ECM8000 gone bad??

[Drudge]

Hello,

Has anybody ever had a bad ECM8000 mic?Yesterday I was calibrating my channel levels with the SPL meter built into the DEQ2496(I have 3 of them).Everything was going smooth when I went to do second check all of the sudden the readings were slowly decreasing to -10 to -30 dB in level for each channel


I plugged the mic into all 3 DEQ's and all were having the SPL problem.The VU peak meters however are all still showing the correct signal levels for 75db on my system.The pink noise coming from the VE disc is still audibly at the same loudness level.

One other thing I noticed is that when everything was working correctly I could snap my fingers in the room and get a noticeable spike in the SPL reading now it is much less significant.The noise reading for the room is also reading lower than normal as well.

I don't know what is going on

[tonyvdb]

Sounds like a problem with your Phantom power to the ECM8000, How are you powering the mic? with a battery or using the Phantom power from a mixer?

[Drudge]

The phantom power is 15v from the behringer DEQ2496 and I checked the menu and made sure the 15v indicator was on and it was working when I started the spl measurements then when I did a second check the measurements where all off in dB level from the initial 75dB

I could see 1 DEQ going out but all 3 are showing the same results that's why I think it might be the mic.

[tonyvdb]

Drudge wrote:

I could see 1 DEQ going out but all 3 are showing the same results that's why I think it might be the mic.

Did you try a different cord?

[Drudge]

Well I tried again tonight and wouldn't you know everything was fine,until about 15 minutes later and bingo the problem is back.

The sensitivity seems to decrease, as when I started everything was right at 75dB then 15 minutes later 73 then 72 and 71 and so on as time goes on.Even sounds that I was making when I started such as clapping,whistling and snapping now read lower just like the pink noise.I plugged the mic into the other 2 units and the same result.


I don't have another XLR cable to try.Do you think a cable could cause that problem??

[brucek]

Try another cable or plug the mic directly into the DEQ's back panel without a cable...

[Drudge]

Why didn't I think of that

I'll try that later.

[Drudge]

Well I just finished testing the mic connected directly to the DEQ and connected with the cable.I took a handheld radio and let it play static and placed it near the mic.Everything looked normal for both direct connection and mic cable connection.After about an hour the dB level on the spl meter was down about 18dB from when I started regardless of which connection!

So the cable doesn't appear to be the problem.I also checked all settings on the equipment trim controls,connections and I performed level checks with Video Essentials about 15 times and all the VU and peak meters on the DEQ's are all hitting on the money on levels that they were correctly set at every time.


It looks like I'm going to need to order a new mic which stinks because I never expected I would have to replace it.


I'm glad it doesn't seem to be a problem with my equipment though.

[Drudge]

Well I have a new mic and finally got around to using it and everything works fine now.So the problem has now been confirmed as a bad microphone.

However I now wonder about the longevity of my DEQ's.



Thanks for the help!!