I think I horked my mic and I need your opinion
 

Ive got an Audio Technica AT835b shotgun mic that I think I may have done something bad to, but I just don't know how or what.

It used to be fine, but lately it seems to have much lower output. If I just run it on phantom power from my Mackie micro 1202 mixer, I have to crank the gain way up on both the trim and channel gain... creating lots of noise. If I use it on battery, the noise seems lower, but still needs a lot of gain again making it noisy.

If I have a battery in it and turn the phantom power on, the output is much higher and I can turn the gains down and get an acceptable level.

I don't think theres anything wrong with the mixer as this is pretty constant across all 4 mic inputs, and my ES943C Lav sounds fantastic on it (to my ears anyways!).

Also, the output is significantly lower with the low cut switch on as opposed to off. Seems a lot noisier as well with the cut switch on.


Any ideas as to either what could be wrong, or what I did? I've never plugged or unplugged it with the phantom on (or even the mixer on for that matter). I haven't dropped it or baked it or blown it up... I just don't know what happened.

--Andy P

I don't know if this is the problem, but check the screws on your mic. One day my AT4053 started acting up, and it turned out that two of the screws on the mic had worked their way loose and fallen out (weird but true). Called Audio Technica and they sent replacements free of charge.

Some electret condensers are designed to need a battery installed (even if it's dead) to complete the conductive patch properly. If it works with a battery installed, you're fine.

Read the directions that came with the mic or call AT in Ohio for more info.

Regards,

Ty Ford

Well, I don't have the original manual, as I'm not the first owner. I looked at the spec sheet on the AT website and it said specifically that there does not need to be a battery in the mic for phantom to work.

I dunno, it's strange. I'll drop them a line and see what they have to say about it.

Also, I checked the screws...all tight. I was hoping that's all it was though! =)

Thanks a lot everyone. If theres any more insight, I'm more than happy to listen and absorb!

--Andy P