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WA-14
User Manual
28 pgs1.74 Mb0

Warm Audio WA-14 User Manual

WA-14
LARGE DIAPHRAGM CONDENSER MICROPHONE
• ENGLISH (PG 1) • FRANÇAIS (PG 10) • ESPAÑOL (PG 15) • DEUTSCH (PG 21)
WARRANTY STATEMENT
Warm Audio warranties this product to be free from defect in materials and workmanship for one year from the date of purchase, for the original purchaser to whom this equipment is registered. This warranty is non-transferrable.
This warranty is void in the event of damage incurred from unauthorized service to this unit, or from electrical or mechanical modification to this unit. This warranty does not cover damage resulting from abuse, accidental damage, misuse, improper electrical conditions such as mis-wiring, incorrect voltage or frequency, unstable power, disconnection from earth ground (for products requiring a 3 pin, grounded power cable), or from exposure to hostile environmental conditions such as moisture, humidity, smoke, fire, sand or other debris, and extreme temperatures.
Warm Audio will, at its sole discretion, repair or replace this product in a timely manner. This limited warranty extends only to products determined to be defective and does not cover incidental costs such as equipment rental, loss of revenue, etc. Please visit us at www.warmaudio.com for more information on your warranty, or to request warranty service.
This warranty applies to products sold in the United States of America. For warranty information in any other country, please refer to your local Warm Audio distributor. This warranty provides specific legal rights, which may vary from state to state. Depending on the state in which you live, you may have rights in addition to those covered in this statement. Please refer to your state laws or see your local Warm Audio retailer for more information.
NON-WARRANTY SERVICE
If you have a defective unit that is outside of our warranty period or conditions; we are still here for you and can get your unit working again for a modest service fee. Please visit us at www.warmaudio.com to contact us about setting up a repair or for more information.
With the proper care, your Warm Audio gear should last a lifetime and provide a lifetime of enjoyment. We believe the best advertisement we can have is a properly working unit being put to great use. Let’s work together to make it happen.
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NOW LET’S GET STARTED!
INTRODUCTION
The WA-14 is based on a classic condenser microphone that has been used on countless hit records. The WA-14 utilizes classic circuit topology, including the coveted all-brass, edge terminated, dual backplate CK12 capsule found on the earliest versions. The WA-14 features a custom wound transformer by CineMag USA, and an all discrete signal path featuring tantalum and WIMA film capacitors. The WA­14 can be used on an array of sources, including: punchy warm and intimate lead vocals, aggressive guitars, and heavy percussion. The WA-14 provides a realism, thickness, and detail that is true to the vintage sonics. Referencing a vintage circuit we preferred, and designing the PCB in accordance with the methods of that era; we feel this microphone offers a faithful representation of the sought-after, vintage sound.
FEATURES
1. Pattern Select Switch
This switch selects the polar pattern for the WA-14. The three polar pattern options are (from left to right) Cardioid, Figure Of Eight, and Omnidirectional.
2. Adjustable Pad This switch pads the microphone’s output. The three available positions are (from left to right) -10, 0, and -20db.
3. XLR Output The WA-14’s output is a balanced, gold-contact 3-pin XLR which accepts a standard XLR to XLR shielded microphone cable.
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FREQUENCY RESPONSE GRAPH (1/3 SMOOTHING)
THEORY & PRACTICE
MICROPHONES IN THEORY AND IN PRACTICE
In this chapter, we will go over some general descriptions and advice on how to use your WA-14 microphone. We will begin with what the WA-14 is and is not, and then briefly discuss different applications and ways to get the best results from your microphone.
The WA-14 is primarily a studio condenser, which is to say it is a microphone that requires +48v phantom power and a balanced XLR to XLR microphone cable, and a preamp (or a mixer or an interface with built in preamps) with a 3 pin XLR microphone input. It is not primarily a live stage microphone, for a number of reasons which include its relative size and its relative sensitivity compared to mos t l ive performance dynamic microphones. Though it’s capsule is electrically isolated, it is not internally shock-mounted as most live performance microphones are, utilizing some form of internal suspension mechanism.
The WA-14 is capable of delivering three polar patterns: omnidirectional, cardioid, and figure of eight. We will go into the benefits of each pattern in greater detail shortly. The WA-14 is considered a side-address microphone in the sense that it’s capsule is mounted upright, projecting outward from either side of the microphone when the microphone is stood upright or suspended upside down. The front face of the microphone body is the side which bears the Warm Audio (WA) badge and switches, and this is considered the ‘front side’ of the capsule, with the opposite side of the microphone being the ‘back side’.
MICROPHONE CARE AND MAINTENANCE
When recording vocals, a quality pop filter does more than just prevent loud plosives from affecting your recording. It also prevents moisture from reaching the microphone, which can cause the headbasket to rust or the capsule membrane to begin accumulating film or particles.
The XLR connection is the microphone’s only gateway to the outside world. After many years of exposure to the elements, the pins of an XLR can begin to dull and affect signal continuity, even if they are gold-plated. Occasional treatment (no more than once per year or so) with a quick shot of contact cleaner/enhancer such as DeOxit(™) will prolong the life of the connector almost indefinitely.
To reduce exposure to dust and humidity, it is good practice to keep your microphone in its pouch with its absorbent packet for storage, when not in regular use. As with any condenser microphone, neither its capsule or electronics are particularly tolerant of humidity or dust. The included silica packet is not merely for shipping; it serves a vital purpose in keeping your microphone capsule and electronics free from humidity, and should be replaced if ever lost or worn out.
GENERAL USES IN CARDIOID MODE
The classic microphone our WA-14 emulates was known as an all-around studio workhorse. It has been used to capture powerful vocal performances in rock, country, hip-hop, gospel, blues, metal, voiceover/spoken word, and just about every genre out there. The classic style microphone has also become a top choice for recording electric guitar cabinets, drum toms and overheads. A pair of these classic microphones in an X-Y configuration can also be a great way to achieve a big acoustic guitar sound.
THEORY & PRACTICE
Since the pioneering days of Joe Meek, ‘close mic’ing’ has become more and more the norm in most genres outside of classical music. This has made near cardioid pattern recording a fairly common practice. A downside to ‘close mic’ing’ can be an exaggerated proximity effect or lack of perceived space to an instrument. An advantage of ‘close mic’ing’ can be much greater isolation and control of individual instruments in a mix. ‘Close mic’ing’ also tends to capture less unwanted room reflections or bleeding from other sources when recording multiple instruments simultaneously.
USES IN FIGURE-OF-EIGHT MODE
Figure of eight pattern recording is often used with pairs of the same microphone for advanced recording techniques such as the Blumlein Pair array; but it has several more common practical applications as well. One common figure-of-eight application is the ‘duet’ or group vocal capture with a single microphone. In figure-of-eight mode, two or even four vocalists can stand on either side of the microphone, each getting the full attention of one side of the mic capsule. A variant of the duet application is when someone plays an instrument, such as acoustic guitar, into one side of the microphone while a partner sings into the other side.
USES IN OMNIDIRECTIONAL MODE
Omnidirectional pattern is most often associated with room mic recording, be it a room mic on a drum kit or an ambience mic placed farther out from a guitar or bass cabinet, or other instrument. Omnidirectional stereo recording is also sometimes associated with ‘live’ recording techniques and classical recording. Additionally, an omnidirectional mic can be one ingredient, along with a figure-of-eight microphone, to creating a Mid/Side matrix for stereo recording. It is also worth noting that most condenser microphone capsules are, by nature, designed to be omnidirectional devices. For this reason, omnidirectional patterns tends to yield the most linear frequency response and suffer the least from proximity effect.
ROOM TREATMENT
Room acoustics should be considered just as important as the microphone you choose. Just because a microphone is set to cardioid pattern will not always mean that it is not picking up unwanted room reflections or outside noises such as street traffic, footsteps, or air condition vents. Though a walk-in vocal booth is hardly necessary for most situations; a good quality ‘vocal shield’ type of product can make an enormous difference by blocking unwanted room artifacts from getting into the recorded track, often making the difference between a demo quality and a professional quality recording. Getting proper instrument isolation and just the right amount of room ambience is one thing that really cannot be effectively corrected for later in the process.
SIGNAL INTEGRITY
In professional audio engineering as with so many other disciplines, a chain is only as strong as its weakest link. When it comes to microphone cables, a quality cable can actually make a difference. Though not as critical as with instruments or dynamic microphones, a thin, poor quality, unshielded, unnecessarily long, or worn XLR cable can affect the sound of a microphone.
THEORY & PRACTICE
With extreme age or wear, gaps can form in the foil or spiral shield of a microphone cable, allowing RFI
and EMI to leak through, or shield wiring can begin to make intermittent contact with the signal wire,
causing a parasitic effect. XLR pins can corrode, even turn colors, after many years of exposure to the
elements, or solder joints break at the stress points inside of an XLR barrel. Occasional cable testing
and maintenance is good practice, and worn XLR pins can often be given new life (if not past the
point of no return) by cleaning or spraying liberally with a contact cleaner such as DeOxit and worked
through several insertions. It is good practice to not use a cable much longer than what is needed for
the job at hand; if a 15 ft. cable will work, little good can come from using a 40 ft. cable instead.
Though condenser microphones are far better equipped to survive longer or lesser quality cable runs
than their dynamic and ribbon counterparts, audio can begin to attenuate or become contaminated
beyond a certain threshold.
MICROPHONE PLACEMENT AND SPACING
When it comes to distancing a microphone from its sound source, one may think of this
process as choosing a desired ratio of the sound source to reflections in the acoustic space.
The closer to the source, the less space and ambience will be captured. In some cases, this is
fully desirable; and ambience will be added in later via the magic of digital delay and reverb.
Natural acoustics are critical. A great illustration of this is the recording of a gunshot or cannon fire. At
very close range the sound is surprisingly thin; however, at a distance, the sound becomes more full
and explosive. This is a great reference to keep in mind because to some degree this phenomenon
holds true with anything where natural acoustics is an important part of the sound, most notably with
percussion. All processes do have boundaries, however, microphones have a maximum SPL level they
can be subjected to before distortion begins. Microphones and preamps both have a signal to noise ratio
that tends to get poor in cases where more gain is required to make up for a distant signal.
What a microphone hears will often be radically different from what a casual observer hears when
standing several feet back from the microphone. It’s good practice to get down and put one’s
ear close to a speaker cabinet or right in front of a bass drum’s resonator head, and hear what
that microphone is hearing from its perspective. Get a sense for how different your source
sounds close up, farther back, and from different angles. Begin to move a microphone around
very slowly and listen for the changes in sound that you get. Notice how a small change in mic
position can make an under-snare microphone go from bad to good. Notice how moving a
guitar cabinet mic further to the side of the center cone, or further off axis will affect the sound.
TIPS & INSTRUCTIONS
Two WA-14’s used as stereo overheads.
A WA-14 capturing two vocalists in a figure-of-eight pattern.
Two WA-14’s used on a pair of rack toms.
A WA-14 placed 6-8 inches from the speaker cone of a 4x12 guitar cabinet.
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