Yet another mic suggestion!

[Usherette]

First of all, hi to everyone! I'm Andrea from Rome :grin:

I've just received my first minidisc: it's a Sony MZ-N510 Type-S.

I've read that it hasn't got a specific mic input, but I was told that I can still make live recs with the line in input. (hoping that it's true! :grin: )

Well, what kind of microphone would you suggest me? I'd need it to record vocals and piano performances. No professional stuff, but still something that could guarantee a good recording!

thanks in advance

[Usherette]

Ok, I've just read that the ideal would be getting a pre-amp mic (something like this, I imagine http://www.minidiscaccess.com/item.html?PRID=1324310 ).

My question is: is it worth it?

Will the sound be as good as the one I would get with a MD WITH a mic input?

Thanks again.

[A440]

Your link leads to a mic pre-amp, and you are still going to need a mic to plug into it.

Together they will actually give you a better recording than a mic jack will, because the large, powered outboard pre-amp via line-in should give you a slightly cleaner signal than the little built-in pre-amp that powers a mic jack.

If you're not concerned with stealth or convenience, then the preamp will definitely give you better quality.

You've linked to a Microphone Madness preamp, which (surprisingly) is the same price as it is at the www.microphonemadness.com website. You can also compare preamps at

http://www.soundprofessionals.com/cgi-bin/...tegory/540/mics

The choice you need to make is this: Do you want to carry around the MD unit and an extra box, or do you want to do without the extra box and get a MD unit with a mic jack? Used ones on Ebay from the previous Sony vintage, like the MZ-N707, will probably run you about the same price as the preamp, though of course you have to be careful getting used gizmos.

And by the way, if the music is extremely loud, just try plugging the mic directly into line-in and see if it provides enough of a signal that way.