of the ribbon. The best prevention is to keep the microphone covered
with the supplied plastic bag when it is not in use.
Under no circumstances should you disassemble and take the grill off of
the microphone as this could allow tramp iron to enter the narrow gap
between the ribbon and the pole pieces. Disassembling the microphone
will VOID your warranty.
Microphone Positioning
The shock-mounted clip that is supplied with the N8 microphone
was designed to keep structure-borne noise transmitted through the
microphone stand away from the low-tuned ribbon transducer. For the
shock mount to function as intended and to avoid vibration entering
the microphone through its attached cable, it is important to tie the
microphone cable to the microphone stand in a loop with a cable tie,
shoelace or string.
Magnetic Stray Fields
Ribbon microphones are fundamentally prone to picking up strong
external magnetic fields caused by light dimmers or nearby power
transformers. Guitar players will know this phenomenon from single-coil
pickups. Even though much attention was paid to suppressing such
sensitivity to external magnetic fields in the design of the N8, it is still
possible that you might encounter this problem. If you should pick up
a hum, try rotating or moving the microphone to find a spot where the
hum disappears, and try eliminating potential sources of stray magnetic
fields. You can use the microphone to find where hum is originating.
Rotate the mic for maximum interference and move it back and forth to
sense its direction.
The high-performance magnets used in the KU4 and R44 are incredibly
strong, and a significant amount of stray magnetic field lines surround
the microphone. Avoid placing the microphone in close proximity
to hard drives, credit cards, analog tape, or any other magnetically
sensitive items to prevent any data loss. These classic ribbon mics were
designed for maximum performance in professional environments with
well-trained technicians.
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