Oily Appearance and Magnetic(?) Particles on MD46 Mic Capsule

[jjmolli214]

Can someone offer an opinion on whether the shiny/oily appearance of this MD46 mic capsule is normal? Also, are the tiny (magnetic?) particles which appear to be clinging to the capsule normal? I'm considering buying this one.

[Alex H.]

Is that a picture you took, or one posted by an online seller? In other words, have you personally held and looked at this mic?

Those particles look, to me, like the foam inside the wind screen might have started to shed a bit.

[jjmolli214]

Thanks for the reply. That is a picture that the seller posted. I have not personally inspected/held the mic.

[nutmegger]

I have a MD46 that has had extensive outdoor use for the past 10+ years. After reading this post I screwed off the capsule cover for the first time and noticed a bit of oil where the capsule is inserted in the handle and what appeared to be dust particles on the capsule. However, the mic seems to be working normally. Have not experienced any problems with MD46 so far, knock on wood.

[jjmolli214]

Thanks nutmegger for taking the time to check your MD46 for comparison. I ended up buying a different one which I received yesterday. It is spotless under the basket with a trace of oil on the threads. I upgraded from a Rode reporter, I am just blown away by the difference in sensitivity, build and sound quality.

[nutmegger]

Thanks nutmegger for taking the time to check your MD46 for comparison. I ended up buying a different one which I received yesterday. It is spotless under the basket with a trace of oil on the threads. I upgraded from a Rode reporter, I am just blown away by the difference in sensitivity, build and sound quality.

Glad you found a MD46 in good shape. The MD46 is my go to mic when shooting interviews at Lime Rock Park’s racing events www.limerock.com . NBC asked Sennheiser to design an interview mic for the 2000 summer Olympics that was good at minimizing background noise. The MD46 is the result. Works as advertised. Enjoy.

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[jjmolli214]

Wow that thing sure looks battle worn. We used to go to Lime Rock every Memorial day weekend for the IMSA race in the late 80’s - early 90’s. I was there the day John Morton flipped the Nissan GTP car at the uphill. Didn’t see it happen but saw what was left of the car when they brought it back to the pits. It is such a beautiful track!

[paulears]

I suspect the particles are just from the foam in the basket. I've had it happen on one 845. The foam has crumbled and is very brittle. No idea why as none of the others bought at the same time have done this. I wonder if somebody sprayed them with covid spray and it reacted with the foam, and is also where the greasy stuff came from?

[nutmegger]

Wow that thing sure looks battle worn. We used to go to Lime Rock every Memorial day weekend for the IMSA race in the late 80’s - early 90’s. I was there the day John Morton flipped the Nissan GTP car at the uphill. Didn’t see it happen but saw what was left of the car when they brought it back to the pits. It is such a beautiful track!

I agree. Since the track is only 1.53 miles in length, it is easy to shoot from various vantage points. I’ve been fortunate to have seasonal media credentials at Lime Rock for the past 10+ years. My two favorite events at Lime Rock are the Trans Am and Vintage Festival races. Love the roar of the Trans Am cars. I will be there this coming Labor Day weekend for the Historic Vintage Festival races.

[jjmolli214]

I suspect the particles are just from the foam in the basket. I've had it happen on one 845. The foam has crumbled and is very brittle. No idea why as none of the others bought at the same time have done this. I wonder if somebody sprayed them with covid spray and it reacted with the foam, and is also where the greasy stuff came from?

i agree, it’s likely the foam inside the basket breaking down. The greasy kids stuff could be exactly what you said. I’ll have to get some disposable covers and avoid using sprays.

[paulears]

I had a cheap behringer mic and had a rider from a well known UK comedian - covid related. The mic was about six months old and hanging around for an emergency mic, so I brought it home and experimented. On my hands, the pink disinfectant spray evaporated really quickly - so I squirted it on the outside of the mic and wiped with a kitchen paper towel. It left the slightly greasy stuff behind. I squirted it on the inside of the basket to sanitise the foam and next day - the foam was that brittle stiff stuff that crumbled away. I ended up buying two new 58s for the show. Too risky to spray on my mic collection. Maybe I should just have washed it with warm water? But would that have zapped the bugs? One part of me said "you don't breath in from a mic, just out" but I tried putting one on my lips and singing and discovered you DO breath in from the mic, so sanitising really is quite important.

[Run&Gun]

Glad you found a MD46 in good shape. The MD46 is my go to mic when shooting interviews at Lime Rock Park’s racing events www.limerock.com . NBC asked Sennheiser to design an interview mic for the 2000 summer Olympics that was good at minimizing background noise. The MD46 is the result. Works as advertised. Enjoy.

I own five and started using them about 14-15 years ago at the racetrack, because the racetrack is never quite, even when there is no racing or practice going on. Then I started using them for 100% of my stick mic duty, regardless of environment. The only real caveat, you have to “train” the mic monkey or producer to use it properly, because so many have just been used to using omni’s forever, they’ll just get it “in the vicinity” and think that’s good enough.

To protect mine, and help with noise and provide comfort to talent, I used to cover mine with super slim, one-piece racquet handle grips, but the company no longer makes them, so a few years ago, I started spraying, then moved to dipping them in PlastiDip.

I’d post a pic, but the image posting system of the new forum is overly complicated for its purpose and does not seem to want to accept images that are not housed somewhere on the internet, instead of a photo library on a personal device(at least not from an iPad).

[jjmolli214]

If you go to your account, you can upload an image there and then link to it from a message you are posting in the forum.

[Rick R]

OT, the 'new' forum build basically sucks and does not work properly with many browsers. I have not tired on a mac w/ Safari though.

[Run&Gun]

If you go to your account, you can upload an image there and then link to it from a message you are posting in the forum.

Thank you for the tip.

It's just one more thing on the list that makes the new forum software more of a hassle to use and coming here less fun. It's 2021. Things like that should be easier, now, not harder than on the previous version that was probably 10-15 years old.