Behringer C-3 User Manual

User Manual

STUDIO CONDENSER
MICROPHONE

Dual-Diaphragm Studio Condenser Microphone

STUDIO CONDENSER MI CROPHONE C-3 User Manual

2

Important Safety
Instructions

LIMITED WARRANTY

For the applicable warranty terms and conditions
and additional information regarding MUSIC Group’s
Limited Warranty, please see complete details
online at www.music-group.com/warranty.

Terminals marked with this symbol
carry electrical current of sucient

magnitude to constitute risk
of electric shock. Useonly high-quality
commercially-available speaker cables
with ¼"TS plugs pre-installed. Allother
installation or modication should be
performed only by qualiedpersonnel.

This symbol, wherever it appears,

alerts you to the presence of

uninsulated dangerous voltage
inside the enclosure -voltage that may be
sucient to constitute a risk ofshock.

This symbol, wherever it appears,

alertsyou to important operating

and maintenance instructions in the
accompanying literature. Please read themanual.

Condenser microphones are

extremely moisture-sensitive.

Never use your microphone in close
proximity to water (e.g. bath tubs, wash basins,
sinks, washing machines, pools, etc.).
When doing voice recordings, always use the
enclosed windscreen to protect the capsule
from moisture.

Always use the power

supply specied in the

operating instructions.

Take care not to drop

your microphone as this can

lead to severe damage.
BEHRINGER assumes no liability for any
damage caused by the user.

After each use, wipe the

microphone down with a soft

cloth and place it back into its
protective casing (included with the microphone).
Then, lay the small bag containing the
moisture-absorbing crystals on top of the
microphone head.

LEGAL DISCLAIMER

TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS AND APPEARANCES
ARE SUBJECT TO CHANGE WITHOUT NOTICE AND
ACCURACY IS NOT GUARANTEED. BEHRINGER,
KLARKTEKNIK, MIDAS, BUGERA, AND
TURBOSOUND ARE PART OF THE MUSIC GROUP
MUSICGROUP.COM. ALL TRADEMARKS ARE
THE PROPERTY OF THEIR RESPECTIVE OWNERS.
MUSICGROUP ACCEPTS NO LIABILITY FOR
ANY LOSS WHICH MAY BE SUFFERED BY ANY
PERSON WHO RELIES EITHER WHOLLY OR IN
PART UPON ANY DESCRIPTION, PHOTOGRAPH
OR STATEMENT CONTAINED HEREIN. COLORS
AND SPECIFICATIONS MAY VARY FROM ACTUAL
PRODUCT. MUSIC GROUP PRODUCTS ARE
SOLD THROUGH AUTHORIZED FULLFILLERS
AND RESELLERS ONLY. FULLFILLERSAND
RESELLERS ARE NOT AGENTS OF MUSICGROUP
AND HAVE ABSOLUTELY NO AUTHORITY TO
BIND MUSICGROUP BY ANY EXPRESS OR
IMPLIED UNDERTAKING OR REPRESENTATION.
THIS MANUAL IS COPYRIGHTED. NO PART
OF THIS MANUAL MAY BE REPRODUCED OR
TRANSMITTED IN ANY FORM OR BY ANY MEANS,
ELECTRONIC OR MECHANICAL, INCLUDING
PHOTOCOPYING AND RECORDING OF ANY KIND,
FOR ANY PURPOSE, WITHOUT THE EXPRESS
WRITTEN PERMISSION OF MUSICGROUPIPLTD.

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
© 2013 MUSICGroupIPLtd.
Trident Chambers, Wickhams Cay, P.O. Box 146,
Road Town, Tortola, British Virgin Islands

STUDIO CONDENSER MI CROPHONE C-3 User Manual

3

1. Power Supply

Your condense r mic C-3 needs a phantom p ower supply (+48 V). If your C-3 is connec ted
to a microp hone preamp and supp lied with phantom p ower, the LED on the microph one
lights up. BEHRINGER assumes no liabilit y for any damage cau sed by a defect ive phantom
power supp ly. Always mute the sound r einforcement sy stem before you s witch on the
phantom power supply.

2. Directivity

Your C-3 is a large- diaphragm micr ophone featurin g a double membrane. T his allows
you to choo se between thre e dierent picku p patterns - car dioid, omnidirec tional and
gure eigh t. Make your selec tion using the swi tch located at the ba ck of your micropho ne.

2.1 Cardioid

Microph ones with this pol ar pattern (switc h position: middle, ) are most s ensitive to
sound comi ng from in front o f the microphone, an d also to a lesser ex tent from the sides .
Sound comi ng from behind th e microphone will b e greatly attenua ted. This makes the
cardioi d polar pattern m ost suitable for r ecording indiv idual instrumen ts or vocals with in
a group.

2.2 Figure eight

Microphones featuring the gure eight polar pattern (switch position: left, )
are most s ensitive to sound co ming from either di rectly in fro nt of or directly b ehind
the micro phone. Sound comin g from either side or a bove/below is grea tly attenuated.
This polar p attern is per fectly suite d as a reporter mic f or two speakers. T his pattern can
also allow you t o create a natural rev erb or delay eec t. This is achieved by p lacing the
microph one between the s ound source and a wall .

The direc t sound reaches t he “front” m embrane rst, t he reected so und reaches the
“rear” mem brane a short tim e later. You can adju st the delay/reverb tim e by changing
the dist ance from the mic to th e wall.

2.3 Omnidirectional

If you use th e C-3 with the omnidire ctional polar p attern selec ted (switch posit ion:
right, ), the microp hone is equally susc eptible to sound com ing from all direc tions.
This polar c haracteris tic is particula rly well suited to se ssions in which a natu ral sounding
recordi ng is sought, or when s everal sound sour ces surround the C-3.

STUDIO CONDENSER MI CROPHONE C-3 User Manual

4

3. Low Cut-Filter and Signal Level Attenuation

The low cut l ter is activated v ia the left swi tch located at the f ront of your C-3
(switch position: left, ). Disrupti ve, low-frequenc y sounds such as sub sonic
noise, snap ping and wind sound s can be ltered out . When the low cut lter is a ctive,
when reco rding a voice from a cl ose distance, you ge t an almost entire ly linear
freque ncy response.

The switc h located on the fr ont right side of your C-3 activa tes the -10 dB signal level
attenua tion (switch posi tion: right, -10dB). This functi on is particular ly recommended
when reco rding impulse sou nd sources with hig h sound pressure (e.g. a ba ss drum).

4. Microphone Installation

(1)

(2)
(3)

Fig. 4.1: Attaching the microphone stand

A holder is s crewed onto your mic rophone, allowing yo u to attach it to mic s tands with
a ⁄" or  ⁄" thread . An adapter has been in cluded. First di smantle the micro phone (1)
from the s tand mount adapte r (2) by detaching the ne-thread shoulder screw (3)
at the bot tom end of the microp hone. Fasten the adapte r onto the micropho ne stand,
place the microphone into it and tighten the screw again.

Basical ly, the microphone in th e stand mount adap ter should stand up right and face
the sound s ource at a right angle. T he angle of the micro phone to the sound so urce
inuences the sound of the recording; therefore, experiment with dierent positions
until you ac hieve the desired s ound. To this end, you can rot ate the mic in the sta nd
mount adapter by loosening the screw somewhat and tightening it again.

STUDIO CONDENSER MI CROPHONE C-3 User Manual

5

If necess ary, you can bend the m icrophone out of i ts vertical po sition by using the hi nge
on the micr ophone stand.

◊ Pl ease make sure to han dle the microp hone shaft wi th attention an d care

to avoid damaging the screw thread. In no situation should you ever apply
excessive force.

Of cour se, you can detach th e C-3 from the stand mo unt adapter and att ach it to a
commercially available suspension mount.

5. Audio Connection

Use a balance d XLR microphone c able with the follo wing pin assignmen t:
pin 1 = shield ing; pin 2 = +; pin 3 = -. Since your C-3 features gold- plated
contac t points through out, we recommend t hat you use only micro phone
cables with gold-plated connectors.

6. Level Setting/Adjusting the Basic Sound

Adjust the g ain control in the mi crophone channe l of your mixing conso le so that the
peak LED ligh ts up only occasio nally or never at all. The EQ c ontrols in the micr ophone
channel sh ould be set to mid-tr avel position to st art with; low cut l ter and signal
level att enunation should be s witched o. To get the sou nd you want, try cha nging the
mic posit ion relative to the so und source or even move t he microphone aro und in the
recordi ng room of your stud io. Adjusting the ang le at which walls face t he sound source
can also be h elpful. Only when t he desired basic s ound has been achie ved, should you
star t to use equalizers an d signal processo rs, if any at all (remembe r: less is often m ore!)

Due to the ex tremely linear f requency re sponse and the high s onic resolution o f your C-3,
there is no need for high-frequency “EQing” that can heavily inuence the signal and
unnecessarily increase the noise level. The C-3 provides that much-desired transparency
which of ten gets lost du ring recording an d mixing.

STUDIO CONDENSER MI CROPHONE C-3 User Manual

6

0˚

45˚

90˚

5 dB

10 dB

15 dB

20 dB

25 dB

45˚

90˚

135˚

180˚

Super Cardioid

Figure 8

Omni

Polar pattern

dB

10

0

-10

-20

20 50 100 200 500 1000 2000 5000 10000 20000 Hz

Cardioid

Figure 3

Omni

Frequency response

Low Cut

-10 dB

135˚

STUDIO CONDENSER MI CROPHONE C-3 User Manual

7

7. Specications

Transducer type condenser, 16 mm

Polar pat tern cardioi d, gure 8, omni

Connection gold-plated balanced XLR connector

Open circ uit sensitivi ty -40 dBV/pa (10 mV/pa)

Frequenc y response 40 Hz - 18 kHz

Max. SPL (< 0,5% THD @ 1 kHz) 142 dB

Equivalent noise level 23 dBA (IEC 651)

Dynamic r ange 119 dB

Rated Impe dance 350 Ω

Mains Voltage/Fuse

Supply vol tage +4 8 V

Supply cu rrent 7.0 mA

Physical/Weight

Dimensio ns  shaft : 54 mm,
length: 180 mm

Weight 0.42 kg

BEHRIN GER is cons tantly st riving t o maintain t he highes t profes sional st andards . As a result o f these ef for ts, modi ficati ons may be mad e
from ti me to time to e xisting p roduc ts witho ut prior n otice. Spe cifica tions and a ppearan ce may dif fer from t hose list ed or illus trated.

We Hear You