do microphones lose sound quality with age?

[Plugintester]

I am going to buy me a Sennheiser MD 441.
One produced in 1979 and another one in 1988. 1979 mic is cheaper.
I know the condition of a mic depends on dust, smoke, hours of use etc.
But is an older one generally worse than a newer one?

[BertKoor]

The moving parts (membranes) might age and lose some needed flexibility. 35 or 45 years is imho not so much a difference.
Then designs and used materials might change over years. For better or worse? Who knows...
One thing is for sure: this is not a "hand-matched" stereo pair. But you never know.
I don't recall a manufacturer ever saying the newer model was worse than the old, but users often do!
Second hand stuff goes for various prices, whatever the seller is wanting and buyer is willing to pay.

Good luck!!

[Plugintester]

The moving parts (membranes) might age and lose some needed flexibility. 35 or 45 years is imho not so much a difference.
Then designs and used materials might change over years. For better or worse? Who knows...
One thing is for sure: this is not a "hand-matched" stereo pair. But you never know.
I don't recall a manufacturer ever saying the newer model was worse than the old, but users often do!
Second hand stuff goes for various prices, whatever the seller is wanting and buyer is willing to pay.

Good luck!!

thanks. I want just one mic, not a stereo matched pair, so just have to decide which one to take from two different sellers. Unfortunately they live too far away, so I can't test them. I just! think the opposite, older might be worse than newer

[mixyguy2]

They're probably almost exactly the same as far as quality, but the older one has 5 more years of use. How much and how well it was treated, you'll never know. If the price isn't much different, I'd get the newer one.

[HAL76]

Neumann: Six Key Questions when Investing in a Used Microphone Legend

https://www.neumann.com/homestudio/en/s ... one-legend

[PatchAdamz]

I am going to buy me a Sennheiser MD 441.
One produced in 1979 and another one in 1988. 1979 mic is cheaper.
I know the condition of a mic depends on dust, smoke, hours of use etc.
But is an older one generally worse than a newer one?

It depends of how they were kept and used.

If they were kept in the case between uses that helps.
Was there smoke in the environment, was it used live, did it takes some hits (it is a drum mic) etc.

If taken care of they can last a very long time.

[lwj]

Judging from this ancient Beyerdynamic I have.. definite yes.

edit: it's not necessarily a bad sound for spoken word actually.

[goldenanalog]