noise with new mic: AKG SE300b+CK98 shotgun

N

NonFiction

Active member
Howdy,
A few months ago I bought an AKG two mic setup... the SE300 powering unit along with the CK93 Hypercardioid capsule, and CK98 shotgun capsule. I've only used the hypercardioid, and found it to be great.

But the shotgun, while it sounds pretty darn good to me, is also a bit wobbly in its fit into the power unit. Not a problem, except that the wobble translates into electrical pops in the signal. Obviously not good.

Now, I can get around this by taping the thing together or coming up with some other mechanical solution, but I'd rather not lessen the modular usability of the system in this way. So my question is, for anyone else using this mic setup, is your shotgun unit noisy? Do I just need to learn to handle it more smoothly? Or should I send it back?

Next question for this mic: is there a good solution for shockmount/sound zeppelin that will work for both the hyper and the shotgun? Currently I use a K-Tek small shock mount, with no wind protection. Going to be doing some outdoor shooting where I'm certain wind will be a problem. I'd love to buy just one system that's adaptable to both short and long mics. Does it exist?

Thanks!
 
It should not be a surprise to you that you don't have many responses to your questions. I'm sure you are aware that the AKG Blue Line series is not hugely popular in the industry. Certainly not as popular as the Sennheisers/Schoeps/Sankens that dominate the industry. It may take a while for you to get responses on this, but they will come.
 
Hi

Just caught your post. We use the AKG blue line series, including both the 93 and 98 caps.

The 98 should definitely NOT be loose fitting on the 300b. :Drogar-Shock(DBG):

One possible issue we have seen is when the bayonet mount on the end of the 98 becomes loose in the barrel. If you look at the 98 bayonet mount end on, you'll see 3 small holes around the perimeter. These are fittings for a special wrench used to tighten the locking ring which holds the bayonet mount in the barrel.

Jewelers have this type of wrench (I forget the name), or you can use a pair of sharp pointed objects (drywall screws worked for us) to tighten the ring. If it's very loose, slowly turn the bayonet fitting while lightly pressing in until you feel it catch in its locking dogs, then hold in this position while tightening the collar. (It helps if you can grow 3 additional hands for this procedure) The internal connection is a post and pivot, so you won't be twisting any wires in the process.

To answer your other question, we use a rycote baby ball gag and windjammer
fur when necesary on the 93's, the 98's live in Rycote softies. It totally sucks these things are so expensive but they really do the job. We also use K-tek mounts to hold 'em up. The new K-tek zep may be a one shot solution - be sure to tell all if it works.

It should not be a surprise to you that you don't have many responses to your questions. I'm sure you are aware that the AKG Blue Line series is not hugely popular in the industry. Certainly not as popular as the Sennheisers/Schoeps/Sankens that dominate the industry. It may take a while for you to get responses on this, but they will come.
Click to expand...
It's very true that these mic's are not as prevalent among small indie productions as some mentioned here but rest assured they're well known on many a sound stage. We chose the blue line system and kit after a lot of research on this forum and elsewhere and couldn't be more pleased. You've got the start of an excellent kit.

Best wishes and good luck.
 
The BlueLine hyper is amazing, the shotgun is decent but not of the same league as a $550-1000 shotgun.

My local audio hire place has several 'dozen' blueline hypers that they use for orchestras, etc.

Not read your post properly, but it def shouldn't be loose, let alone making pops/noises due to being loose ... !
 
thanks for the replies, particularly pixelated! I'll look into the looseness situation to see if it's fixable that way. In brief examination, it looked like it was just too small a bayonet fitting for the amount of relative leverage of the long capsule. No matter, I should be able to get it quiet or get it fixed.

Cheers!
 
Hooray for pixelated! Tightened down the ring using a fancy ring spanner (aka "paper clip"), and now what I have is a mic that sounds like a mic.

Man, I love the internet, and dvxuser.com!

Thank you!
 
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