AKG PERCEPTION 170 User Manual

PERCEPTION

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!

170

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 Features .....................................................................................3

2.3 Optional Accessories ...................................................................4

3 Interfacing ............................................................................................5

3.1 General.......................................................................................5

3.2 Pinout.........................................................................................5

3.3 Connecting the Microphone .........................................................5

4 Using Your Microphone.........................................................................6

5 Cleaning................................................................................................6

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Page

6 Troubleshooting ....................................................................................7

7 Specifications .......................................................................................8

The International Page ..........................................................................19

AKG PERCEPTION 170

1

Precaution/Unpacking

!

L

1.1 Precaution

Please make sure that the 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 below:

• Microphone

• Stand adapter

• Carrying case

• Mini poster

Should any item be missing, please contact your
AKG dealer.

AKG PERCEPTION 170

2 Description

2.1 Introduction

Thank you for purchasing an AKG product. This
Manual contains important instructions for setting
up and operating your equipment. Please take a
few minutes to read the instructions below care-
fully before operating the equipment and keep
the Manual for future reference. Have fun and
impress your audience!
The

PERCEPTION 170
condenser microphone built to the same strict qual­ity standards as all other AKG products.
Designed on the basis of AKG’s decades of know­how and feedback from sound engineers around
the world using AKG studio microphones every day,
this general-purpose small-diaphragm microphone
brings AKG studio quality to the worlds of recording,
live sound, and broadcasting.

is a heavy-duty, rugged true

2.2 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.

• 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.

3

• High headroom, minimum distortion:

Capable of handling sound pressure levels up
to 155 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.

• Switchable preattenuation pad: The preat-

tenuation switch (1) on the microphone rear
(refer to fig. 1) lets you increase the headroom
by 20 dB for distortion-free close-in recording.
The preattenuation pad prevents the micro-

1

phone's output level, particularly at low fre­quencies, from overloading the miniature
transformers used in many mixer input stages,
etc.

2.3 Optional Accessories

• PF 80 studio pop screen

• ST 305 floor stand

Fig. 1: Preattenuation switch (1) on
170

rear.

4

PERCEPTION

AKG PERCEPTION 170

3 Interfacing

3.1 General

The microphone uses a true condenser trans­ducer designed for 48-volt phantom powering to
DIN 45 596/IEC 268-15. Neither the diaphragm nor
the backplate are permanently polarized, so the
microphone needs an external power supply.

3.2 Pinout

The microphone provides a balanced output on a 3­pin male XLR connector:
Pin 1: ground
Pin 2: hot
Pin 3: cold

AKG PERCEPTION 170

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

3.3 Connecting the Microphone

Refer to fig. 2 above.

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.)

5

4 Using Your Microphone

The

PERCEPTION 170
microphone 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.

• 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 mois-

ture 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

is a general-purpose cardioid

may cause the microphone to start crackling or
go very quiet due to partial shorting of the
polarization voltage.

• High volume instruments: You can use this

microphone for close-in recording of very loud
instruments (brass instruments, kick drum,
etc.).
Use a pen or similar pointed object to set the
preattenuation switch to the “-20 dB” position.
This switches the preattenuation pad in, enabling
the microphone to handle sound pressure levels
up to 155 dB.

• Low-frequency noise: To suppress low-fre-

quency noise such as air conditioning rumble,
footfall noise, or traffic sounds, check whether
your mixer provides highpass filters on the
microphone channels. If it does, switch the
appropriate highpass filter in.

5 Cleaning

• To clean the surface of the microphone body,
use a soft cloth moistened with water.

6

AKG PERCEPTION 170