ICON O Series User manual

N16549
O2
StudioCondenserMicrophone
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.
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2
Contents
Introduction
What'sinthepackage 1
Features 2
OperatingyourO2 3-6
PoweringtheO2
Settingupthesignallevel
3
3
5
3
UsingthePADSwitch
4
UsingtheHi-PassFilter
5
6
MicrophonePlacement
P-Popping
MountingtheO2
Specifications 6
1
Services 7
UnderstandingPolarPatterns
4

Introduction
Pleasewriteyourserialnumberhereforfuturereference:
Purchasedat:
Dateofpurchase:
CongratulationsonpurchasingyourICONO2condensermicrophone.
ThemanagementandemployeesofICONarededicatedtoproducing
qualityequipmentandarepleasedthatyouhaveselectedoneofourmany
fineproducts.Withpropercare,wetrustthatyourO2condensermicrophone
willprovideyearsoftrouble-freeoperation.
Thismanualisintendedtointroduceyoutothefeaturesandspecifications
oftheO2condensermicrophoneyouhavepurchasedandtoguideyou
throughtheproperset-upanduseofthisequipment.Youwillalsofindan
enclosedwarrantycard.Pleasefillitoutandmailitintoreceiveonline
technicalsupportandupdatedinformationaboutthisunitaswellasother
qualityICONproducts.
Werecommendthatyourecordyourserialnumberinthespacebelowfor
futurereference.
WelcometoICON,andthankyouforbecomingpartofourworldwidefamily!
What'sinthepackage?
O2CondenserMicrophone
Users'Manual
CarryCase
2

Features
0-10dB
Goldenpainted19mmcapsule
Cardioidspatterns
True20Hzto20KHzfrequencyresponsewithpronounced
presenceboost
Switchablehigh-passfilterand10dBpad
Lowcut
Verylowself-noise
Exceptionallow-frequencyreproduction
Highoutputlevel
HighinputSPLcapability
Extremelyuniformpolarresponse
Classiccharacterandruggedconstruction
Optionalswivelmount
2
2

PoweringtheO2
OperatingyourO2
Settingupthesignallevel
1.UsingthePADSwitch
0-10dB
TheO2isacondensermicrophoneandthereforeneedstobeoperatedby
connectingaphantompowersupply.Phantompowerisstandardonmost
qualitymixers,outboardmic-presandharddiskrecorders.Ifnecessaryan
externalphantomsupplycanalsobeused.TheO2receivesthephantom
powerdirectlyfromamiccablewhenconnectedtoamixerorothermicro-
phoneinputthatincludesaphantomsupply.ThepowerisactuallysentOUT
ofthemicrophoneINPUT,ridingsilentlyalongwiththeaudiosignal.Most
mixershaveaswitchtoengagethephantompowersobesuretocheck
thatthephantompowerison.TheO2featuresanorangeLED,whichwill
illuminatewhenphantompowerispresent.
WhenconnectingtheO2toamixerorrecorderinput,besurethattheinput
isofmicrophonelevel.Alsobesurethatthephantompowerisengagedas
explainedattheprevioussection"PoweringtheO2".Mostmixersand
recordersofreasonablequalitywillofferamicrophoneinputwithmictrim
(usuallycalledTrimorGain)control.Thepurposeofthemictrimcontrolis
tooptimizetheamountofgoodsignaltoanynoiseassociatedwiththemixers
electronics.AgoodmicprewithtrimalsowillhaveaPEAKorCLIPLED.To
setagoodlevelonthemic,settheO2upinfrontofthedesiredsoundsource
andslowlyraisethemictrimcontroluntilyouseethePEAKLEDlightup.
Then,turnthemixtrimcontroldownuntiltheLEDdoesnotlightanymore.
Onmostmixers,theidealsettingisthatthetrimcontrolisturnedupasmuch
aspossiblewithoutlightingthePEAKLED.IfyoutryturningtheGaincontrol
allthewaydown,andthePEAKlightisstilllighting,tryusingtheO2PADas
explainedinthefollowingsection.
TheO2includesaPADswitch,which
youcanusetolowertheinputsensitivity
ofthemicrophone.WhenthePADswitch
issetatthe0dBposition,thePADis
bypassedandthereisnoeffectonthe
signal.WhenthePADswitchissetto
-10dBposition,themicrophone'sinput
sensitivitywillbeloweredby10dB.You
canusethePADwhenyouaremiking
loudsoundsourceswithahighSPL.
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2.UsingtheHi-PassFilter
UnderstandingPolarPatterns
TheO2offersauserselectablehi-pass,
orlow-cutfilterwhichyoucanuseto
eliminateanyunwantedlowfrequency
reproduction.WhentheHi-Passfilteris
settothe"Flat"(indicatedbythestraight
line)position,thereisnoeffectonthe
signal.WhentheHi-Passfilterissetto
the"Roll-Off"position(indicatedwiththe
angledline),a12dBperoctavelow-cut
at100Hzisappliedtothesignal.This
canbeextremelyusefulforremovinglowfrequencystagerumble,windnoise
duringoutdooruseandfilteringoutlowsfromdrumswhenusedasoverhead
cymbalmicrophoneonadrumkit.
Themostimportantcharacteristicofanymicrophoneisitsdirectionalityor
pickuppattern.Therearethreebasiccategoriesofpickuppatterns:Omni,
bianduni-directional.Omnimicspickupsoundfromalldirections,bi-
directional(Figure8)micspickupthesounddirectlyinfrontandbackof
themicrophonewhilerejectingthesoundontheleftandrightsides,and
uni-directional(Cardioid)micspickupthesoundinfrontofthemicrophone.
Whileomniandbi-directionalmicrophonesareveryusefulforavarietyof
applications,themajorityofmicingsituationsinrecordingandlivesound
requireuni-directionalorcardioidmicrophones.Theuni-directionalnature
allowsforbetterseparationofinstrumentsinthestudioandmorecontrol
overfeedbackinlivesoundreinforcement.TheO2condenser'spickup
patternishyper-cardioidwhichoffersevenmoreside-to-siderejection.
Whenpositionedcorrectlythehyper-cardioidpickuppatternallowsyouto
pickupmoreofthesoundyouwantandlessofthesoundyoudon'twant.
OperatingyourO2
0-10dB
2

MicrophonePlacement
Inordertomaximizethesoundquality,youmustpaycarefulattentiontothe
placementofyourO2andhowitispositionedfortheinstrumentorvocalist
thatyouaremiking.Allmicrophones,especiallyuni-directinalorcardioid
microphones,exhibitaphenomenonknowasthe"proximityeffect".Very
simplyput,proximityeffectisaresultingchangeinthefrequencyresponse
ofamicrophonebasedonthepositionofthemiccapsulerelativetothe
soundsource.Specifically,whenyoupointacardioidmicdirectlyatthe
soundsource(on-axis)youwillgetthebestfrequencyresponse,however,
whenyoustartpointingthemicrophoneslightlyaway(offaxis)youwill
noticethelowfrequencydroppingoffandthemicrophonewillstarttosound
thinner.
Formostvocalapplicationsyou'llwanttopositionthemicrophonedirectlyin
frontoftheartist.Thesamemaybetrueformikinginstruments.However,
youcanmakesomeprettyamazingequalizationadjustmentsbyslightly
changingtheangleofthecapsuletothesoundsource.Thiscanbeavery
usefultechniqueincapturingtheoptimumsoundofdrumset,acousticguitar,
pianoorotherinstrumentsinaliveroomorsoundstage.Experimentation
andexperiencearethebestteachersingettinggoodsounds,soplugin!
P-Popping
P-Poppingisthatannoyingpopthatyoucangetwhenthemicrophonedia-
phragmgetsablastofairfromavocalistpronouncingwordswiththeletter
"P"included.Thereareafewwaystodealwiththeproblemincludingusing
anexternalpopfilter.Somefamousengineershavereliedonanoldnylon
stockingoverabentclotheshanger,whichactuallyworksverywell.Fora
cleanersolution,tryICONPF-01popfilter.Youcanalsotryplacingthemicro-
phoneslightlyoffaxis(onaslightangle)fromthevocalist.Thiscanoften
solvetheproblemwithoutusinganexternalpopfilter.
OperatingyourO2
2

MountingtheO2
1.Placethemicrophonecarefullyintothe
SM-01shockmountbracketandposition
themicrophonestraightintothethreaded
collar.
2.TightentheSM-01threadedcollar
nearlyalltheway.
OperatingyourO2
0-10dB
Specification
AcousticalElement Backcondensercapsule
Directionalpattern Hyper-cardioid
Frequencyrange 40Hz-18KHz
Sensitivity -33dBV/Pa
RatedImpedance 200Ohms
MinLoadImpedance 1000Ohms
SPL 136dB
S/NRatio 78dB
PowerSupplyVoltage 36-52V
Dimensions 64mm(dia)x210mm(L)
Weight0.6
2

Services
ICONDigitalCorporation.
2222PleasantViewRoad,
Suite#1Middleton,
WI53562
Tel:[phone]Fax:[phone]
[e-mail]
ICONInternationalDigitalLimited
SuiteNos.7-10,
8thFloor,SunleyCentre,
No.9WingYinStreet,
KwaiChun.N.T.
HongKong
Tel:[phone]Fax:[phone]
[e-mail]
Foradditionalupdateinformationpleasevisitourwebsiteat:
www.icon-global.com
U.S.OFFICE:
ASIAOFFICE:
www.icon-global.com
IfyourO2needsservicing,followtheseinstructions.
1.Ensuretheproblemisnotrelatedtooperationerrororexternal
systemdevices.
2.Packtheunitinitsoriginalpackagingincludingendcardandbox.
Thisisveryimportant.Ifyouhavelostthepackaging,pleasemake
sureyouhavepackedtheunitproperly.ICONisnotresponsiblefor
anydamagethatoccursduetonon-factorypacking.
3.ContactyourIcondealerorifnoneisavailable,contactthenearest
ICONdistributororregionalofficetoobtainareturnauthorization.If
applicable,shippinginstructionswillbeprovidedbythedealeror
fromICON.
RefertoforacompletelistofcurrentIcon
distributionpolcations.
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