The vents are what creates the cardioid pattern. The let sound in from the rear so it can cancel out the same sounds when they hit the front of the diaphragm. If you were to seal up the vents entirely you would get, as Mr. Schneider likes to say on the Neumann pinboard, "a poor omni." So the damage you describe will only impact the shape of your cardiod pattern for that mic. So the mic pair may sound just fine but your stereo imaging might be a bit smeared. You'll probably never notice the difference!
Topic: Damaged Neumann AK-40 capsule (Read 7082 times)