Hi, I am looking for a Lavalier microphone to plug directly into a Sony Hi-MD, to be used for professional quality speech recording. It will be used to record voice of a yoga teacher who may be moving around the room, and there may be background noise in the room of students moving about. If some background noise strays in, i may be able to remove it later using Adobe Audition to clean up the sound. The finished product will be a CD to help the students follow the same class at home. I am hoping to capture only the teachers voice, and to preserve as much quality and tone and expression in their voice. Some of the speech recorded will be relaxation at the end of a class, and i would like to keep the subtlety of the teachers voice even when it may be quiet, and preserve all tone and feeling in the voice. The teacher will be moving, so any advice on minimsing rustling noises against their clothes. They may also be moving their head from side to side as they move abaout, so don't know if this could affect choice of microphone type or positioning. Minidisc will probably be on their belt, with mic plugged directly into it. I guess i will have to test recording levels before class starts, and then lock the settings and press 'record'. The microphone should not be too intrusive, so preferably not a head set. The microphone will not be used for anything else. I don't think i can justify a wireless setup, as i think these will cost more than 500 euros. I am not looking for the cheapest solution microphone. I would prefer to hear information on the best possible microphone (ok within reason, lets say less than 300 euros) to be used for this specific purpose. I have seen many many people giving advice "you can use any cheap microphone if you are just recording speech" so i am hoping to avoid that type of advice. After reading many of the topics in this Forum, my beginners understanding is that i am looking for Lavalier (to keep hands free)Battery powered consenser Cardoid Unidirectional (to minimise background noise) 40 - 16,000 Hz (or less to hone in on speech frequency and eliminate thuds ?) Runs on plug in power (not Phantom) so can plug direct into Minidisc High Signal to Noise (to give best quality) I think Mono would be best from what i have read, as stereo can leave a missing area directly in front of the microphone? Can a Stereo Mic offer me anything that a Mono won't be able to provide for what i am looking for? I have read that balanced lines could prevent interference includng that from Dimming light circuits. I am not sure if a Mic with balanced lines can plug directly into the minidisc ? I am a newbie and am not familiar with a lot of the technical jargon, so hoping your answers can take this into account. Recommendations on specific models would also be appreciated. I am on holiday in Japan at present, so if i can pick up a bargain in the next week, that would be even better. Looking forward to hearing your advice. Dave
