JPF Home Page Forums Musician Gear and Techniques Microphone and Vocalist Forum Thoughts on Mic shock mounts

Folks,

I've been looking for good, reasonably priced shock mounts
lately, and want to share a few thoughts.

First, the elastic band (suspension) type shock mounts have
a shortcoming that hopefully you will never suffer from,
but may want to plan for anyhow.

It turns out that in all of the designs I've seen, only one
of the elastic bands is actually holding the weight.

The set up usually has a pair of bands, one above, and one
below. If you hang your mic upside down, which isn't unusual,
and the "wrong" band breaks, the only thing keeping your mic
off of the floor is the mic cable. If you have the mic mounted
upright, and the "wrong" band breaks, there may be nothing
keeping the mic off of the floor!

So, I suggest using a loosely set "zip tie"* to connect the
inner mount (the part connected to the mic) to the
outer mount (the part connected to the mic stand),
just in case.

* those nifty nylon fasteners that are used almost as
universally as duct tape

Second, one type of shock mount is sort of a "sleeve" which
grips the mic by squeezing the body tightly. If your mic
body is conical, or the mic is very heavy, and you hang it
upside down in one of those compression sleeve type shock
mounts, gravity is working mightily against your mic!

If you can find a shock mount that attaches to the base of
the mic, using a large nut, that is a much better solution,
for a conical, or heavy mic, hanging upside down.

HTH,
Emmit Sycamore

Gibraltar makes this shock mount.


I have photos somewhere of a great mic shock mount that has a positive attachement scheme. I'll have to search a couple of other PCs for the photo and hopefully one will have the name of the unit. Expensive, but the mic won't fall out.

I clip or tape the mic cable to the mic stand at several points so that if the elastic breaks or the shock mount fittings become loose and cause the mic to fall off the stand it does not hit the floor.

Some shock mounts are more expensive than some of the bottom end large diaphragm mics...you get what you pay for. There is new generation shock mounts that will fit most sizes of mic but they tend to be expensive.
Here is a link to a couples of universal mounts which are pretty good
http://cgi.ebay.com/Mic-Small-Unive..._DefaultDomain_0&hash=item43a3c533bf

http://cgi.ebay.com/MXL-USM-001-Uni..._DefaultDomain_0&hash=item4aa889794c

OK, here's the mount I referred to:

Enhanced Audio M600.
Mercenary Audio carries them. A bit pricey at $250.00 but you there aren't any bands to break and the microphone ain't gonna fall out.

Last evening I got an idea about an alternate way to rig
the suspension bands on a shock mount. Most have a pair
of bands, one on top, one below.

I tried re-orienting them, left to right, and it worked!

Now, if one band breaks, the other will continue to support
the mic. The mic will be pulled to one side of the mount,
but it won't fall (unless the second band breaks too!).

Still, a loose zip tie between the inner and outer mount,
is very cheap insurance.

I'll post pics when I get a chance.

BTW, here are some excellent shock mounts, for reasonable
prices. Google will help you find the best source.

http://www.samsontech.com/products/partaccview.cfm?partoraccsID=1617

(above is in silver, next below is same, in black)

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/376127-REG/CAD_MZM5_MZM5_Elastic_Suspension_Microphone.html

http://www.samsontech.com/products/partaccview.cfm?partoraccsID=1933

http://www.sterlingaudio.net/products/index.cfm?product=SM4&modId=0

http://www.sterlingaudio.net/products/index.cfm?product=SM7&modId=0

I remove the built in nut for some mics, in order to use
the nuts that come with those mics. Takes about five
minutes, and a little "persuasion" (hint: Vice Grips,
"the wrong tool for every job").

And another type that you might find useful:

http://www.wwbw.com/Musician-s-Gear-Symmetrical-Studio-Microphone-Shock-Mount-271295-i1401049.wwbw


As always, I have no association with the vendors,
my only interest is in sharing info with the Folks.

HTH,
Emmit Sycamore

Check out the Rycote Invision supensions that use their patented Lyre system. Rycote are better known for their woolly windshields used by location sound recordists but several serious engineers that I know are extremely enthusiastic about their suspensions and I understand that they are better than the Neumann shock mounts at around a quarter of the price.

See http://www.rycote.com/products/invision_studio_kit/

for more details.

James.

Looks like an adaptation of the Enhanced Audio shock mount. Very interesting to be sure. I wonder what material the suspension aparatus is made from. I can't find it on the website.

DakLander,

I just ordered some of the Gibralter types you mentioned,
for testing. Quite a bargain, if they work well!

James,

The Rycote seems to go for around $120 US, which may
look like a decent price if you are mounting a $2k mic.

For myself, I'm tickled if I can find a shock mount that
is similar to the Neumann suspension mounts, in design,
but costs $35, or less. I get confused looking at shock
mounts priced in the $50 range. It looks like vendors are
marking up accessories, the way restaurants mark up soda.

Anyhow, the bargains are out there, and Google can help.

As always, I'm not associated with any vendors, I just
like to share info.

HTH,
Emmit Sycamore

I agree about these things being a rip off some shock mounts are well over the price we should be paying for a chunk of metal and a rubber band.

Quite a bit of development has gone into getting those Rycote mounts right and, as you suggest, they're an alternative to more expensive mounts right at the top end of the market. I suspect that the current UK/US exchange rate doesn't help either.

James.

Anyone try those Rycote mounts? I've been eyeing one for my AKG 414.

I'd trust Hugh Robjohns' review at

http://www.soundonsound.com/sos/mar10/articles/rycoteinvisionusm.htm

where he mentions trying one with a 414. I believe that he's now a regular user of the Rycote mounts.

James.

The Gibralter shock mounts that I ordered for testing arrived,
and there is one "gotcha". The mounting point is sized for a
3/8" 16 thread, which is wrong for a US style mic stand.

So, in order to use this, I will need an adapter, 5/8" 27
female, to 3/8" 16 male.

Ironic, since the topmost component is a ... 3/8" 16 female,
to 5/8" 27 male adapter.

Also, the thing that looks like a ragged edged washer is also
threaded, for 3/8" 16. That lets you tighten the two pieces
against one another, to achieve a more secure mount.

Other than that, the rubber that connects the lower 3/8" 16
female connector to the upper 3/8" 16 male connector seems
like it could be a fairly decent vibration decoupler.

HTH,
Emmit Sycamore

Dak, not to get too far off topic but, what kind of mic is in the pic with the Enhanced Audio M600? Very unique and functional looking.

I thought the same thing but don't know who's mic that is. The nearest I've found in design is a Coles Studio Ribbon mic.



EDIT! Yep, Coles 4038 ribbon. The patent numbers are the identifier.

Testing is complete, for now, and I can only say that
the Gibralter product is of "limited" usefulness.

(Scroll to the second message above, to see a pic.)

It may be fine for a very light, well balanced mic,
such as a SDC (small diameter condenser), or a dynamic
stage mic.

As long as the mic and mount are directly above the
Gibralter unit, and balanced evenly, you may find
it helps dampen vibrations.

However, it is too flexible to support a heavy mic,
especially if the mic is mounted with the center of
gravity offset much at all.

In that case, the Gibralter unit sags and sways,
under the weight to an unusable degree.

HTH,
Emmit Sycamore