VO-BB - 19 YEARS OLD!

Mike Harrison · Posted: Fri Sep 20, 2019 4:47 pm Post subject: I need to ask this

I can't believe something I read elsewhere, so I have to ask this:

Do we all agree that it's not at all good to allow water to get into a microphone? And, further, that if water DOES get into the microphone, it is NOT a good idea to attempt to remedy the situation by using a blow-dryer?

Please. Help restore my faith in common sense.

Thank you.
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Mike
Male Voice Over Talent
I have taken leave of my sensors.

Bruce · Posted: Fri Sep 20, 2019 6:02 pm Post subject:

You’re going to have to try harder to do those spit takes away from the mic, Mike.

I must admit I’m amazed at the field reporters who do their stories in the rain. I’m thinking those are probably sturdy dynamic mics meant to take a beating however. I’m sure a phone call to a major mic manufacturer’s service line will get you a good answer.

Now of course we’d love to know how you soaked your instrument!

B
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todd ellis · Posted: Sat Sep 21, 2019 9:09 am Post subject:

on the other hand - i have a shure sm58 that lived through the bars in the '80s, was literally used as a hammer and had a dozen pitchers of beer poured through it --- it's still working fine!

i do not recommend it - but - hey ...
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JohnV · Posted: Wed Sep 25, 2019 10:56 am Post subject:

What did you get on it? A gentle constant waft of air past it... maybe slightly warm air, (...but DRY AIR!) either way wouldn't be a problem, Trade TIME to gently dry out against trying to do it fast with a hurricane blast of 200deg hair-dryer-storm.

Absolutely no reason to get water on, or in, or near a mic... period.
While a 58 or the classic EV 635 can survive a STUNNING amount of abuse , They will usually continue to work, sometimes excellently despite the abuse, When I worked in the maintenance shop at Mutual, the frightening-to-imagine abused 635 reporters' field mics would come in from months out in the field... smelling gross, looking ugly... but with some clean up they worked and worked. though I'm not sure of how unscathed they come through if you care about the extremes of response before and after.

We expect MUCH higher levels of performance from our voice work tools and so This goes 10-times harsher with condensor mics. Even high indoor humidity and simple breath moisture/vapor can play holy hell with many with these. The expensive best models have a thin (usually) gold-coated (molecule-thick deposited) mylar diaphragm that floats fractions of a mm from the back plate and has a voltage applied to it and if it gets any dampness on it it can short that voltage out created huge noises ...
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Frank F · Posted: Wed Sep 25, 2019 4:36 pm Post subject:

Step 1:
No blow dryer.

Purchase some instant rice and a large covered container (large enough for the rice and the microphone), place said microphone in said rice for a day or so.

Step two:
Remove said microphone from rice. Shake off excess rice from microphone. If rice stick to the microphone, it is still too wet.)

Step three:
Plug the microphone in. if it works it's a good thing. If not, it is not a good thing, and the diaphragm might need replacement if not the entire microphone.

Was(???) said mic a condenser or dynamic mic? Or was this a rhetorical question?

F2
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Mike Harrison · Posted: Wed Sep 25, 2019 8:27 pm Post subject:

Not exactly a rhetorical question, it related an actual post I saw in a software support forum. The person, who was apparently more than several minutes into a rather lengthy narration, reported that water had accidentally splashed into the mic, and then an attempt was made to rectify it by using a blow-dryer.

My reason for soliciting opinions here was having read others downplaying the seriousness; essentially, that getting water inside a mic was not beyond the realm of possibilities and that a blow-dryer... well, why not?

When I read these things in forums established for alleged professionals, I just have a hard time understanding how someone who considers him or herself a professional would buy a device that makes their livelihood possible; a device they rely on - and not have the slightest idea (or care to learn) how it works and how best to ensure its safety. Oh well.
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Mike
Male Voice Over Talent
I have taken leave of my sensors.

todd ellis · Posted: Thu Sep 26, 2019 5:58 am Post subject:

i'm not an engineer, but ... it absolutely depends on the mic. a dynamic mic, like the aforementioned sm58, is a rugged coil of wire inside. inside a condenser mic is a flimsy, fragile membrane (diaphragm) - not very well suited to a blast high-velocity hot air from, say a hair dryer - or frank.
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"i know philip banks": todd ellis
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