cold temperature microphone storage / usage ?

Randall_Oelerich

Randall_Oelerich

Veteran
So I loaned my friend my RODE NTG-2 shotgun condenser microphone this past weekend, he left it out in his van and the temp got down to 30F, should I be worried? What is the operating temperature range for microphones normally, what sort of cold can they withstand without damage? How would I test my microphone to know if there is damage (obviously I record something, but what do I look for in the audio waveform to know if there is damage?)? I should think microphones can withstand some cold, otherwise how could they be used for recording actors in winter scenes with snow, etc?

ADDENDUM: I just talked by phone with RODE tech support USA, (fast answer, human answers the phone, nice guy in southern California), amazing in these days of support that is subcontracted to other parts of the world). Well, USA tech support did not even know the answer to the cold temp question, other than that they have never been contacted on this before-- a good sign, suggesting that cold temp may not be an issue. But the tech support person is going to contact Australia (RODE main headquarters) and find out the answer from their engineers and get back to me later today or tomorrow with a definitive answer. He said the more critical issue is humidity, potentially rusting the metal casing, inner electronics. But even if the mic is damaged from cold he said they have my back covered since the mic has a ten year warranty that would even cover cold exposure damage, good to know. I asked about testing the mic, he said just to first see if it even records (Powers up), then listen for cracks/pops/etc e.g. if just recording room tone or whatever (I think I could even look at a room tone .wav waveform file and look for abberations).
 
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I've used mics in much colder temps than that. My guess is that you should be fine.

Although I would also think twice about lending gear to a guy who would leave it out in his van :beer:
 
my MKH60 is workable up to -20c (dont know anything about farenheit, i'm afraid!), but the main thing to watch out for is moving it from one temperature extreme to the other, as this can potentially create moisture which can be a really serious problem
 
So what would be a good way to handle bringing a microphone in from -20F or -30F (it gets that cold up here in Duluth MN in winter) into the house? How about sealing it up in a plastic ZipLock type sandwich bag, scrunch out all the air, bring it inside, let it warm up before opening the bag? Maybe find some dessicator sacs like come shipped with some items, keep those in the bag

I would also think at extreme cold the diaphram or whatever inside the mic would become more brittle, making it more susceptible to damage if jarred until it is warmed up?
 
Heard back from RODE engineers in Australia, they emphasized the same thing (going from cold to warm is the biggest threat-- condensation and rust on components). They said they store mics up to -10 Celcius with no problems. My question to them actually though has caused them to decide to do some temperature extreme testing, as they admit they have no data on the effect of cold or heat on the microcphones. So they are going to be doing such testing soon to be able to publish temperature operating range specs, etc. :beer:


dugstar said:
my MKH60 is workable up to -20c (dont know anything about farenheit, i'm afraid!), but the main thing to watch out for is moving it from one temperature extreme to the other, as this can potentially create moisture which can be a really serious problem
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