Problems with the pins in Shure mics. Is it just us? What to do?

Marsellus Fariss

Marsellus Fariss

Sophomore
Oct 25, 2011
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We're constantly having problems with the pins in Shure mics intermittently disconnecting during performances causing drop outs or pops in the case of condensers. It happens with old mics and new mics. With 58's, beta 58's, beta 91a's, and beta 87's especially are the worst offenders. Being a club we've got lots of different age cabling with different brand XLR ends around. Most of our ends are EWI, Orange County Speaker but we've got some Neutrik, Amphenol, Switchcraft, Whirlwind you name it we have line with that brand of end and yet I can't find an end that solves this problem across the board. It happens with our mics and bands mic packages. The poor BE of one well known act had to go through a whole box of line to find one for his star vocalists beta 87 right before show time during change over. And their mics where brand new. Yet a week earlier a different very active vocalist's beta 87 had no problem at all even whilst being yanked around quite a lot.

Ive just got a box of Neutrik NC3FX ends and I'm going to put them on a bunch of our line and cross my fingers. I really don't know what else to try. We've got some NC3FX ends around now that don't solve the problem but their maybe a little old.

Thoughts?
 
Re: Problems with the pins in Shure mics. Is it just us? What to do?

I use all switchcraft connectors and never have run into this issue. I've seen it happen with super cheap connectors, or worn and dirty connectors, but none of those types of cables are allowed in my inventory.
 
Re: Problems with the pins in Shure mics. Is it just us? What to do?

Since we swapped over to Switchcraft female connectors, we don't have any more issues with phantom power pops. Don't know why but you are exactly right...a Beta 87 has never had good luck with a Neutrik connector in our experience. If you swap out the cable for a Switchcraft you can use it all day with no issues.
 
Re: Problems with the pins in Shure mics. Is it just us? What to do?

Worn connectors from any company can have this problem. I've never had problems with connectors that were in decent shape. We're mostly Neutrik here with a smattering of Switchcraft.
 
Re: Problems with the pins in Shure mics. Is it just us? What to do?

Tim Woodworth said:
Since we swapped over to Switchcraft female connectors, we don't have any more issues with phantom power pops. Don't know why but you are exactly right...a Beta 87 has never had good luck with a Neutrik connector in our experience. If you swap out the cable for a Switchcraft you can use it all day with no issues.
Click to expand...


Which Switchcraft end do you use?
 
Re: Problems with the pins in Shure mics. Is it just us? What to do?

Marsellus Fariss said:
Which Switchcraft end do you use?
Click to expand...
I generally use Switchcraft A3F and seldom have had any problems until they physically wear out, which takes thousands of shows.

Crap female connectors with worn plating will dirty up male contacts, check your mics for oxidized pin contacts, if they don't look shiny use a pencil eraser to clean them up.
 
Re: Problems with the pins in Shure mics. Is it just us? What to do?

Have you ever heard of using a bit of mineral oil on contacts? It works.
 
Re: Problems with the pins in Shure mics. Is it just us? What to do?

Are you actually having problems with the pins or are you saying that the female xlr connector on the cable is coming unplugged from the mic?
 
Re: Problems with the pins in Shure mics. Is it just us? What to do?

I've had exactly the same problems with my 87's. All my stage tech's know to never use a Neutrik female XLR on an 87. They don't seem to connect securely and in the case of condensers this can be a real problem. Switchcraft XLR's connect tight and never seem to have this problem.

-Mark
 
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Re: Problems with the pins in Shure mics. Is it just us? What to do?

Mark Oakley said:
I've had exactly the same problems with my 87's. All my stage tech's know to never use a Neutrik female XLR on an 87. They don't seem to connect securely and in the case of
condensers this can be a real problem.

-Mark
Click to expand...

From the title of this thread one would think that the pins in the xlr are supposed to keep the mic cable connected to the mic, that is not how it works.

The latch on the female xlr on the end of the mic cable is what holds the connecter in place. Some of the Neutrik female xlr connectors have a rubber o-ring on them that makes it a very tight fit. If you don’t really make sure it is properly latched it will let go.

There is an easy test to see if the pins in the female XLR are a problem. Take a male XLR apart and just use the part with the 3 pins on it. Doing one pin at a time turn it so you are only plugging in one pin into the female XLR. Or you could cut apart the male xlr so you have just one pin all by itself. When you plug it in to the different pins on the female the should all have some feeling of resistance, if it feels very loose then that female xlr is bad.

I have some very old cables and have tested them this way and even after all of these years and all of the use they have gotten they are still tight.

So do you have loose pins or loose latches????
 
Re: Problems with the pins in Shure mics. Is it just us? What to do?

Kevin Maxwell said:
So do you have loose pins or loose latches????
Click to expand...

I think they were talking about the same issue we've had with 87's. They cable stays plugged in (apparently securely - not a latch problem), but the actual "electrical" connection is obviously not as good as it should be. Normal handling of the mic causes random loud pops.

I've run into the exact same problem on several Beta87's (owned by different venues), as well as one SM86. As far as I recall, all of the cables had Neutrik connectors (some were brand new cables). I've given up on the two 87's we have for this reason. Never even occurred to me to try a Switchcraft on them. Might have to try that next week...

Never noticed an issue on any 57's, 58's, etc. Maybe it's just not obvious as there is no phantom power to get "interrupted".
 
Re: Problems with the pins in Shure mics. Is it just us? What to do?

Rainer Halonen said:
I think they were talking about the same issue we've had with 87's. They cable stays plugged in (apparently securely - not a latch problem), but the actual "electrical" connection is obviously not as good as it should be. Normal handling of the mic causes random loud pops.

I've run into the exact same problem on several Beta87's (owned by different venues), as well as one SM86. As far as I recall, all of the cables had Neutrik connectors (some were brand new cables). I've given up on the two 87's we have for this reason. Never even occurred to me to try a Switchcraft on them. Might have to try that next week...

Never noticed an issue on any 57's, 58's, etc. Maybe it's just not obvious as there is no phantom power to get "interrupted".
Click to expand...

This!

Beta 87's are the worst offenders we've run across however sometimes when people start to man handle 58's and beta 58's off the stand we'll have intermittent dropouts from the pins disconnecting. Also had our Beta 91a click and pop inside the kick and had to swap cables several times to find an end that behaved. This has not been a problem with AT's or Audix or Senn's that we have.

Neutrik NC3FX's are going on in the next few days and perhaps I'll add a few Switchcrafts on as well though I'm not a fan of working with them. But whatever works!

Is mineral oil the best way of cleaning ends? Is it worth it to deoxit everything?
 
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Re: Problems with the pins in Shure mics. Is it just us? What to do?

Well this brings us back to the question: what is actually causing it? Bad connectors on the cable? The mic? Whose fault does it end up being; Neutrik or Shure? IIRC there is a standard for the size of XLR pins, cables, connectors etc. Shouldn't be too hard to determine who is slacking off.
 
Re: Problems with the pins in Shure mics. Is it just us? What to do?

The SM87s have a pin problem but you are looking at the wrong end. It is up at the capsule, it is suspended on 3 rubber suspension pieces inside the windscreen. There are 2 wires that go to the capsule they usually have a dab of silicon on them to keep them in place but it can work loose. I actually think one of the wires is soldered to the capsule and the pin is on the body and the other wire is soldered to the body and the pin is on the capsule. Sometimes you can just gently plug them back in sometimes it requires more talent to fix them. Be careful pulling this apart, you can break things very easily unless you know how to work on this kind of stuff. I don’t know if the Beta version is constructed the same way.

If you try my male pin trick I mentioned in my other post in this thread it will tell you if the female xlr is too loose to continue using.
 
Re: Problems with the pins in Shure mics. Is it just us? What to do?

Kevin Maxwell said:
The SM87s have a pin problem but you are looking at the wrong end. It is up at the capsule, it is suspended on 3 rubber suspension pieces inside the windscreen. There are 2 wires that go to the capsule they usually have a dab of silicon on them to keep them in place but it can work loose. I actually think one of the wires is soldered to the capsule and the pin is on the body and the other wire is soldered to the body and the pin is on the capsule. Sometimes you can just gently plug them back in sometimes it requires more talent to fix them. Be careful pulling this apart, you can break things very easily unless you know how to work on this kind of stuff. I don’t know if the Beta version is constructed the same way.

If you try my male pin trick I mentioned in my other post in this thread it will tell you if the female xlr is too loose to continue using.
Click to expand...


Thats a nifty trick! The male pin piece will forever be in my bag of tools! I'll have a look at our Beta 87's for the problem you described.
 
Re: Problems with the pins in Shure mics. Is it just us? What to do?

Kevin Maxwell said:
The SM87s have a pin problem but you are looking at the wrong end. It is up at the capsule, it is suspended on 3 rubber suspension pieces inside the windscreen. There are 2 wires that go to the capsule they usually have a dab of silicon on them to keep them in place but it can work loose. I actually think one of the wires is soldered to the capsule and the pin is on the body and the other wire is soldered to the body and the pin is on the capsule. Sometimes you can just gently plug them back in sometimes it requires more talent to fix them. Be careful pulling this apart, you can break things very easily unless you know how to work on this kind of stuff. I don’t know if the Beta version is constructed the same way.

If you try my male pin trick I mentioned in my other post in this thread it will tell you if the female xlr is too loose to continue using.
Click to expand...

There is another problem with 87. The back of XLR where you normally make the solder connection has a pin/socket assembly which comes loose. You can tighten up contacts but its really a design fault and they will over time come loose again.
 
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Re: Problems with the pins in Shure mics. Is it just us? What to do?

Peter Morris said:
There is another problem with 87. The back of XLR where you normally make the solder connection has a pin/socket assembly which comes loose. You can tighten up contacts but its really a design fault and they will over time come loose again.
Click to expand...

That's actually where I originally thought the problem was as well - which is why I had given up on them. This series of posts made me start to reconsider that theory. Now your post made me think the two might be related..

Maybe the connection inside the microphone really is the problem (where the actual "poor contact" happens), but somehow the Switchcraft connector keeps that end piece inside the microphone body from flexing/moving as much as it might with other connectors.

I don't think that it's actually the XLR pins that are "disconnecting", but maybe, somehow, the connector being used affects the connection inside the mic.

Will need to do some experimenting.
 
Re: Problems with the pins in Shure mics. Is it just us? What to do?

So I tested and/or replaced the female ends (again) on all our mic line with Neutrik NC3FX ends a few weeks back. What I discovered in testing the ends using Kevin's technique was that any female end with even marginally loose contacts inside its sockets cause a problem with these several types of mics. So far the problematic mics have been Shure Beta 87's (shocker) and AT condensers using the mini XLR to regular XLR cabling and preamps modules. While I did find some of our line had worn out ends, not many of them where totally shot and most of them had ends with only marginal loose contacts.

I think its a crap situation that many brands of ends will wear out and cause these types of problems within a year or two of being bought new with these mics and I expect those mic manufacturers could help us out a little. We'll see if Neutrik ends last longer then all the other brands I've used n the past. What's a definite is that these problematic mics are not going to stop showing up.


Sent from my iPad
 
Re: Problems with the pins in Shure mics. Is it just us? What to do?

As far as the extra pin socket assembly in the beta 87's I inspected mine and while I can see it causing problems that's not the issue here.


Sent from my iPad
 
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