Leaving a condensor mic out - how naughty is it really?

Snags

For context, we're talking very much home user, dabbling largely for own amusement in the back bedroom. Average levels of dust and detritus[1], and no particular damp issues in the house.

We're also not talking high-end gear, largely because of the above - all recording kit is comfortably sub- £100 per 'chunk', some very much so. The condensor in question is an MXL770.

Having read up that you need to store condensors in their cases, with silica gel etc. because they're prone to damage from moisture, I've been faithfully setting up and taking down every time I do anything (and using a half-decent pop shield).

However, my work flow/timings usually mean that I don't get much of a run at things, and it would be handy sometimes to just leave the mic on the stand for two or three days so I can just grab 30 minutes here and there to do an overdub or a different take, without having the psychological hurdle of getting it out, plugging up, taking it down again etc.

Am I being overly paranoid? As long as I don't leave it out for weeks on end, is that likely to be OK? Or am I doing the right thing, and I should just suck it up and only do things when I know I have the time? There's often a lot of faffing anyway, as there's not much space, so I tend to do any guitar/amp stuff in a block, and then vocal stuff later, otherwise there's a constant swapping of heads/mics and wotnot, so it's really laziness and curioisity that's prompting the query.

[1] untidy, cluttered, not cleaned as often or thoroughly as a house-proud presentation conscious functioning adult would like, but not so bad you'd be nervous about entering the premises or accepting a cup of coffee from the hygiene risk. On the spectrum of "laboratory clean room" to "unspeakable bio-hazard hovel" it's very much in the middle ground of "normal busy human dwelling with no latent OCD".

Stuckfast

It'll be fine.

If you're really bothered, get one of those fabric bags with a draw string and put it over the mic when not in use.

Winny_Pooh

Put a sock over it to keep dust off and that is fine. Moisture from breath is more of an issue than moisture from a normal room.

Musicwolf

My Rode NT1 has been left out in my various home studios for much of the last two decades.  It's very hard to say to what extent its performance has deteriorated during that time (my ears have probably deteriorated more) but it still works and my vocals still sound as shit today as they did 20 years ago.  I keep thinking of upgrading but that can wait until I've got something better to point it at.

spark240

My SE condenser is out all the time...no issue yet.

Tex Mexico

The issue with leaving condenser mics on stands is that they risk getting knocked over. They're not designed to be as resilient to abuse as e.g. an SM58.

I have an extremely heavy-duty mic stand for condensers and ribbons. Literally can't be knocked over, it's more like a PA speaker stand and it's got a 5kg counterweight on the boom arm.

I have left valuable mics set up on that for days on end because of how much of a faff it is to put it away. They have gold-sputtered diaphragms so shouldn't tarnish and my house isn't damp or anything, so the worst that will happen is a bit of dust. If it was a really valuable mic I might put it away just in case, but I don't have any of those.

octatonic

I tend to not leave mics out, as it has been mentioned more because they are prone to getting knocked over.
The level of care is generally related to how expensive and or fragile a microphone is.

Dynamics I don't really worry about.
Condensers get put into their cases, or at least covered when not in use.
Ribbons get handled gently and as little as possible, stored in their cases without fail and stored vertically in most cases too.

If you are looking for a good series of cases to store microphones in I've been quite a fan of these:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00S86TLKI

They are about 1/3rd the price of the Pelican cases they are a copy of.

Jalapeno

As long as they're not particularly rare or valuable I don't think it matters overly.

lento

octatonic said:

Ribbons get handled gently and as little as possible, stored in their cases without fail and stored vertically in most cases too.

Exactly what I do, storing vertically prevents the ribbon from sagging.
Another solution for keeping dust at bay is a freezer bag 

ESBlonde

For a sub £100 condenser there is probably more variation from one example to the next than you are likely to develop from dust or moisture, especially if you have a separate pop filter.

These modern low cost condenser mics are also generally far more resiliant than the classic expensive mics of the past. Having a slip over cover would be a good compromise for these budget mics in a home setting.

For the more expensive esoteric U87s etc. definately take all due care all the time.

Bill_S

My Rode condenser has been sat on its stand in a home environment for more than 10 years with zero ill effects. Nothing to worry about!