Scratchy XLR Connector? Here's a free quick fix. Sound Speeds!
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 28 ส.ค. 2024
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Note: Do this at your own risk. Neither Allen Williams or Sound Speeds is responsible for any damage that occurs as a result of your attempting this mod.
If you wear any device that involves panel mount XLR connectors (especially female XLR connectors) and you encounter scratchy XLR connections, you can drive yourself crazy resoldering your connectors every few weeks or you can fix it using this free quick fix.
Note: On the male XLR connector, I recommend bending the pins OUTWARD but should your sound mixer want to mod their own device with female panel mount XLR jack, I recommend bending those pins INWARD. Also, don't mod your mixer's gear without permission or expect to get fired and have to pay to replace it out of pocket if you botch it.
To watch my video on how to properly clean your XLR cables:
• How To Properly Clean ...
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That worked for me on my Mackie cfx 16. I used a small Allen wrench and spread the female holes in the XLR connector outward just a bit. No more scratchy mic. Thanks! Great job!
I went through the usual, changing cables, mic, etc and then plugged in a 1/4 jack mic and I knew the channel was still good. So I went to TH-cam and your video popped up and 5 minutes later, I was good to go! Simple but very effective fix.
Awesome. I'm glad this solution worked.
That was it, thanks. I bent the posts out slightly and it fixed the problem, both on the male output of an sm58, and on the male output of my mixer. Both were having the same problem after years of use.
Sure thing. Glad to help.
Super!!! Did it on a phantom power that caused scratchy noise even if gently touched with the hand. Now the noise is gone. Thanks!
Glad to help!
This issue you describe matched my situation, but DeoxIT solved my problem. It just took a few days of sitting on there and being wiped off and re-applied whenever it crackled for all of the oxidation mess to be wiped off on Q-tips and napkins, but the problem is 100% gone. I then bought some DeoxIT Gold, to hopefully stop it from corroding again, and applied that. I'll come back if this doesn't work out in the end, but a few of my cables are now back to working great with my mic, sans bending.
I love DeOxit. It really is the best and worth every penny.
Great little tip Allen. Literally.
Thank you sir.
Thank you for the XLR fix/tip.
Sure thing. Thanks for watching.
Lol- and here comes the disclaimer. I was just looking for tips on noises when wiggling cables- scratchy... anyway I thought about this but I wasn't sure how typical this method might be... good to go? Same idea as with old light sockets
It's an option mainly when pairing older with newer connectors. It's not as common anymore as they fit better.
Nice video many thanks! What can I do if I get this same scratchy noise on a 1/4” line female connector on an analog mixer say, and I’m sure it’s not coming from the male connector. Cheers! 🙏
Clean it. If it's still scratchy you may need to replace the connector or connections.
My xlr mics have developed this ((I think). It seems to be on the male cable connector where it connects with my xlr Movo mic for hypnosis session recordings that require a mic that picks up quiet whispers from hypnosis clients. I feed both through an interface into my macbook and it seemed great, but I get static and buzzing which can be manipulated by wiggling the connector with the mic. This is a new issue with the mics and they were virtually noise free when I first got them. I thought it might be the cables, but new cables made no difference. Since I now have an extra pair of cables, I’ll test to see if modifying one of them does anything. Thanks for posting this, I’ll post how it works. I put a call into the manufacture since the mics are less than a year old, one only a few months….I suspect it has to do with the fact that I have to set up and break down mics between each session as the room is not secure when I’m not there and they use it for other clients. So, set up and breakdown handling 2-3x per week.
Might also be the interface. The signal flow should be easy to troubleshoot.
@@SoundSpeeds I get change in the sound when I touch, manipulate the connector at the mic end but not the interface end…that’s why I came to that guess. But I will poke with it further. Thanks so much for the reply.
👍
Learned something, thanks!
Sweet!
GREAT TIP. Thanks!
Sure thing!
Hi there, thanks for the info. Would you be able to clarify what you mean by scratcy noises? Is it noise that is coming in from the loose connection or having certain frequencies cut out because of the loose connection? Thanks
Poor connection between two pins. Two conductors barely making contact may cause the volume to pop in with an added snow sound.
I get buzzing, scratching, even popping noises.
Could be any one of a bunch of things.
Excuse my ignorance, but would it be a bad idea to replace the female jack? I’m dealing with a Behringer mixer that I need to run to a power amp for passive speakers, but the connection comes and goes. I need a permanent fix for live applications. (It’s for my son’s garage band, so the budget is an issue).
Replace it with what? I wouldn't recommend anything but an XLR and only then if you're confident in your so I'm soldering skills
@@SoundSpeeds Yes, that’s what I was getting at. A new xlr female jack. I’ve rewired several guitars with new pickups, pots, and jacks, as well as replacing broken jacks on old cabinet speakers. I’m fairly confident I can handle the soldering aspect. I just didn’t know if it would still be a temporary fix, or if getting access to the jacks would be more trouble than it’s worth. I plan on trying your method first, as I have a bunch of xlr cables. (It wouldn’t be a big deal if I messed one up). I’ve just always replaced jacks instead of messing with cables for other applications and wanted to know if it would be a bad idea or not.
Totally. Changing out cables is the first step and ideally get a cable that ground ties the casing to pin 1 on the female end, at least. If it's under warranty, I'd exchange it before opening it up.
So I tried this fix yesterday because my Microphone was picking up only 10% of what it usually picks up. I bent the pins outwards and it didn't seem to help, so then I bent the pins inwards and the signal became stronger but very choppy and distorted. Am I on the right track? Should I keep bending? I am plugging a ksm44 to a Motu mk3 ultralite interface
Distorted? It shouldn't be distorted when the signal is better. Are you sure the mic isn't messed up?
@@SoundSpeeds I think the mic is fine now I'm beginning to think it's one of the inputs of the interface.. I was getting a clear signal and then all of a sudden nothing then after choppy distortion, sorta cycling between these three
Just have a whole bunch of coil cable with these issue !
Yeah, annoying to deal with but a quick and easy fix.
Bending the pin inside the Female connector sound like a horrible idea ! I believe you will be pushing the pin AWAY from the center which is exactly the problem you were talking about... You would want to push the pin inside toward the center (Though, not sure how one would achieve this easily. Bending the male connector slightly might be a ok temporary solution, but that will just force the female connector pin away from it center position. So I would say, once you have bended that male connector to fix a specific issue, DONT use the male connector in ANY other Female XLR connector so you don't accelerate it degradation !
Yeah, we're not talking about bending it much but I feel ya. FWIT, the inside of the female stops just wide enough to cause a connectivity issue but won't cause degradation within the life of the MM1
I’m too immature for this video and these comments 😂
Ok. :-)
thanks for the video I'm gonna try this out
by the way this works for humans too, it's called the g spot. make contact with that that pin y'all! your lady will thank ya!
🤔