Topic: Noisy DPA 4061 (or DAD6001 adapter)

[Church-Audio]

Good advice from Jon as always.
 
You can try cleaning it by removing the grid and immersing the mic in distilled water and swirling it around. Really, distilled water won't hurt it. That's the reccomended DPA cleaning proceedure. It won't work again correctly until it dries fully.  Also hold the removed grid up to the light to check that its not clogged.  You can use dish-soap and a toothbrush on that if it's off the mic.

I've had a few 4060s go bad over the years and once bought a cheap bundle of used 4061s off ebay of which only a few were good. I've found that in general as they go bad they first tend to drop 5 to 10dB in sensitivity (in which case compensating with additional gain raises the self-noise floor by the same amount), then get noiser and/or have frequency response issues, or get noisy in more of a 'spitty' way.

So I stopped by DPA today in CO to give my mics a check up and asked Michael if people actually cleaned their 4061s with distilled water like it mentions on the DPA Mic University FAQ.  He said that if it were him he would not.  Although the moisture would dry out over time they would have to be VERY delicately swirled in the water to not risk damaging the element.  He said if they were hs mics that he would never do that.  He did also mention to rub olive oil occasionally on the wires (making sire to avoid capsules and connectors) to keep them flexible for a longer period of time and avoid cracking.  Make up your own mind on how you clean your mics, but this came from the mouth of the guy who repairs them for a living.

Yeah I would never put oil on a cable. The best way to clean cables is to NOT get them dirty and NOT to use TAPE on them. But if you have to clean them some hand soap and water works for me. Or just water. But again not crazy amounts just a bit on a cloth to make it damp, You have to be very careful tugging on these or any lav cables.

[Cheesecadet]

So stoked, my 4061s just came back with a clean bill of health from DPA CO.