Topic: DPA 4060 ebay ex-theatre mics very noisy - are they fried?

[illconditioned]

Dudes, if anyone has a broken DPA 406x mic, I'd like to dissect it.

Go on, contribute your broken mic to science!

I'm particularly interested in the circuit behind it.  My guess (from limited DPA disclosure) is there is a FET inside the capsule, and a standard BJT just outside it.

  Richard

[Church-Audio]

Dudes, if anyone has a broken DPA 406x mic, I'd like to dissect it.

Go on, contribute your broken mic to science!

I'm particularly interested in the circuit behind it.  My guess (from limited DPA disclosure) is there is a FET inside the capsule, and a standard BJT just outside it.

  Richard

That is correct.

No need to take it apart The fets are part of the way that mic sounds but the major part is that diaphragm and mic housing. I have recabled a few of them its not fun and its a 50 / 50 chance they wont make it through the operation It involves a microscope and a dental pick. And some heat to break down the epoxy.

[dogmusic]

Wait a minute.  Are you saying that the bungie hit your head, and knocked some sense into you?  And then you took it out on the microphone, and after screaming into it (*), it started working better?

That's amazing!

Or maybe the knock on the head is causing audio hallucinations?

EIther way, it works!  It only matters how it sounds to you

You are very lucky the damn bungie didn't rip your eye out!

* - I know you said claps but screams make a better story.

That's right! First I knocked some sense into myself, and then into the microphone!

Audio hallucination: that's why I posted the sample. Maybe someone will tell me I'm not dreaming....

You're right I'm lucky -- narrow escapes like that make my teeth hurt.

[dogmusic]

Hope your head feels better.

Like others have mentioned a tell tail sign of a mic that has been exposed to sweat will be the sham rock green shield wire when you strip it to put the connector on.

Thanks for the well wishes. I expect to have a bump like a rhino horn in the morning.

I don't know if this means that my mics were not exposed to sweat, but the shielding was pure silver when I stripped it.

[MIQ]

Hi dogmusic,

I took a close listen to the recording you made of the piano.  To me, it seems like there is a little distortion on the attacks of chords/notes but only in the left ear.  I listened with headphones a couple of times to make sure I wasn't imagining it.  Not sure if it is the left mic or something else in the signal chain but I'm certain there is something wrong still.    It has a kind of tamborine/snare quality and is more pronounced on low notes.  Maybe someone else can take a close listen and let us know if they hear it too. 

Hope your head feels better. 

-MIQ

[dogmusic]

Hi dogmusic,

I took a close listen to the recording you made of the piano.  To me, it seems like there is a little distortion on the attacks of chords/notes but only in the left ear.  I listened with headphones a couple of times to make sure I wasn't imagining it.  Not sure if it is the left mic or something else in the signal chain but I'm certain there is something wrong still.    It has a kind of tamborine/snare quality and is more pronounced on low notes.  Maybe someone else can take a close listen and let us know if they hear it too. 

Hope your head feels better. 

-MIQ

Hi MIQ,

Thank you for your close listening. I am afraid you are right. There is still a problem with the one mic, which was plugged into the left channel.

When I did the second of my three tests [DPA 4060's > RCA adapter > SP-SPSB-8 batt box > D50 mic-in, no PIP, rec level 4.0, mics under the pillow], I had set the mic/line switch on the D50 to "mic".

(Despite the fact that there are separate inputs on the D50 for "mic" and "line", there is also a switch on the side which you have to change according to your input.)

When I did the last test (recording the piano), I plugged the battery box into the line-in instead of mic-in, but I forgot to change the switch from "mic" to "line". The excessive level of hiss/noise in the left channel mic became much less apparent in that setting --- not sure why the D50 operates that way.

But the mic is indeed not working well. Running another test going mic-in revealed the noise to still be there.

I'm in touch with the ebay merchant and I'll let you all know how this turns out.

Again, thanks MIQ and everyone else for your help.

And thanks for your well-wishes too, MIQ.  I wish my knock on the head had turned out to be good luck for the mic. 

[dogmusic]

After I contacted the ebay vendor regarding the one noisy mic, he immediately sent me a replacement.

I received it yesterday and connected it up this morning. Sounds good. No extra noise or hiss like the bad one.

I guess it was just the luck of the draw, or perhaps it got damaged during the shipping.

I highly recommend this ebay vendor in Las Vegas. He acted super-fast and friendly.

Thanks again for everyone's input and suggestions and support on this. This forum is a big help.

[newplanet7]

After I contacted the ebay vendor regarding the one noisy mic, he immediately sent me a replacement.
I received it yesterday and connected it up this morning. Sounds good. No extra noise or hiss like the bad one.
I highly recommend this ebay vendor in Las Vegas. He acted super-fast and friendly.

Awesome!
I absolutely love hearing things like this.
Almost restores some sort of faith in humanity.

[BusDriver]

I'm late to reading this thread .. it is an ear-opener .... and I will attest to the power of bungee to forehead - it does 'wake up' and 'knock sense' into one's self. About a year and half ago I took a bungee clip hit to the forehead about an inch above the left eye. Talk about dazed and confused, spurting blood on the car on the side of the road .. YOW ... still have nerves not fully reconnected - push forehead feel it on top of knoggin - but still have sight in both eyes. DON'T MESS WITH THE BUNGEE !!