Re: Pop Goes the Weasel, But Not the Microphone!
Posted: Wed Jan 25, 2023 9:20 pm
Mike Halloran wrote: "I have a couple of AKG C535EBs where the rubber inside the grille is rotted away—the resulting crud blocks sound and makes these useless. Removing the foam and using cheapo SM58 windsocks over the grilles brought them back to life but I never intended that to be a permanent solution. So I special ordered a couple of (damned expensive) AKG rebuild kits for these and received them just last week. I have already found 1/2" thick sheets of this aqua filter media."
Not to brag, Mike, but AKG customer service was INCREDIBLY generous to me a couple of years ago: I had 2 AKG headset mics which I had rewired to plug into wireless transmitters for use in our live shows. After we retired from the road and I started recording at home again, I tried to solder new XLR plugs onto the cables to use them as I originally purchased them. I plugged each of them into my MOTU 828 interface with phantom power on and fried the mic capsules because I didn't know the original XLR plugs that came with the mics had a circuit to convert 48v phantom power to 9v.
I contacted AKG customer service to see if I could purchase just the original XLR plugs. They explained my mistake and why I needed a whole new capsule. They said they had them in their warehouse in Austria, but it might take them a month to figure out what to charge me since it wasn't in "the system". So, they just shipped me two complementary (free!) replacement capsules complete with gooseneck, cable and correct XLR connection. I was blown away when I received them as I didn't realize they were sending so much and I had no warrantee coverage! It only took me 5 minutes to remove the old components and put the new ones on the headsets, which hang from the ears.
The story gets better for me! My wife has early-onset dementia and I wanted to try to record her singing again. She has to sit in her rocking recliner in the living room and I knew keeping my regular studio mic positioned right could be a nightmare since it's a 30-second walk from my control room. I needed to close-mic to minimize room & neighborhood (& pet) noise, yet she fidgets. I ended up using the headset mic on her and found it worked incredibly well! Takes from all different recording session matched because of the ease of keeping a close, consistent mic position.
Then I decided to try it on my own vocals. I discovered I get better results than I did with my old AKG C414 because of the consistent mic positioning. I can even move around if I really feel the groove and the mic follows me! So I really want to thank AKG customer service for their incredible generosity and kindness! They really helped me move forward on recording my 3-year "labor of love"! Sorry, they must have used up all their generosity on me or they finally got "the system" working so they could charge you so much, Mike
Doug
Not to brag, Mike, but AKG customer service was INCREDIBLY generous to me a couple of years ago: I had 2 AKG headset mics which I had rewired to plug into wireless transmitters for use in our live shows. After we retired from the road and I started recording at home again, I tried to solder new XLR plugs onto the cables to use them as I originally purchased them. I plugged each of them into my MOTU 828 interface with phantom power on and fried the mic capsules because I didn't know the original XLR plugs that came with the mics had a circuit to convert 48v phantom power to 9v.
I contacted AKG customer service to see if I could purchase just the original XLR plugs. They explained my mistake and why I needed a whole new capsule. They said they had them in their warehouse in Austria, but it might take them a month to figure out what to charge me since it wasn't in "the system". So, they just shipped me two complementary (free!) replacement capsules complete with gooseneck, cable and correct XLR connection. I was blown away when I received them as I didn't realize they were sending so much and I had no warrantee coverage! It only took me 5 minutes to remove the old components and put the new ones on the headsets, which hang from the ears.
The story gets better for me! My wife has early-onset dementia and I wanted to try to record her singing again. She has to sit in her rocking recliner in the living room and I knew keeping my regular studio mic positioned right could be a nightmare since it's a 30-second walk from my control room. I needed to close-mic to minimize room & neighborhood (& pet) noise, yet she fidgets. I ended up using the headset mic on her and found it worked incredibly well! Takes from all different recording session matched because of the ease of keeping a close, consistent mic position.
Then I decided to try it on my own vocals. I discovered I get better results than I did with my old AKG C414 because of the consistent mic positioning. I can even move around if I really feel the groove and the mic follows me! So I really want to thank AKG customer service for their incredible generosity and kindness! They really helped me move forward on recording my 3-year "labor of love"! Sorry, they must have used up all their generosity on me or they finally got "the system" working so they could charge you so much, Mike
Doug
