# why don't mikes work? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [August 10, 2000, 3:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-mikes-work/28843 "2000-08-10T15:25:19Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![curwin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f05b48/32.png) [@curwin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/curwin)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2000, 3:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-mikes-work/28843/1 "2000-08-10T15:25:19Z")
I was at a lecture the other day with a few speakers. There were a few microphones, and one seemed always not to be working. I was thinking about it and realized that almost whenever microphones are used in public forums they don’t work well. Why is that? It’s not like someone always is needed to fix the lights, or the air conditioning. ---
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2000, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-mikes-work/28843/2 "2000-08-10T15:53:36Z")
A few reasons: Public mikes and cables tend to take a beating. Microphone internals are more delicate than many people think and will fail if abused. Mike setups are often not properly tested prior to meetings. If mike setups are switched around for different meeting configurations one mike is often/sometimes not re-attached properly to the mixer or input section. Setting audio levels and checking that all mikes are secured correctly is more involved than flipping a light switch and there are more opportunities, probability wise, for things to go wrong. ---
**Author:** ![Saltire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saltire/32/553_2.png) [@Saltire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saltire)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2000, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-mikes-work/28843/3 "2000-08-10T16:26:04Z")
To continue where astro left off: In convention centers and suchlike, the sound is often set up by the maintenance crew, which is usually more experienced with plumbing and building repair than with audio electronics. These places rarely find it worth the money to keep an actual sound engineer on staff. ---
**Author:** ![Meephead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b782af/32.png) [@Meephead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Meephead)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2000, 5:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-mikes-work/28843/4 "2000-08-10T17:08:36Z")
As a sound tech, this is what I have seen. Many people who speak don’t know how to use a microphone. If the speaker is not close enough to the microphone or not speaking directly toward it, you may not hear them without turning it WAY up. At that point, you have feedback, people’s ears start bleeding, and then you STILL can’t hear the speaker. ---
**Author:** ![justwannano](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/7ab992/32.png) [@justwannano](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/justwannano)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2000, 2:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-mikes-work/28843/5 "2000-08-11T02:35:54Z")
Also with hard wired mikes nobody ever fixes them. If it worked the last time with a little help it will work again. Never mind that the wire is broken and the guy that was holding it just right wasn’t on the clean up crew and doesn’t care about the next time. ---
**Author:** ![casdave](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c6cbf5/32.png) [@casdave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/casdave)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2000, 5:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-mikes-work/28843/6 "2000-08-11T05:47:08Z")
Its like anything else, folk get lazy. One mike goes down but hey that’s ok cos there are 3 more and you cope, then another and so on, before long there is a crisis so someone is sent out in a hurry to get a new one because no-one has the time to sent the pile of faulty ones off for repair. After a while either someone new starts and opens a cupboard and says " What the hell" and sends them off to be repaired. Since there are now up to a dozen duff mikes which have further deteriorated having been thrown around in a cupboard and things dumped on top or cannabalised the final repair bill is huge. Some mike elements can cost over $50. ---
**Author:** ![conway](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ec9cab/32.png) [@conway](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/conway)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2000, 5:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-mikes-work/28843/7 "2000-08-11T17:04:47Z")
I’ve never had any problem with the Irish ---
**Author:** ![FairyChatMom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fairychatmom/32/21825_2.png) [@FairyChatMom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FairyChatMom)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2000, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-mikes-work/28843/8 "2000-08-11T17:16:55Z")
So, how do you know if it’s the mic or the user? How close should the speaker be? I see singers with their lips right against the mics - UGH! I have a fairly loud voice that I project fairly well, so I expect I should step back a bit farther than the shy individual who barely gets above a whisper. Is there some generic guidance for using a microphone? ---
**Author:** ![wring](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/838e76/32.png) [@wring](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wring)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2000, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-mikes-work/28843/9 "2000-08-11T17:27:40Z")
the mic is the only part of the audio system that pretty much everybody feels ok about mucking around with. You have your “guys” set up the system, with the wires, and amps and all, and up to the mic on the podium, then, everybody and their brother comes over to the thing and fiddles with it. Tilts it up and down, tries to remove it from it’s holder, etc. etc. the connections from the actual mic and the wires take a real beating. My SO who fixes that sort of stuff for a living, sees alot of them. other answer? why don’t mikes work? 'cause no one will hire 'em… (ducks and runs for cover) ---
**Author:** ![justwannano](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/7ab992/32.png) [@justwannano](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/justwannano)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2000, 10:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-mikes-work/28843/10 "2000-08-11T22:40:08Z")
I was called to a church one time to “repair” the PA system.Luckily I found the problem was the connector at the mike end. They had stapled the mike cord to the floor and laid carpet over it. It ran about 35 feet to where they had the amplifier. I don’t know where the speaker wire was to the speakers in the back of that church. Slings entire cardboard box of tangled mike cords at wring.