SOUND ON SOUND

[tommytime]

I am pulling my hair out..... At first I thought this was some sort of connection issue but after trying out 2 other condenser mics I'm starting to think it's the mic itself, however I'm not familiar enough with this sort of gear to know if a mic can cause this sort of sound.

Can a bad condenser mic make this sound?:

https://www.dropbox.com/s/6o4b2ba7jltho ... 1.WAV?dl=0

T

[CS70]

Oh yes. Sounds like an intermittent solder issue, possibly the XLR connector. It's the same sound you may get when you plug in or out a jack.

But I know nothing of electronics, so could be anything. But definitely broken.

[Hugh Robjohns]

To me, that sounds like a form of self-oscillation, often called 'motor-boating' because of the sound's resemblance to a motor-boat engine. It's a fault of the electronics which could be caused by, for example, a power supply voltage that's too low, or by a failed component.

However, the NTG-3 uses an unusual electronic arrangement called RF-bias where the capsule acts as the tuning element of a radio frequency oscillator, and a second stage of electronics acts as a radio signal demodulator. If those two stages go out of alignment with each other (sometimes through the mic being dropped!) you can get problems like this... External RF interference can also sometimes cause issues along these lines.

So, the first thing I'd do is check the mic on a different recorder/mixer/preamp to make sure it's not related to the phantom power supply of your normal source.

I'd also make sure the mic (and all cables) are no where near any functional radio mic transmitters/receivers and, ideally, well away from digital recorders and interfaces too.

If it's still making these nasty noises, then you'll need to return it to your Rode service agent for repair.