course of two weeks. Are these things defective by design or something?
 
dgatwood said:
That's three posters with dead KSM mics in the course of two weeks. Are these things defective by design or something?
Click to expand...

To be fair, I had mine for a couple of years before it bit the big one...but there was no hint of anything wrong beforehand. It just died. I haven't taken it apart yet to look at the diaphragm or the circuit board, so I have no idea what's wrong.

Frank
 
Not to pile on, but I saw a KSM-27 at a pawn shop that was going for $100 -- they said it just made a hissing noise. Intrigued, I looked into it and found out the KSM series is all surface mount tech (SMT), so I wouldn't be able to work on it myself. I passed :(
 
Hey guys! I registered just to post my experience on this. (I'm more of a lurker, sorry:) Here's my story in a nutshell:

I acquired a pair of KSM32's in a trade for studio time. Thankfully, the guy showed up with them the first session we had. Immediately after he left, I plugged them in to test: one wasn't firing. I had a little 'something' if I thumped it with my thumb... but definitely NOT a working mic. I was able to renegotiate the deal, no problem. I kept the mic and planned on sending it in to Shure for repair (that $96 fix-it-no-matter-what price seemed ok). I actually do a little electronics building and repair, so of course I opened it up. YUP, lo and behold it's nearly ALL SMT. Dang. I actually shelved it for a few months, until I had $100 I didn't care about to send it in.

Today, I opened it back up. My intention was to really take the sucker apart in hopes that there's an actual solder joint I could play with. There are two PCBs in there: one containing all SMT, the other actually has through hole components. This second one hold the stuff for the roll off and pad circuits, and more importantly, the signal from the capsule goes through all of it. I really wanted to get to that stuff, start wiggling things, hoping for an indication of something.

SO. With all the guts hanging out, sitting in my hand, I plugged her in. AND? It stinking worked! The culprit? The little connector from one PCB to the other. It just plain needed pulled apart and put back together. Obviously, deoxing, conditioning, etc. should be done at this point.... but yeah, guys. I was about to spend $100 to get the thing taken apart and put back together, haha!

Hope that helps!
-Matt
 
That's exactly what happened with my 27 but within a few days it was back to no good. :cursing:







Goodbye Jon. :(
 
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