[Elecraft] K4 and Yamaha CM-500 Mic?

[Pete Smith N4ZR]

My CM-500 is about 4 years old, and shedding ear-pads, but it works fine 
with my K3.

73, Pete N4ZR

On 7/31/2023 6:52 AM, Alan Bloom wrote:
> I had never used my CM-500 on a K3 so I can't do that comparison. But 
> on the K4 I had to turn on the internal mic preamp and set the mic 
> gain all the way to maximum.  That seemed to give about the correct 
> level - I could talk at normal loudness to get 5 on the ALC.
>
> I also use the CM-500 on my laptop to record a radio show.  I had to 
> turn up the gain close to max on the computer as well.  I think 
> late-production CM-500s just tend to have low microphone sensitivity.
>
> Alan
>
>
> On 7/31/2023 1:40 AM, Oscar Staudt wrote:
>> When I got my K4D a month ago, I unplugged my Yamaha CM-500 mic and
>> headphones from my K3, and plugged them into the back of my K4. I set 
>> the
>> mic input to rear, and mic bias on.  I expected the mic to perform
>> like it had in the K3.
>>
>>
>> I attempted to get 3-5 bars of ALC by turning up the mic gain 
>> control.  Even
>> with the gain up to 80, I’d have to speak *very* loudly to just get a
>> flicker on the ALC meter.
>>
>>
>> I then went back into the mic configuration and turned on the preamp 
>> (14dB).
>> After that I could get  some ALC bars with the mic gain around 65 or 
>> more.  But
>> I still  had to talk much louder than I had to with the same mic on 
>> the K3.
>> (note:  mic level on the K3 was set around 7).
>>
>>
>> Question:  Is it reasonable to expect that I’d have to have the mic 
>> gain at
>> such a high level - and still have to talk louder than my normal (K3)
>> level?
>>
>>
>> BTW, I can hook up the MH-4, switch to front mic, and all works 
>> smooth with
>> mic gain around 12.
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>
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