Soundelux shockmounts

[drazzon]

TOO whom it my concern whats the deal with these soundelux shockmounts when i put my e47 or u99 on this thing they just drop down then i have to keep pulling it back up any fixes for this thanks

[Mike O]

I asked David Brock about it at AES and he said to give Brad a call and they would take care of it. Just never seem to get around to it.

The mount supplied for my E47 has been pretty useless - the absolute opposite of the mic!

[Ruairi]

Hi Drazzon,

many people have expressed concern about these shockmounts but I have never seen being addressed by Soundelux on forums at least, try emailing them directly.

FWIW I have a U99 and an E47. the 99 shockmount is good if not amazing but the E47 shockmount is really difficult to tighten properly, which isn't much fun when you've got 3.5k of mic hanging there. I also had 2 different E47 shockmounts when I bought and chose the best so it's not just an occasional shockmount that is poor.

I've also heard people bitch endlessly about the shockmounts that come with the current generation of AKG C414 but at least they tighten properly,

cheers,
Ruairi

[Chad]

If i remember hearing correctly, an e47 is the same aproximate diameter as an original u47. The 45 year old neumann shock mounts that came with my pair of U48's were realy bad(no real latches, just hooks, and dried out cork on the inside), so i baught a BLUE KIWI shockmount, and it is very well made. Probably one of the only BLUE products worth buying, it should fit an e47, and the tightening mechanism is extremely well done. I think it runs around $250.

[Brad Lunde]

Originally posted by Ruairi
Hi Drazzon,

many people have expressed concern about these shockmounts but I have never seen being addressed by Soundelux on forums at least, try emailing them directly.

<SNIP>
cheers,
Ruairi

OK Ruairi and drazzon:
I'll address it directly! I (or we) have not been avoiding the issue, in fact we work on it a lot.

Here's the core issue: Because we put so much money into the mics, and because the manufacturing mark-ups we use are much lower than normal, there isn't a lot of cash left to buy or build killer shock mounts. Great shock mounts cost in the area of $350 to $450 or more. I don't think anyone would like to see the prices of Soundelux go up by $250-$350 depending on model and only the shock mount is different.

We all want a mount the mic cannot fall out of! With the exception of some earlier ELUX251 shock mounts (which were not very good) all are designed to be hard to close but make it almost impossible to loose the mic. This is true unless you have lost the felt that lines the mount. If this happens, you need it serviced right away.

E47: The E47 shock mounts are snug, very snug, but this is the way it must be to prevent failure. I have spent a lot of my own money on switching mounts around only to have the "defective" unit come back and fit an E47 just fine-albeit quite snug. the owner is usually afraid to apply that much closure pressure on the tabs, but this is the way it is supposed to work.

On ELUX's, if you ahve a adefective shock mount just contact your dealer and he will arrange to have yourse sent to Soundelux and returned. While I had a rash of these calls earlier on, I'm not getting many calls now so it makes me think that most of problems are fine.

On other Soundelux mics, I tell you I have had not ONE call on other mounts, other than the occaissonal shock failure, a lost screw or part. So if this is the case, you are having problems, again, call your dealer.

I have spent a lot of my time researching other solutions and I think I have found one. We just signed a deal with Sabra Som and I really like their little inexpensive elastic based Universal Shock mount. If you weave the bands right, for around $50 to $70 you have yourself a great little mount that will not let go of the mic. I tested it with a 4 pound Brauner and it worked great, even upside down. I don't have Sabra Som on the site yet, but I will shortly. Look for Sabra Som from your dealers in the next month.

Now, what did I miss?
Brad

[Fletcher]

Jesus H. Christmas Brad... all ya had to do was call... we had this worked out ages ago.

You take the part off the shockmount that attaches to the stand, you put a balloon over it. If necessary, you might want to wet the balloon a tad so it slides in easier when you put the mount back together.

Now ram the screw through the hole, tighten it down and quit yer bitchin'.

[Kyle Ashley]

I just got a U195 last month and the tension knob that tightens the swivel stripped out immediately. It would never hold the mic in place, and it stripped when I was trying to get it tight. I contacted Soundelux directly about getting replacement parts for these mounts but never heard back from them. A 6mm screw will do the job, but I'd rather have a thumbscrew.

The other thing that bugged me is that the part of the mount that is welded onto the ring is crooked, and when mounted, the mic is cock-eyed.

I'd just like to know who manufactures the mounts for Soundelux so I can contact them for spare parts, or even spare mounts.

[Ruairi]

Hi Brad,

I think the tone of my response was misunderstood. I was simply stating that I have seen several threads over the years refering to the weak shockmounts that come with the various Soundelux mics but never a direct response from David or yourself on the issue. There may have been a response but I didn't catch it. In the exhaustive research I did before purchasing my 47 and 99 the shockmount issue came up again and again.

To clarify, the mics have never been in danger of faaling from the cradle but it is very difficult to tighten the shockmount enough to hold the mic at a particular angle. I have tightened it really hard and left it in one position for months now and have never bothered to pursue it with Soundelux, it's ok just not great. Anyhow I've had bigger problems as my 8 month old E47 had to go for repair.

What I am saying I guess is that I have never pursued this direstly with Soundelux but those having a problem should. And I would gladly pay a a few 100 extra dollars for better shockmount but that's just me. I did not mean to cast aspersions on TransAm or Soundelux in my post,

cheers,
Ruairi

[drazzon]

Thanks chad everyone i think i will check out the blue mic shock mount this ****ing shock mount is getting to me

[Saucyjack]

Brad,
I've got a U99 and U195 and while the Shockmounts don't suck there not much to write home about either...biggest complaint is the webbing/spider design(or lack thereof)... too loose...DOES NOT inspire confidence.Just seems like an afterthought.

I can't believe that a well designed mount has to run $200-300.I've seen better mounts on a AT4050 or Rode NTK,and I'm fairly certain those companies didn't spend that amount.

I love the Mics but at the Soundelux price point($1200-?) surely someone could come up with a better mount.

[squeegybug]

I talked to Soundelux about this last week, just sent my U195 mount to David for repair/replacement. I was told they had never had a complaint about it, which I see Brad reiterates here. I see a post about the crooked rings, mine is warped this way too, the mic sits crooked. One of the hook straps was only barely welded, broke off the first time I used it, I glued it back on. Worst part is the rear vertical strip almost completely blocks the Fat switch, no one else has this problem?

Not to turn this into a bitch session, I'm glad Soundelux offered to help out. And I understand the cost pressures. Sounds like the Sabrasom might be a solution. Whatever happened to the donut-ring? I use the small ones on SD mics and find they offer far superior attenuation compared to spider mounts. But I can see where they might be a pain to get on/off the U195. I think EV makes a small version that opens and locks back in place, anyone seen one of those for LD?

I agree with the poster on high-volume mics having reasonable cost mounts - my Shure KSM27 has an excellent mounting system, for $300 they also throw in a very nice free microphone!

Solidarity! We need some good mounts for these excellent mics, thanks Brad and David.

Steve Scott

[M. Carr]

Can you guys still get those Brad? The one I got with the original 95 didn't have the little studs and holes on the clamp part so the thing tends to slide forward couterclockwise toward you if you don't tighten the crap out of it. The 195 donuts had these holes and studs for catches and work fine. I actually like these better than the spiderweb looking mount because they don't get in the way.

[Robert Sands]

I'm another E47 owner and I have a similar feeling about the shockmount - doesn't seem to be snug enough and I sometimes feel as though the mic could fall out of it in the upside down position that I hang the mic by. Does Dave have a fix for it?

[mr scratchy esq]

I had the same problem with the E47 mount. I sent the mic in for a repair and they also replaced the mount but the new one had the same problem (it was nearly impossible to tighten the thumbscrew enough to hold the mic in place). I went with the BLUE U47 mount which was on sale at the time for $175, it works great & I was so pleased with it that I bought another BLUE mount for my SM-2.

Bill

Teen Regime Studios

www.hifrequencies.com

[Mike O]

Just to be clear for Brad & Soundelux - I have the same problem as Mr. Scratchy.

[drazzon]

Thank you david at soundelux for the tip nice guy good service peace

[Ruairi]

Drazzon,

do you want to share David's tip with all of us?,

cheers,
Ruairi

[STUDIO2]

Ruairi,

You said your E47 had to go in for repair, what was wrong with it?

Cheers.

[drazzon]

Its nothing serious just on screw the bolt take out the plastic shit and squezze the two metal pieces together jam the shockmont back in and screw it back now its nice and tight NO MORE SORRY SAGES

[Ruairi]

It seems like it was some kind of mechanical vibration. The Soundfield people have just tightened it all up and reset the valve etc. I was getting a vibration/distortion at certain frequencies. Getting it back today but I won't be able to check it out until next week,

cheers,
Ruairi

[Ruphus]

Originally posted by squeegybug

I agree with the poster on high-volume mics having reasonable cost mounts - my Shure KSM27 has an excellent mounting system, for $300 they also throw in a very nice free microphone!

Steve Scott

I like that humour!

Ruphus

[Brad Lunde]

Cna all of yop having problems with shock mounts just call your dealer (who will call me or Richard in my office) and we get all this cleaned up? We do not want folks out there unhappy.

To clarify on the complaints about Soundelux shock mounts, we have had people complaining about them, but in comparison to the number of mics shipped , its very very small. It comes in waves, I'll get 1 or 2 in a week, and then it goes away for a couple of months, then two or three again.

So don't give up on this guys, if it isn't right, keep going back to your dealer. I will work on it to get everything taken care of with them.

Brad

[bing81]

Steve

For the 195, what I do is mount the mic so it's on a slight angle in the cradle. There's one position where you can get to all the switches without too much hassle.

Otherwise, I concur with the comments here ..

I understand Brad's point about the cost of good shockmounts, but it's odd that the "noname" mics that are a lot cheaper seem to have it kind of worked out.

Just my .2 euros. Great mics though.

[squeegybug]

Brad,

I think a nice solution would be a threaded base that fastened to a shock mount cradle, similar to many other mic designs (ADK A-48, Shure KSM series, AKG, etc.). I've found this to be a very robust system -- foolproof locking, can turn the mic upside down with no fear of slipping, can loosen the nut and rotate the mic easily, can get access to the switches -- much nicer than the friction-fit, spring clamp, or braided-band types.

There are lots of ways to do this for the U195 -- here are a couple:

1) Make a new base nut with a male threaded extension to fit to the female cradle nut.

2) Just partially (or completely) thread the outside of the XLR housing as it is, screw the cradle to that.

3) A simple friction clamp that attaches to the XLR jack housing, same as the EV RE20 (I know you know that one . AAMOF I've got my U195 mounted in the RE20 stand adapter right now, the 195's XLR housing is a little smaller diameter than the RE20's, I shimmed with plastic tubing just to see if it would work (it does). It appears this would also fit right into the standard EV 309A shock mount, I don't have one just now to try.

Any of these methods could also allow mounting direct to a stand without the shock mount, for easier positioning in tighter spots.

Since I assume you're using an outside supplier for the current mounts, and are considering the Sabra-som as another, perhaps it's also feasible to get wholesale access to existing (competitor) threaded mounts for Soundelux to resell as OEM. The ADK and Shure cradles are surely not too expensive and are pretty nice, I'm sure there are others as well.

Anyway, Brad, not telling you your business, just trying to help with some options.

Steve

[Brad Lunde]

Originally posted by squeegybug
Brad,

I think a nice solution would be a threaded base that fastened to a shock mount cradle, similar to many other mic designs (ADK A-48, Shure KSM series, AKG, etc.).
Steve

Steve:
Its a good suggestion...I'l bring it to David.

I had him read the thread here, he knows how you and I feel about it, told me he is gonna go through his shock mounts and get the bugs out. I don't think its "redesign time", I think the manufacturing of the parts used in them is were the core problems lies. Its just not perfect yet, not up to he same standard as the mics.

We did discuss some of the points raised here. Some of the mounts mentioned in this thread aren't very good either: one is cast brass parts (not good for longevity), another bends up after use. Some ideas mentioned won't give the proper mechanical isolation. So I think what it all says is shock mounts are NOT a simple or easy issue for the manufacturer or for you. Good shocl mounts that are easy to use are rare.

It is the sentiment in this thread that has me pursuing Sabra Som. Effective shock mounting is a problem issue for everyone.

Brad