Shooting myself in the foot would be convenient now, just as a disciplinary action.
 
I bought this Superlux ribbon mic two years ago after reading praising reviews, conserning especialliy the price/quality-ratio. Yesterday I plugged it in for the first time. It sounded really nice and mellow with acoustic guitar (which is what I bought it for). OOPS! I noticed the phantom power is on. Being a jerk, instead of switching off the interface I switched off the phantom power. Phheewwww...Mic went silent. I burned the ribbon.
 
I wonder if there's any chances getting it fixed, a cheap one as it is...

I would imagine the cost of getting it repaired would approach the cost of buying a new one.

Silly boy!!!! What did you do that for????

Here in the "States" there are lots of option for repair. The distributor of the mic ought to be able to help.

You may even find some DIY parts that are available with instructions for repair.


If you have trouble finding local service try Gearslutz. There seems to be lots of great service techs in Northern Europe. You'll be able to get it fixed cheap enough.

The good news is that the ribbon itself is cheap and the repair isn't very hard.

One thing to consider though... the phantom power should not have hurt the ribbon... unless a cable was badly wired, had a loose connection, OR the preamp shot voltage down the wrong wire... the point is, it seems like the preamp must have sent something up the line when you flicked the switch and that's probably not good for your condensers either.

I'd scrutinize the schematic of the preamp and find out what sort of protection it has for that sort of issue.


Good luck.


best regards,
mike

mike_mccue


One thing to consider though... the phantom power should not have hurt the ribbon... unless a cable was badly wired, had a loose connection, OR the preamp shot voltage down the wrong wire... the point is, it seems like the preamp must have sent something up the line when you flicked the switch and that's probably not good for your condensers either.

I'd scrutinize the schematic of the preamp and find out what sort of protection it has for that sort of issue.


Good luck.


best regards,
mike

The interface is E-MU 1820, so quite a proper one, though old.
My explanation is that the main mistake was using the phantom switch instead of turning off the interface.
The mic worked perfectly until I switched PP off. The tiny switch has most likely created a "spark" that had not occurred had I done otherwise. Surely, some sheer bad luck involved. 8 times out of 10 I guess this would not have happened.
 
There's a price on carelesness. Now I'll just have to do without it. Sigh..

The judges have decided that this is the winning entry for this ribbon:

Ok, boys...Now you're allowed to laugh from the bottom of your heart and lungs.
 
It seems, according to my web-search, that this mic has a built in pre-amp requiring phantom power!! At least, I did not find any other Superlux ribbon mic. I didn't find the manual yesterday, so this did not even occur to me.
 
So, when I go home I'll try it again with the phantom on...
 
Am I really this old and stupid??? (The crowd nods passionately)
 
I also found reviews that were a bit on the negative side, but anyways, the mic does fill a gap in my recording equipment.

So it's not broken then?  That's still good news!  Now, if you don't like it you can sell it and get one you DO like.

Is the other foot worried?  I mean, it's next if something else goes wrong.

UbiquitousBubba


Is the other foot worried?  I mean, it's next if something else goes wrong.

Of course not. I'll shoot in the same hole. I'll mess up something before it's healed, anyway.

I've got a condenser mic with the same fault...