ICON M Series User manual

N16549
M3
StudioLarge-diaphragmCondenserMicrophone
Series

WARNING:Toreducetheriskoffireorelectricshock,donotexposethisunitto
rainormoisture
ImportantSafetyInstructions
1.Readthismanualthoroughlybeforeusingthisunit.
2.Keepthismanualforfuturereference.
3.Takenoticeofandcomplywithallwarningsincludedintheuser'smanualorindicated
ontheappliance.
4.Followallinstructionsincludedinthismanual.
5.Donotexposethisunittorainormoisture.Avoidhavingwaterorotherliquidsspilled
onthisunit.
6.Whencleaningthecabinetorotherpartsofthisappliance,useonlyadryorslightly
dampsoftcloth.
7.Donotblockanyventilationopeningsorinterferewiththeproperventilationofthisunit.
Installinaccordancewiththemanufacturer'sinstructions.
8.Donotuseorstorenearanyheatsourcessuchasradiators,heatregisters,stoves,or
otherheat-producingappliances.
9.Donotinterferewiththesafetypurposeofthepolarizedorgrounding-typeplug.A
polarizedplughastwobladeswithonewiderthantheother.Agrounding-typeplugh
astwobladesandathirdgroundingprong.Thesearedesignatedforyoursafety.Ifthe
providedplugdoesnotfitintoyouroutlet,consultanelectrician.
10.Protectthepowercordfrombeingwalkedonorotherwisedamagedbyitemsplaced
onoragainstthem.Particularattentionshouldbegiventotheplugs,receptacles,and
thepointwherethecordexitstheappliance.
11.Toavoidtheriskofelectricalshock,donottouchanyexposedwiringwhiletheunitis
inoperation.
12.Onlyuseattachments/accessoriesspecifiedbythemanufacturer.
13.Unplugthisunitandallconnectedelectricalequipmentduringlightningstormsorwhen
leftunusedalongperiodoftime.
14.Referallservicingtoqualifiedservicepersonnel.Servicingisrequiredwhenthe
appliancehasbeendamagedinanywayorfailstooperatenormally.

Contents
Introduction
What'sinthepackage 1
Features 2
OperatingyourM3 3-7
PoweringtheM3
Settingupthesignallevel
3
3
UnderstandingPolarPatterns 4
3
UsingthePADSwitch
4
UsingtheHi-PassFilter
Cardioid
Omni
5
5
Figure8
MicrophonePlacement
6
6
P-Popping
MountingtheM3
7
7
Specifications 8
1
Services 9

Introduction
Pleasewriteyourserialnumberhereforfuturereference:
Purchasedat:
Dateofpurchase:
What'sinthepackage?
M3CondenserMicrophone
Users'Manual
CarryCase
CongratulationsonpurchasingyourICONM3condensermicrophone.
ThemanagementandemployeesofICONarededicatedtoproducing
qualityequipmentandarepleasedthatyouhaveselectedoneofourmany
fineproducts.Withpropercare,wetrustthatyourM3condensermicrophone
willprovideyearsoftrouble-freeoperation.
Thismanualisintendedtointroduceyoutothefeaturesandspecifications
oftheM3condensermicrophoneyouhavepurchasedandtoguideyou
throughtheproperset-upanduseofthisequipment.Youwillalsofindan
enclosedwarrantycard.Pleasefillitoutandmailitintoreceiveonline
technicalsupportandupdatedinformationaboutthisunitaswellasother
qualityICONproducts.
Werecommendthatyourecordyourserialnumberinthespacebelowfor
futurereference.
WelcometoICON,andthankyouforbecomingpartofourworldwidefamily!

Features
GoldenpaintedTruelargediaphragmwithactive
mylarfoildiameterof1in(25mm)
Cardioids,omniandfigure8patterns
Switchablehigh-passfilterand10dBpad
Lowcut
ClassA,preamplifiercircuitryeliminatescross-overdistortion
Verylowself-noise
Exceptionallow-frequencyreproduction
Highoutputlevel
HighinputSPLcapability
Nocross-overdistortion
Extremelyuniformpolarresponse
Classiccharacterandruggedconstruction
Optionalswivelmount
""
0-10dB
STUDIOCONDENSER
3

PoweringtheM3
OperatingyourM3
Settingupthesignallevel
TheM3isalargediaphragmcondensermicrophoneandthereforeneedsto
beoperatedbyconnectingaphantompowersupply.Phantompoweris
standardonmostqualitymixers,outboardMIC-presandharddiskrecorders.
Ifnecessaryanexternalphantomsupplycanalsobeused.TheM3receives
thephantompowerdirectlyfromaMICcablewhenconnectedtoamixeror
othermicrophoneinputthatincludesaphantomsupply.Thepowerisactually
sentOUTofthemicrophoneINPUT,ridingsilentlyalongwiththeaudiosignal.
Mostmixershaveaswitchtoengagethephantompowersobesuretocheck
thatthephantompowerison.TheM3featuresanorangeLED,whichwill
illuminatewhenphantompowerispresent.
WhenconnectingtheM3toamixerorrecorderinput,besurethattheinput
isofmicrophonelevel.Alsobesurethatthephantompowerisengaged
asexplainedattheprevioussection"PoweringtheM3".Mostmixersand
recordersofreasonablequalitywillofferamicrophoneinputwithMICtrim
(usuallycalledTrimorGain)control.ThepurposeoftheMICtrimcontrol
istooptimizetheamountofgoodsignaltoanynoiseassociatedwiththe
mixerselectronics.AgoodMICprewithtrimalsowillhaveaPEAKorCLIP
LED.TosetagoodlevelontheMIC,settheM3upinfrontofthedesired
soundsourceandslowlyraisetheMICtrimcontroluntilyouseethePEAK
LEDlightup.Then,turnthemixtrimcontroldownuntiltheLEDdoes
notlightanymore.Onmostmixers,theidealsettingisthatthetrimcontrol
isturnedupasmuchaspossiblewithoutlightingthePEAKLED.Ifyou
tryturningtheGaincontrolallthewaydown,andthePEAKlightisstill
lighting,tryusingtheM3PADasexplainedinthefollowingsection.
1.UsingthePADSwitch
TheM3includesaPADswitch,whichyou
canusetolowertheinputsensitivityofthe
microphone.WhenthePADswitchisset
atthe0dBposition,thePADisbypassed
andthereisnoeffectonthesignal.When
thePADswitchissetto-10dBposition,
themicrophone'sinputsensitivitywillbe
loweredby10dB.YoucanusethePAD
whenyouaremikingloudsoundsources
withahighSPL.
0-10dB

2.UsingtheHi-PassFilter
TheM3offersauserselectablehi-pass,
orlow-cutfilterwhichyoucanuseto
eliminateanyunwantedlowfrequency
reproduction.WhentheHi-Passfilteris
settothe"Flat"(indicatedbythestraight
line)position,thereisnoeffectonthe
signal.WhentheHi-Passfilterissetto
the"Roll-Off"position(indicatedwith
theangledline),a12dBperoctavelow
-cutat100Hzisappliedtothesignal.
Thiscanbeextremelyusefulforremoving
lowfrequencystagerumble,windnoise
duringoutdooruseandfilteringoutlows
fromdrumswhenusedasoverheadcymbal
microphoneonadrumkit.
UnderstandingPolarPatterns
Themostimportantcharacteristicofanymicrophoneisitsdirectionalityor
"pickuppattern".TheM3versatiledualcapsuledesigniscapableofproducing
threeusefulpickuppatterns:Omni,CardioidandFigure8.Itiseasyfor
youtoselectthepickuppatternusingtheM3'spatternselectionswitch
locatedontherearofthemicrophone.Whenchoosingapattern,youshould
beawareofthephenomenonknownasthe"proximityeffect"
Simplyput,proximityeffectisthechangeinfrequencyresponseasthemicro-
phonepositionischangedrelativetothesoundsource.Anymicrophone
exhibitsitsbestfrequencyresponsewhenpointeddirectlyatthesoundsource
(on-axis).Dependingonthepickuppattern,thelowfrequencyresponsewill
increase,sometimesgreatly,whenpositionedlessthan12inchesawayfrom
thesoundsource(off-axis).Understandingandknowinghowtousethe
proximityeffectcanbeatremendoushelpingettingjustsoundyoulooking
for.Thefollowingsectionsdetailthethreeavailablepickuppatterns.
OperatingyourM3
0-10dB

3.Cardioid
WhileOmniandBi-directionalmicro-
phonesareveryusefulforavarietyof
specialtyapplications,themajorityof
themikingsituationsinrecordingand
livesoundrequireuni-directionalor
Cardioidmicrophones.TheM3pickup
patternisSuper-cardioidwhichoffers
evenmoreside-to-siderejection.The
unidirectionalnatureallowsforbetter
separationofinstrumentsinthestudio
andmorecontroloverfeedbackinlivesoundreinforcement.Toselectthe
Cardioidpickuppattern,setthepatternselectionswitchtothecenter,Cardioid
positionindicatedbythe"heartshaped"icon.Whenpositionedcorrectly,
thecardioidpickuppatternallowsyoutopickupmoreofthesoundyouwant
andlessofthesoundyoudon'twant.
4.Omni
Omni,oromnidirectionalmicrophones
pickupsoundfromalldirections.To
selecttheOmnipickuppattern,set
theM3'spickuppatternselection
switchtotheright,"O"position.You
canusetheomnipickuppatternifyou
wanttocapturetheambientsoundand
naturalreverbinaroomwherean
instrumentorvoiceisbeingrecorded.
TheOmnimodeisalsogreatforre-
cordingensembleperformancesfromgroupsofvocals,brass,woodwindand
otherinstrumentswiththeartistsfacingeachotherinacirclearoundthemicro-
phone.Asanaddedbenefit,theomnipatternistheleastsusceptibletothe
proximityeffect.Thiscanbeextremelyusefulwhenrecordingartistswhohave
atendencytomovetheirinstrument,includingtheirvoice,aroundthemicro-
phonewhileperforming.Inthesesituations,usingacardioidpatterncanresult
inthefrequencyresponsechangingtremendouslywithjustafewinchesof
movementresultinginrecordedtrackwiththelowsmovingupanddown
involume.Usingtheomnipickuppatterncanhelpcontrolthesetrickymiking
situationsallowingyoutocapturethebestperformancewithoutinhibitingthe
talentbyforcingthemtotrytostayinafixedposition.
OperatingyourM3

5.Figure8
Figure8,orbidirectionalmicspickup
thesounddirectlyinfrontandbackof
themicrophonewhilerejectingthe
soundontheleftandrightsides.To
selecttheFigure8pick-uppattern
settheM3pickuppatternselection
switchtotheleft"8"position.Inthis
modeit'salmostlikehavingtwo
identicalmicrophonesfacingback-
to-backtoeachother.Thiscanbe
idealsettingforcapturingtwoartistssingingaduetorlayingdownaback-
groundvocaltrack.Havingthetwoartistsfaceeachotherwhileperforming
canhelpcapturetheemotionsthatmayotherwisebemissediftwomicro-
phonesareused.Youcanalsocreatesomeinterestingslapbackecho
effectsbypositioningtheM3inFigure8patternbetweenarecordedinstru-
mentandaparticularwallinthestudio.Therearcapsulewillpickupthe
reflectionofthesoundoffthewall,andbychangingthedistanceofthe
microphonefromthewallyoucanactuallychangethedelaytimeoftheecho.
MicrophonePlacement
Inordertomaximizethesoundquality,youmustpaycarefulattentiontothe
placementofyourM3andhowitispositionedfortheinstrumentorvocalist
thatyouaremiking.Allmicrophones,especiallyunidirectionalorcardioid
microphones,exhibitaphenomenonknowasthe"proximityeffect".Very
simplyput,proximityeffectisaresultingchangeinthefrequencyresponse
ofamicrophonebasedonthepositionoftheMICcapsulerelativetothe
soundsource.Specifically,whenyoupointacardioidMICdirectlyatthe
soundsource(on-axis)youwillgetthebestfrequencyresponse,however,
whenyoustartpointingthemicrophoneslightlyaway(offaxis)youwillnotice
thelowfrequencydroppingoffandthemicrophonewillstarttosoundthinner.
Formostvocalapplicationsyou'llwanttopositionthemicrophonedirectlyin
frontoftheartist.Thesamemaybetrueformikinginstruments.However,
youcanmakesomeprettyamazingequalizationadjustmentsbyslightly
changingtheangleofthecapsuletothesoundsource.Thiscanbeavery
usefultechniqueincapturingtheoptimumsoundofdrumset,acousticguitar,
pianoorotherinstrumentsinaliveroomorsoundstage.Experimentation
andexperiencearethebestteachersingettinggoodsounds,soplugin!
OperatingyourM3