What to do if the microphone gets wet

Many people don’t know about condenser microphones. Some people think that condenser microphones can be directly plugged into the computer motherboard. Some people think that condenser microphones can be plugged into the karaoke's two-core microphone port. Some people think that condenser microphones must be used with a separate 48V power box. Can be used and so on. The answers to the above questions are all: No.

What is the most afraid of condenser microphones? Damp. The problem that many people don't understand is that condenser microphones need to be protected from moisture. Condenser microphones, in addition to the common large diaphragm and small diaphragm, there are also some back-body microphones that require batteries, and some ribbon microphones. These microphones have metal on the diaphragm, which is very sensitive to humidity, because moisture can cause metal corrosion, easy to get dust and other problems. The diaphragm of a dynamic microphone is a non-metallic material and is not sensitive to water vapor, so the environmental requirements are much lower.
Moisture failure performance

Common damp faults include: the microphone suddenly becomes extremely quiet; there is wind in the microphone; pops from the microphone; the sound of instantaneous signal overload; the low noise suddenly increases; the most serious is completely silent or there is no obvious fault , After disassembling, it was found that the diaphragm was obviously damp, and the sound was basically normal, but the tone was a little dull, similar to the high frequency attenuation. This is also a problem that many people often encounter. Sometimes the microphone dries out after being damp, and the noise does not appear. If you don’t compare it with the new one, you can’t find the difference in timbre, so you keep using it until you buy a second one. The microphone, thinking that the bright sound of the second microphone is the manufacturer’s redesign. This is what the previous article said, a microphone that has been used on the shelf for a year but has not failed. It is necessary to completely judge that the damp of the microphone is to be disassembled, and it is not recommended that you do this. A simple moisture-proof cabinet, you do not need to worry about 90% of the cases.
How to prevent moisture?
Moisture-proof cabinet
1. If you are in an area where the seasonal humidity may be high, try to find a sealed box for the opened condenser microphone, such as a small shockproof box. Put some moisture-proof beads in it. If the desiccant gets wet, It means that the humidity is too high. Open the microphone head cover and check whether the metal inner wall is wet. If the metal inner wall of the microphone is wet, dry it with a hair dryer, and then plug it into the device and test it after 10 minutes of power.
2. Rainwater and dustproof. Rainwater is the natural enemy of condenser microphones. The diaphragm of condenser microphones will accelerate the corrosion of metal materials due to water, and it will short-circuit the internal circuit wires. Don't rush to put it in the box at the end, apply a hair dryer to blow-dry it before putting it in.
3. There is another small detail. When you use a dedicated microphone, it is recommended to mainly use a table stand to avoid holding the microphone for a long time, which will produce sweat, which will affect the microphone.
4. Anti-drop, pay special attention not to overturn the microphone stand when the wire is pulled. Impact may reduce the sensitivity of the condenser microphone or even damage it.
5. If you find that there is a problem with the connection fastener of the locked microphone, you must not hard lock it. Instead, you can use electrical tape to tie the condenser microphone directly to the microphone holder instead of risking it because of its beauty.
6. Try to avoid hot plugging operation, that is to say, do not remove and plug frequently when the condenser microphone or microphone cable is energized, because large voltage fluctuations will not only affect the system, but also reduce the life of the condenser microphone .
7. At present, most of the condenser microphones on the market use phantom power supply, that is, most of them are connected to the mixer through the microphone cable to achieve power supply. So you should try to avoid hot-swapping the microphone. Frequent large voltage fluctuations will greatly reduce the service life of the microphone. So try to connect the microphone to the mixer before starting a channel, and then turn on the power. If your vacuum tube microphone can be connected directly to a power source, it is equally important to avoid hot plugging. Do not turn on the power switch of the microphone before you connect the microphone to the mixer.
8. For many vacuum tube microphones, it takes a period of time to warm up before reaching the optimal working condition. Microphone manufacturers often recommend that you use two to three minutes to 15 minutes to warm up the microphone. So once you turn on the microphone, keep it working until the end of the recording.
9. Use the XLR plug correctly. Sometimes the microphone is temporarily added or replaced. When the XLR head is picked up and plugged in, it is easy to twist or break the three male feet.
10. The ideal humidity for storing the microphone is 40-60%. To achieve this goal, the easiest and cheapest way is to use a moisture-proof cabinet. Even the cheapest and worst-quality moisture-proof cabinets are much better than boxes with desiccant. And even for the most expensive microphones, the warranty does not include moisture.

Precautions for moisture-proof in use
First of all, you must use a blowout prevention net/blowout preventer. The blowout prevention not only prevents the sound of the jet, but also prevents the saliva from directly sticking to the diaphragm. The viscosity and corrosiveness of the saliva is much greater than that of water. I have seen people who do not use blowout prevention in pursuit of bright sound, which is relatively risky. Then if you are an announcer of an Internet radio station, you have to use the microphone for 8 hours a day. If you can use one of the microphones, each microphone has more time to "dry" in the moisture-proof cabinet, and the probability of failure Will be greatly reduced. The sponge windshield has an excellent moisturizing effect. If you want your microphone to stay moisturized, stick to it. You will see the effect soon.
Moisture fault handling
Treatment after damp: If you can disassemble the microphone and see the diaphragm without damage, this is the limit of your disassembly, do not disassemble the part of the diaphragm! If there is a lot of dust on the diaphragm, you can try to blow it lightly with a leather tiger, don't dry it with cotton! Do not use any liquid for cleaning! Don't blow with your mouth! Do not blow with compressed air! Even if the leather tiger can't blow it off. If the dust is gone and it is still malfunctioning, do not use the sun or various stoves to bake! Do not blow with a hair dryer! If the damp is not serious, you can only dry it slowly in the shade. If it does not work, you can only return to the factory to change the capsule. The above-mentioned various methods will either be repaired and will soon fail again, or will cause irreversible changes in the tone.
Daily maintenance?
The use and maintenance of the microphone should be protected from moisture, wind, dust, and vibration. Therefore, after using the microphone, remove the battery and wrap it in a soft cloth. You cannot "shoot" or "blow" when using the microphone. In addition, it is necessary to grasp the appropriate distance between the microphone and the sound source. According to the situation of on-site use, decide whether to apply the "proximity effect" of the microphone.
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