Do you clean your mic membranes?

[Gswitz]

Seems like a stretch but I'm curious. 

Do you A/B your own mics?

[Glenn Stanton]

this seems like a very personal question to be asking in a public forum 😉 LOL

yes, i do check and pediodically clean the membranes (on my microphones). probably 12-15 years ago i read that spit and other things on the mic capsule can reduce response as well as cause noise, so i've been checking and gently cleaning - distilled water with very soft cotton pad after brushing (very soft paint brush) any dust and particles... i usually use a very low power vacuum for "dusting" the mesh on a couple of mics i have on stands all the time, and also my headphones (and cleaning any gunk of my IEM pair). for live performanc mics, i also take of the mesh and any foam windsceening and give them a good cleaning with mild soap and water and dry  throughly.

A/B - meaning seeing which mic is best sounding for a given source? most times no, but vocals i may have 3-4 mics initially closely set up to do some tests and record them all (just in case the test is the final one... 🙂 ) then scale those to 1-2 once i know which ones are best for the vocals.

Edited April 1 by Glenn Stanton

[Gswitz]

Ty, Glenn. 

I guess I'll give it a try. Thanks for answering me. 

[jesse g]

I am not that adventurous to take apart my condensor mics, but good luck to you if you do! 😁

[Glenn Stanton]

20 minutes ago, jesse g said:

I am not that adventurous to take apart my condensor mics, but good luck to you if you do! 😁

don't be a wuss! it's not any more dangerous than BASE-jumping  in L.A. 🙂 lol

my first time: i bought a "not-working" MXL v67 off ebay and was going to use the shell for a clone project, when i opened it, i found a broken wire and the capsule was dirty. so reconnected the wire, cleaned the capsule, and voila, a working mic. after that, one of my regular mics was sounding weird - cleaned it, again it worked out. did it to a few dynamic mics (SM57 and SM58) - nice and clean.  so yeah, it's a bit scary at first but after you've done it a few times and also gotten all your repair manuals so you know how to properly open them (sennheiser, i'm looking at you!) it's fairly safe and the mics seem to enjoy it 😉 

Edited April 3 by Glenn Stanton

[Gswitz]

Success. It wasn't gross but it was dirty. Looked new when I was done and sounds great now. 

 

[TheSteven]

On 4/1/2024 at 9:21 AM, Glenn Stanton said:

this seems like a very personal question to be asking in a public forum 😉 LOL

yes, i do check and pediodically clean the membranes (on my microphones). probably 12-15 years ago i read that spit and other things on the mic capsule can reduce response as well as cause noise, so i've been checking and gently cleaning - distilled water with very soft cotton pad after brushing (very soft paint brush) any dust and particles... i usually use a very low power vacuum for "dusting" the mesh on a couple of mics i have on stands all the time, and also my headphones (and cleaning any gunk of my IEM pair). for live performanc mics, i also take of the mesh and any foam windsceening and give them a good cleaning with mild soap and water and dry  throughly.

You've got to judge what you're dealing with - type of mic, age, it's value and how likely it is that your cleaning will improve things.

In general I'm much more comfortable cleaning up or repairing a dynamic mic than other types. 

• Old foam degrades - washing the foam portion of windscreen on a vintage mic may cause it to disintegrate or stiffen up altering the sound.
• Extreme care must be taken when doing maintenance on a ribbon mic - you cannot touch the ribbon without altering it; canned air or a vacuum can deform or destroy the ribbon. Getting the ribbon wet will deform it. 
• Condenser mics - I've cleaned the grill cages/mesh sometimes just to remove odors, but unless the mic capsule looks filthy I generally refrain from using anything other than a very soft paint brush to dust it. If you damage the diaphragm of a vintage mic, even if you can replace it, it'll never sound the same.