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Is My CAD E100s Dying???

 
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Adric83
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Joined: 14 Jan 2013
Posts: 37
Location: Vancouver, Canada

PostPosted: Sat Jun 14, 2014 1:23 am    Post subject: Is My CAD E100s Dying??? Reply with quote

Greetings all!
Long time lurker, attempting to get some expert ears on a problem that's just arisen with my beloved CAD E100s.

[For those who TL;DR, There's hissing on my mic. Please listen to linked file and maybe shed some light if you can?]

I bought myself some bulk cable and since I'm not too shabby with a soldering iron, decided to make myself some new audio cables. I swapped out my old cables for my nice new ones and set everything back up. At first, things seemed fine.

After a hefty session of audiobook recording I began the editing process and noticed towards the end of a 90 minute stint in the booth (tiny, tiny under the stairs booth) there were patches of crackle and hiss in the gaps between speaking, and once or twice some pops (not "P" pops).

Started doing some investigating and tracking down everything it could be (was it my new cables? Was it the change to recording on a new computer? USB connection issues from my Focusrite? Old drivers? Bad software?).

Eliminated everything except the microphone. Plugged in an older MXL990 I have and it had none of the issue.

For your listening ears I've linked a file that is heavily boosted audio of my mic left alone in the recording booth.
First is the CAD E100s, then some inserted flat silence, then the MXL990.

https://soundcloud.com/adric83/e110s-mxl990-1

As you can hear, the second mic has none of the hiss and crackle, just the hum of the refrigerator that's too close in my shoebox apartment...

One possibility I read of is that perhaps the extended talking session may have built up humidity in the booth space and caused issue with the capsule? My basement apartment can get humid in the spring/summer, and 90 minutes of talking in the confined space might exacerbate this?

If anyone else has a eureka moment and knows exactly what this issue sounds like or IS, pleeeeeease please let me know.
I've emailed CAD but one of the fellows is out of the office and then off to some convention... so I don't know when I'll hear back.

I'm almost resigned to having to send this off to service, which is a bummer as it's my primary mic.

Hoping someone can help me, I'd appreciate it. I always come here to get the brains trust's opinions on gear and it's always enlightening (have I buttered you all up enough yet? Wink

Thanks in advance.

- Bill
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vkuehn
DC


Joined: 24 Apr 2013
Posts: 688
Location: Vernon now calls Wisconsin home

PostPosted: Sat Jun 14, 2014 5:00 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Can you take the mic to another studio and let it record plugged in somewhere else? What you have demonstrated with this recording does seem to point to the mic as the problem....
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Adric83
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Joined: 14 Jan 2013
Posts: 37
Location: Vancouver, Canada

PostPosted: Sat Jun 14, 2014 8:46 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

I can take it to my agency this coming week and use their whisper room to make absolutely sure.
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Andy
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Joined: 12 Mar 2012
Posts: 41
Location: Washington DC

PostPosted: Tue Jun 17, 2014 12:55 pm    Post subject: Same Reply with quote

I have a E100s ad loved it except for there came a point whee I too would get the occasional "electric buzz". ONLY that mic and never popped up anywhere else so. I quit using it. Got a Lewitt LCT 640 and love it and have not had the problem again.

My buzz didnt sound as "bad" as yours did in the sample but it was there as well. Find a nice plot in the backyard and prepare the wake for the mic...unless it under warranty,
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Adric83
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Joined: 14 Jan 2013
Posts: 37
Location: Vancouver, Canada

PostPosted: Tue Jun 17, 2014 4:20 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I was preparing myself for the wake, as I had purchased it from eBay (brand new, but still) and was not sure that CAD would be prepared to do it under warranty, but I emailed them and they were fine with it, shout out and hats off to them for that, I've had companies refuse on the grounds that eBay is not a "store"...

So I packed the little gremlin up and sent if off express post yesterday, I need it back, it's my current fav!
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Frank F
Fat, Old, and Sassy


Joined: 10 Nov 2004
Posts: 4421
Location: Park City, Utah

PostPosted: Tue Jun 17, 2014 4:33 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Check the X:R connection on the mic. Maker sure ti it seated properly and making a tight connection. To do this properly you will need to disassemble the mic to get to the XLR connector, clean the area with a Q tip and alcohol, check solder connections, make sure it makes a tight fit with the female end, and re-assemble the mic.

The other option for the occurrence is bad capacitors. Since you are handy with a soldering iron, replace all capacitors with metal or poly styrene capacitors at the same value, replace all resistors with metal at the same value.

Good luck.

Frank F
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Adric83
Contributor


Joined: 14 Jan 2013
Posts: 37
Location: Vancouver, Canada

PostPosted: Tue Jun 17, 2014 6:13 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Good advice Frank!
This time CAD is happy to fix under warranty, but should this happen again at a crucial time where I can't afford to be without that mic for more than a week or two, or once warranty runs out (and let's face it, that's EXACTLY when the worst problems happen... right?) I'll get to that detective/dissection work.

I love this forum, people who are tech and audio minded with specificity for VOICE OVER, so rare on any other tech forum.

- Bill
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Adric83
Contributor


Joined: 14 Jan 2013
Posts: 37
Location: Vancouver, Canada

PostPosted: Tue Jun 24, 2014 7:57 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Just wanted to give anyone reading this an update:

I sent the microphone to be serviced last Monday, and it arrived in their offices Friday afternoon according to the tracking.

I get home from some errands today (the following Tuesday) and my serviced (and working just fine!) E100S is waiting for me!

I just have to tip my hat to the folks at CAD, as this is EXTREMELY quick turnaround, to have received it on Friday in Ohio, and then have it back to me Tuesday afternoon in Canada.

LOVE it when customer service works out like this.
Just waiting on an email reply where I asked if the cause of the issue was something silly on my end or if it was just a freak occurrence.

- Bill
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Lance Blair
M&M


Joined: 03 Jun 2007
Posts: 2279
Location: Atlanta

PostPosted: Wed Jun 25, 2014 3:41 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Happy for you, and happy to hear that they are responding that quickly!
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and now, http://lanceblairvo.com the blog is there now too!
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Adric83
Contributor


Joined: 14 Jan 2013
Posts: 37
Location: Vancouver, Canada

PostPosted: Wed Jun 25, 2014 7:29 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Lance - Absolutely, I couldn't be happier with how quickly they turned this around, it says to me that they're aware they deal with professionals who need this stuff to work. Very impressed.

Turns out it was component failure, a bad capacitor is what they likely said (Frank nailed it!)
They replaced the entire circuit board since it was under warranty. Next time it happens, if it's out of warranty, I know what I need to do! *twirls soldering iron*

- Bill
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