Sennheiser E385 problems.

[CMolena]

Hi everybody.

My friend gave me a Sennheiser E385 and he told me it was not working. So I decided to get it and repair it myself.

So I un mounted it and I've found out that, there is not any visible damage to the mic...but it givrs no signal. Actually, the only signal it gives is interference when I touch the copper wire around the diaphragm. If I talk to it...it wont make anything, it only makes noise when I touch it. So I'm guessing that the problem may be the diaphragm itself...but I dont know what is inside this mic capsule, that could be the actual problem, instead of the diaphragm.

I've fixed dosens of 57's, some condenser mics, but I dont know nothing about Sennheiser ones.

Does anybody know what can I do to fix it or what the problem may be?

 

[Bobbsy]

Do you by any chance mean an e835? I've never encountered a 385.

f I had to guess, it's likely a broken or shorting wire in the coil. If so, this isn't really something you can fix.

Like Shure, Sennheiser will sell replacement capsules for their mics but the bad news is that a replacement capsule alone often costs more than a whole new mic. I suspect they're priced to make sense with radio mics but not really with the standard wired ones.

 

[John Willett]

If it's an e385 it's a Chinese copy and is rubbish.

If it's an e835 and a genuine Sennheiser (yes, there are crap Chinese fakes around) the copper wire around the capsule is the hum-bucker coil (ie: a coil wound in reverse so that any outside interference is picked up by both coils and cancels out).

Check the wiring at the back of teh XLR - I think you can remove this carefully and check all wires are connected properly.

However - these are inexpensive mics made automatically in Germany. The good thing is that tou get a high quality mic for about half the price (or less) than if the same mic had been made in the traditional method. The bad thing is that it's cheaper to replace it with a new one than trying to have it repaired.

However, talk to your local Sennheiser distributor as they may have an exchange price for broken microphones that may be cheaper than buying new.

 

[mjbphotos]

They're less than $100 new (the e835), so don't go spending much to fix it.