AKG PERCEPTION 100, PERCEPTION 200 User Manual

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100

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User Instructions . . ............p.2

Please read the manual before using the equipment!

Mode d’emploi . ..............p.14

Veuillez lire cette notice avant d’utiliser le système!

200

Table of Contents

Page

1 Precaution/Unpacking ...........................3

1.1 Precaution . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

1.2 Unpacking . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

2 Description .....................................3

2.1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

2.2 Common Features . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

2.3

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2.4 Optional Accessories . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

3 Interfacing .....................................6

3.1 General. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

3.2 Pinout. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

3.3 Connecting the Microphone . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

2

200

Added Features..................4

Page

4 Using Your Microphone ..........................7

4.1 General Hints . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .................7

4.2

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5 Cleaning .......................................8

6 Troubleshooting.................................9

7 Specifications..................................11

The International Page ............................25

200............................8

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1

Precaution/Unpacking

1.1 Precaution

piece of equipment your microphone
will be connected to fulfills the safety
regulations in force in your country
and is fitted with a ground lead.

1.2 Unpacking

Check that the packaging contains all of
the items listed for your microphone.
Should any item be missing, please con­tact your AKG dealer.

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Please make sure that the

100 : • Microphone

• Stand adapter

• Mini poster

200: • Microphone

• Spider suspension

• Carrying case

• Mini poster

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100/200

2 Description

2.1 Introduction

AKG product. This Manual contains
important instructions for setting up and
operating your equipment. Please take a
few minutes to read the instructions

below carefully before operating the
equipment and keep the Manual for

future reference. Have fun and impress
your audience!
The
200 are heavy-duty, rugged true con­denser microphones built to the same
strict quality standards as all other AKG
products.
Designed on the basis of AKG’s decades
of know-how and feedback from sound
engineers around the world using AKG
studio microphones every day, these
general-purpose 1-inch large-diaphragm
microphones bring AKG studio quality to

Thank you for purchasing an

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100 and

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the worlds of recording, live sound, and
broadcasting.

2.2 Common Features

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The
following features:

• Cardioid polar pattern: The micro­phone is most sensitive to sounds
arriving from in front of it while pick­ing up much less of sounds arriving
from the sides or rear (from monitor
speakers or neighboring instru­ments). This makes the microphone
equally suited for recording and
onstage use.

• Gold-sputtered diaphragm: The
diaphragm is made of a plastic foil
that is gold-sputtered on one side
only to prevent shorting to the back
electrode even at extremely high
sound pressure levels.

100 and 200 share the

3

• All-metal body: The all-metal body
adds to the rejection of RF interfer­ence so you can use the microphone
near transmitter stations and along
with wireless microphones or other
communications equipment. The
extremely rugged, heavy body and
sturdy front grill protect the micro­phone from damage from tough han­dling on stage.

• High headroom, minimum distor-
tion: Capable of handling sound
pressure levels up to 135 dB without
introducing perceptible distortion and
built to resist high temperatures and
humidity, the microphone will give
excellent results in a wide range of
applications.

2.3

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The

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cal to the

4

200

200 is basically identi-

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Added Features

100 but provides

the following additional features:

• Bass cut filter: Selector 1 on the
microphone front (refer to fig. 1) fur­ther reduces low-end distortion caus­ed by footfall or wind noise, etc. The
filter also minimizes the proximity
effect that close-in miking from less
than 4 inches causes in any unidirec­tional microphone. The filter rolls off
at 12 dB/octave from 300 Hz down­ward.

• Switchable preattenuation pad:
Selector 2 on the microphone front
(refer to fig. 1) lets you increase the
headroom by 10 dB for distortion­free close-in recording. The preatten­uation pad prevents the micro­phone's output level, particularly at
low frequencies, from overloading the
miniature transformers used in many
mixer input stages, etc.

1 2

Fig. 1: Bass cut and preattenuation
switches on

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200 front.

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2.4 Optional Accessories

• PF 80 studio pop screen

• ST 305 floor stand

• W 4000 external windcscreen

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5

3 Interfacing

3.1 General

Section 3 applies to both the

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The microphone uses a true condenser
transducer designed for 48-volt phan­tom powering to DIN 45 596/

Fig. 2: Connecting to a balanced input with phantom power.

6

100 and the

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IEC 268-15. Neither the diaphragm nor
the backplate are permanently polarized,
so the microphone needs an external

PER-

power supply.

200.

3.2 Pinout

The microphone provides a balanced
output on a 3-pin male XLR connector:

Pin 1: ground
Pin 2: hot
Pin 3: return

3.3 Connecting the Microphone

Refer to fig. 2.

1. Use an XLR cable to connect the
microphone to a balanced XLR input
with phantom power.

2. Switch the phantom power on. (Refer
to the user manual of the unit to which
you connected your microphone.)

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4 Using Your
Microphone

4.1 General Hints

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The
200 are general-purpose cardioid micro­phones for recording, broadcast, and
onstage use.
Every instrument radiates its sound in a
specific way. Therefore, to get the best
sound it is crucial to experiment with
microphone placement.
The following hints apply to both the

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• The front of the microphone is the
side of the body with the AKG logo
on it. Therefore, always aim the logo
at the sound source you are going to
record!
Being a unidirectional (cardioid) mi­crophone, the
up very little sound from the rear.

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100 and

100 and

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will pick

200.

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Fig. 4: Microphone front.

100

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• When recording wind instruments or
vocals, make sure not to blow or
sing directly into the microphone.
To avoid unwanted wind and pop
noise or moisture problems, place an
optional PF 80 pop screen from AKG
between the microphone and vocal­ist/instrument.

• Keep the microphone dry. Moisture
from blowing or singing directly at the
capsule from a short distance, or
extremely high humidity may cause
the microphone to start crackling or
go very quiet due to partial short cir­cuits in the polarization voltage.

• If you use the microphone in the

open air, use an optional AKG
W 4000 windscreen to protect the

microphone from moisture and re­duce wind noise.

200

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4.2

• High volume instruments: You can
use this microphone for close-in
recording of very loud instruments
(brass instruments, kick drum, etc.).
Just switch the preattenuation pad in
to increase the microphone’s capabili­ty of handling sound pressure levels
up to 145 dB.

• Low-frequency noise: To suppress
low-frequency noise such as air con­ditioning rumble, footfall noise, or
traffic sounds, switch the bass cut fil­ter in.

200

5 Cleaning

To clean the surface of the
microphone body, use a soft

cloth moistened with water.

8

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6 Troubleshooting

Problem Possible Cause Remedy

No sound.

Distortion.

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1. Power to mixer and/or amplifier is off.

2. Channel or master fader on mixer, or
volume control on amplifier is at zero.

3. Microphone is not connected to mixer
or amplifier.

4. Cable connectors are seated loosely.

5. Cable is defective.

6. No supply voltage.

1. Channel gain control on mixer set too
high.

1. Switch power to mixer or amplifier on.

2. Set channel or master fader on mixer
or volume control on amplifier to de­sired level.

3. Connect microphone to mixer or am­plifier.

4. Check cable connectors for secure
seat.

5.

Check cable and replace if damaged.

6. Switch phantom power on.
Phantom power supply: connect to
power outlet or insert battery
(batteries).
Check cable and replace if necessary.

1. Turn gain control down CCW.

9