Hi Rob,
Thank you for your answer and for the very informative link.
I did not think of a humidity related problem, as the microphones are store=
d in a cupboard in a room that is well ventilated and dry. But I am in Belg=
ium and we had a fair amount of rain in the last few weeks -- although noth=
ing exceptional.
The microphones were mounted in their Rycote windshield and left there for =
months (I can't remember exactly when I used them the last time...) Out of =
my 4 MKH, only one seems to be affected. That mic is in prestine, new condi=
tion, and it has always been very well treated since I purchased it about 5=
years ago.
I'll set it up now and see how it behaves.
Just to be complete : here is a recording of the sound it makes : www.sound=
snatural.be\tmp\MKH30_Noise_Problem.wav <http://www.soundsnatural.be\tmp\MK=
H30_Noise_Problem.wav>
Sometims, that sound doesn't stop at all.
Thanks !
DL
From: on behalf of Rob Danielson
Sent: Sun 5/23/2010 10:55
To:
Subject: Re: [Nature Recordists] Problem with a Sennheiser MKH30 - "like a =
growing bubble of static"
Hi DL--
Sounds like description of an affect of moisture-- especially if it
goes away completely at times. Some conditions will provoke this. If
you're curious at what they were this time, you can check local
weather resources and see of you can find some charts plotting
humidity, temp and the dewpoint at that time. For US locations, a
good resource for this is Mesowest http://mesowest.utah.edu/index.html
There's considerable discussion about this in the List Archives.
Here's a search of "mic moisture" for example
http://tinyurl.com/2wfus7m Rob D.
At 9:19 AM +0200 5/23/10, Laloux, Dominique wrote:
>Hello everyone,
>
>Can someone reassure me that this problem can be solved ?
>
>I used one of my 2 Sennheiser MKH30 yesterday in a M/S setup with a
>MKH60, recording with my Fostex FR-2LE.
>As soon as I pushed the standby button, I started to hear rather
>loud statics through the headphones.
>
>Turned the recorder off, then on again, and the problem repeated
>itself. Several times. Turned the phantom power on/off, used a
>different set of XLR cables... nothing stopped the problem from
>occuring. I tested both mics alone and the problem occured with the
>MKH30 only.
>
>The way it happens can be better described as a growing bubble of
>static : the noise starts very low, then it grows louder and louder
>for a some time (20-30 seconds or more) and becomes so loud that I
>need to turn the volume down to near 0.
>At some point, for no obvious reason, it then slowly "shrinks" back
>and disappears.
>
>I decided to try and record our garden soundscape anyway, and I
>ended up recording a full 2 hours with the problem repeating 3 times
>during the 2 hours. The strange thing is that everything was
>perfectly stable for the 2 hours, with no movement, no change in
>controls, etc.
>
>What coud that be ? A defective condenser ?
>
>Thanks.
>
>DL
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