A Badly Design Shockmount
I recently purchased a stereo matched pair of AKC C414 XLSs. I absolutely love these mics… especially for overheads. I’ve used so many different pairs and these just take the cake. But I have one serious complaint: their H-85 spider shockmounts are poorly designed. As a matter of fact, I believe they are designed to fail.
I have no complaints at all about how the mount holds the mic. I actually think it’s quite brilliant. It’s very easy for you to adjust angles, etc. But they break way too easily at the neck between the clip and the mount itself. One recently fell over at my studio and snapped in half. Then, not more than two weeks later, I was working at Studio 1916 down in Austin and, low and behold, I see an AKG C414 shockmount on their shelf broken in exactly the same way.
Dusty Wakeman over at Mojave Mics says most manufacturers spend very little money on their shockmounts. In the range of about 50ยข (see this video from audiomidi.com at about 7:30). That’s pretty frikin’ cheap. I have no idea how much AKG spends on these, but they sure sell for a small fortune. $120 bones or so. And the warranty doesn’t cover “accidents.” That sucks. Bad business, AKG.
Luckily, the guys over at Sweetwater are fantastic and gave me a hook-up on a replacement. AKG, I love your mics. They make me happy every time I use them. Please. I implore you to make your shockmount more durable.
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