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Gear / Technical Help => Microphones & Setup => Topic started by: Jonny P on November 28, 2015, 04:55:09 PM
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Does anyone know whether 0 attenuation is in the up or down position?
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I'm guessing that you mean the KMR 81. If so, the -10 dB setting is the one in which the engraved line on the switch is closer to the "-10" label on the microphone body. If you hold the microphone so that the low-cut symbol and the -10 label read from left to right, the 0 dB position would be the "up" position of the switch.
Oddly, that isn't spelled out in the manual that comes with the mike, but it's easy enough to verify by experiment.
--best regards
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How do you move the settings - what is your tool suggestion?
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How do you move the settings - what is your tool suggestion?
I used a small flat screwdriver. Just make sure both switches are in the up position. For some reason they ship new in the down position which means both are engaged. I used these mics for a few years and never once engaged either the filter or the attenuation switch. Great mics for large arenas. See you at MSG? I need some clamp space. Tony S.
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I just stumbled into a pair of KMR 81i, and yeah, those switches can be hard to see and take a very small jewelers screwdriver or paperclip point to change. None of the tools I use on other Neumann fit these, oddly. On mine you practically can’t see the line, just the edge of the switch casing, so looking tells you nothing. Moved in the direction of the label is engaged.
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Which way would you recommend that the vents be pointing?
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If the microphone is oriented horizontally, the Neumann logo indicates the top surface of the microphone.
If the microphone will be angled away from the horizontal, first imagine that it's horizontal with the logo in the correct position, then tilt it from there (without rotating the mike on its axis, of course).
--best regards
P.S.: I use a dental pick to set DIP switches. But I would be surprised if anyone would want to use the low-cut filter when recording full-range music; the microphone already rolls off below 100 Hz due to the non-defeatable part of its built-in filter.
I would also be surprised if it was ever necessary to use the built-in pad, since these mikes can take 128 dB SPL without overloading. If the output of this (or any other) microphone overdrives your preamp or recorder, but the microphone itself isn't overloading, use a resistive pad at the input of the recorder rather than throwing the pad switch on the mike. Otherwise you'll add 10 dB (or whatever else the value of the pad is) of unnecessary, extra noise to your recording.
Also, if this is happening outdoors, remember that the high signal levels could be caused by wind, and consider improving your windscreening, at least as a test.
As a P.S. to the P.S., the DIP switches should be "exercised" (repeatedly switched on and off) **with the power to the microphone disconnected**, to make sure that they're not noisy. I once had a KMR 81 that developed a "rustling" noise due to those switches. Eventually I had them replaced, but in the short term, "exercising" them can help.