Possible Mic problem
I am new to vintage shure mics. I recently purchased a black label '53 CR element in a brown bullet shell. The tone is great and very strong but I noticed it makes a click sound when amped if I cup it tightly without the harp and breath in and out. Is this normal?
Thanks,
Scott
Greg,
Thanks for responding. I have not heard the click while playing. I will test it again using a range of volume through the harp. Hopefully there are no problems because the tone sounds great to me.
The mic's job is to make noise when sound pressure waves pull and push on the element's diaphragm. That's what you're doing when you breathe in and out. Its just that sound pushes and pulls in much faster succession. This is analogous to listening to a speaker normally, or using a battery to test its polarity. The battery will move the cone in one direction, once, when you connect it. The sound it makes is a click. Release the battery - another click as the cone returns to neutral position. Connect the battery in reverse - the speaker cone moves the other way. Once. Click. If you could reverse the battery fast enough - the speaker would play a tone.
Hi, ScottWhen you cup tightly and play through a harmonica, do you hear the click? If yes, then something is wrong with the element. Otherwise it is fine. When you cup tightly and just blow/suck, you're really forcing the diaphragm through its full range of motion - and you SHOULD hear a sort of click. You've just made one single electrical pulse.