to rub against the ribbon causing distortion, electrical shorts or tearing
of the ribbon. The best prevention is to keep the microphone covered
with the supplied plastic bag when it is not in use.
The A840 was designed to be less sensitive to external interference. Its
design attracts less “tramp iron” while retaining the overall sound and
20 Hz bass response of the original RCA 44.
Under no circumstances should you disassemble and take the grille off
of the microphone as this could allow tramp iron to enter the narrow gap
between the ribbon and the pole pieces. Disassembling the microphone
will VOID your warranty.
Magnetic Stray Fields
Ribbon microphones are fundamentally prone to picking up strong
external magnetic fields caused by light dimmers or nearby power
transformers. Guitar players will know this phenomenon from single-coil
pickups. Even though much attention was paid to suppressing such
sensitivity to external magnetic fields in the design of the A840, it is still
possible that you might encounter this problem. If you should pick up
a hum, try rotating or moving the microphone to find a spot where the
hum disappears, and try eliminating potential sources of stray magnetic
fields. You can use the microphone to find where hum is originating.
Rotate the mic for maximum interference and move it back and forth to
sense its direction.
The high-performance magnets used in AEA microphones are incredibly
strong, and a significant amount of stray magnetic field lines surround
the microphone. Avoid placing the microphone in close proximity to hard
drives, credit cards, analog tape, or any other magnetically sensitive
items to prevent any data loss.
Microphone Positioning
The A840 was designed with placement versatility and vibration
isolation in mind. The microphone body is supported by a U-shaped
yoke. To obtain the shock mount benefits of the A840, we suggest
adjusting the swivel mount towards the source then positioning the
angle of the mic stand.
The A840 includes a fixed captive XLR cable which is routed from the
bottom of the mic and secured to the yoke mount. Securing the XLR
13
