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[neve1064]

Mr. Heyne,

    I read the posting guidelines and I will try to be as succinct as I can.  I have pictures and audio clips if they would help. I was told by the factory the serial number denotes it was shipped in May of 1983 to a music store in New York City. There is a number "8" written on both sides of the capsule. I assume this means the capsule was made in 1978 or this capsule is a replacement and was made in 1988.  I acquired the mic in 2004. 

    For a brief fraction of a second, I'm hearing a distortion, scratchy potentiometer turning or if you touch a instrument cable tip while plugged in sound, at the height of certain " S' ". This happens on both sides of the mic. The noise is much stronger on the front side of the mic than the back side, however. And the back side sounds smoother over all even if only just a tad bit so. What's most interesting to me is that it is not the same " S " that causes the distortion noise on the back side as the front. I have been able to replicate this issue on the front side by repeating a certain sung phrase where a long  Bb frequency vowel turns into an " S ".  I tried recording further away from the mic and it was still there but of course lower - the ratio of this noise to my singing is constant. It's like the front side of the mic doesn't like sibilance right after a Bb note.

     Is this issue of sibilance distortion a trademark of something faulty or just the nature of this mic? If the capsule is too dirty or if it has some type of issue would the result be a problem noticeable on both sides of the capsule but slightly different in volume? There is a small flake of gold that came off the front side of the capsules diaphragm and its not spotless clean of dirt and dust but it's not caked-on with grime either.

To temporarily find a better situation, is there a way to disconnect the cables to the capsule, rotate it 180 degrees and reattach it? Swapping the bad side for the better side would be a temporary solution.  I can't record in the omni mode, singing into the back side of the mic because I record at home and I will pick up a lot of ambiance, of course.

Thank you for your time and consideration.



 

[Jim Williams]

Have you tried it into different preamps? You might need to isolate the mic from that set up. Neve-y preamps can sound dirty in the tops as an example.

[klaus]

In a troubleshooting situation as tentative as you describe, nothing beats substitution, one component at a time:

* Change out the U87 capsule head with another: does the peak distortion disappear? Then it's the condition of the capsule. Still the same? Let's move to the next split in the road:

* Change the mic, but use your mic's capsule head. Distortion gone? Then mic amp is the problem (assuming the substituted mic amp has the same gain as yours). Still the same? Then it's either the characteristic of the U87 which doesn't get along with your voice, or it's some kind of mic pre amp distortion, as Jim suggested.

Sound samples are often of little help in a case like yours, as a U87 already is quite pointy in its response in the frequency region you describe. So this may just be a simple case of a bad match between voice and mic.

Let us know your test results!

[neve1064]

Thank you Mr. Williams and Mr. Heyne, for your responses. I will heed both of your directions.  I was unaware, by the way, that Neve pre apms can cause this anomaly to occur in conjunction with the U87.  It just so happens that I am using a original vintage Neve 1064/A mic pre.  First, I will change to a less colorful mic pre and see if this anomaly persists or not. 

Thank you, again.

[klaus]

As a regular Neve 1066/73 user, I must say, it's news to me that these preamps add artifacts that fit the description of the OT.