I'm talking about wired ones. Typical studio mics. Not wireless.

Has anyone had an issue with mics getting a tad buzzy with different electronics nearby? Specifically neon signs?

I have a below average studio mic. But when I turn on a couple decorative light fixtures in my music room ( a rope light, for example ) it SEEMS like that causes issues with my mic clarity. Does anyone know if it because of the quality of the mic? Or are there specific things that can cause problems no matter what the quality of microphone?

Balanced or unbalanced?

The biggest electronic culprit I've noticed are cell phone beeps bleeding into equipment when they are sitting next to a console.

RF can come from many sources. It's just a matter of tracing it.

Do the rope lights run from a switch mode power supply? Maybe they are PWM controlled(for dimming,etc.)? that could cause some noise.

Try "sniffing" around the room with a small AM radio,that might help you find the source(s) of noise.

Some AC Line filtering might not hurt either.

Yeah - the lights have a dimmer. That could explain it, eh? The colors fade in and out and you can adjust the rate at which they cycle. I bet that's it. Thanks for the tips.

Any known issues with proximity to neon signs? And maybe the mic won't effected, but any future kids I have may have " giant eyeball " or " hot dog fingers."

A phone tech tone tracer is pretty good for picking up noise as well. Had a monitor once that got replaced twice and the video card once before discovering that the small electric stapler sitting on the desk was what caused the purple haze on the monitor. Apparantely there is a small solenoid putting off EMI, moved stapler and problem solved. Maybe wont affect a mic but just used as an example that weird stuff can cause problems. Just shut everthing down and turn on one thing at a time till the problem rears it's head.

>>Any known issues with proximity to neon signs? And maybe the mic won't effected, but any future kids I have may have " giant eyeball " or " hot dog fingers."<<

Probably not any more issues than there is with living under high tension power lines.

might try a different mic cable. may be bad shielding in the current mic cable.

The microphone cable is the most likely culprit, and it is one that is easy to diagnose (by trying a different cable). The microphone itself could be picking up the interference, as well. A dynamic microphone, for instance, will pick up stray magnetic fields from ballasts, transformers, wiring, etc.

Try the following:

1) Plug in the mic with a different cable, if you have one.
2) Move the cable and microphone with respect to the sign. The purpose of this is to isolate whether it is the cable or the microphone that is picking up the noise.

I had serious buzz issue in my studio a few years ago. Drove me nuts because it was intermittent. It would show up on recordings and then not show up.

I ended up calling a friend of mine who help me put the studio together and we finally traced the buzz to an external hard drive unit on my desk. When it was plugged into my computer it would create a buzz every time it went to back up something automatically.

Ground loops ! Thats why balanced mics are usually best if you can get them into your mixer set up. Lower impedance and has a true drain for a shield.

CJ, neon signs run on high voltage and the light emitted is from an "arc" in the glass tube that excites the gas. In some instances they run 15KV+.

There is no telling at what frequencies the noise from the arc resides. Probably runs from DC to light (no pun intended...well, maybe a little!).

BTW neon sign transformers make an awesome Jacobs ladder! When I was in high school I scored 2 or 3 neon sign transformers that were 15KV @ 30mA. You could draw a mean arc with that!!

If the microphone is unbalanced and/or the mixer is unbalanced and you're going into a pc without a balanced audio input card,
the whole circuit is an antenna for every transformer within range.
That's why I initially asked, "Balanced or unbalanced." Deal or no deal. Open the suitcase.

I'll agree with Andy. All professional installations should utilize balanced low impedance lines. Period.
High impedance microphone wires run across stages, floors, over some distance...... the wire becomes like a microphone, even. Picks up people walking on wood floors, and god knows what other junk is out there.

Thanks guys - sincerely.