fatmuttony Posted March 7, 2006 Report Share Posted March 7, 2006 I have a MZ-RH710, and I plan to use it to record both speech (one-on-one interviews) and live performance music.1) For recording speech, should I go for a vocal mic like the Shure SM-57, considering quality of output and ruggedness?2) For live music, what kind of mic will I need?3) I live in India, which is wet, humid, and hot. Is it recommended to use an electret mic in this climate? What are my alternatives?4) Can I use a normal condenser mic with a Mic > Battery Module > Line-in configuration? If not, what are the possibilities of using a normal condenser mic with my MD Recorder? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
greenmachine Posted March 10, 2006 Report Share Posted March 10, 2006 1)and 2) It's not necessary to have separate microphones for different purposes if they are high enough quality. Speech is propably the least demanding for recording. Virtually any mic will do. If you want to focus on the voice and reduce the amount of room reverberations on your recording (for whatever reason), you'll need to move close to the source and/or need a mic with cardioid pattern. Music and other complex noises will sound most natural with omnidirectional stereo mics which can be separated to the width of the distance of your ears.3) High frequencies might get (slightly) attenuated when using (prepolarized) condenser mics in a wet climate, humidity can settle temporarily on the very light diaphragm (condensation) and make it heavier. I don't think there will be long term effects though. Better a mic that is slightly disabled under certain extreme conditions than a dynamic mic that sounds bad all the time. That said, i think the effects would be barely noticable even in a wet climate.4) Non-prepolarized condenser mics need Phantom power of usually 48V, the voltage of a battery module would be too low. You'd need an external phantom power supply. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fatmuttony Posted March 11, 2006 Author Report Share Posted March 11, 2006 Brilliant, thanks! That just about explained every thing I was confused about. Thanks again. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
A440 Posted March 11, 2006 Report Share Posted March 11, 2006 Greenmachine is modest about self-promotion, but a pair of his handmade omnidirectional mics will probably serve your purposes for both speech and music. http://forums.minidisc.org/index.php?showtopic=14388 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fatmuttony Posted March 13, 2006 Author Report Share Posted March 13, 2006 So, is omnidirectional the same as binaural? Because, AFAIK, Greenmachine's site offers the binaural stealth microphones, correct?So, is this some off-the-catalogue, 'special' item? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Low Volta Posted March 13, 2006 Report Share Posted March 13, 2006 - omnidirectional refers to the pickup pattern of the mic: not-unidirectional but omni- = it picks up sound from all directions- binaural is actually a specific way of positioning mics = to resemble the pickup pattern of your 'two ears' and this is often done by placing two omni mics (or a separable stereo mic ) close to (or even in) your ears (with your head in between to create a left and right stereo effect)in short, greenmachine offers very small omni stereo mics which are very good for stealth binaural recording Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
A440 Posted March 13, 2006 Report Share Posted March 13, 2006 It's not "off-the-catalogue," it's a small homemade project. It's the kind of thing you can do yourself if you get the parts and have a steady hand with a soldering iron (which I don't). The parts themselves aren't expensive; you're paying for the time, care (microphone elements vary widely and need to be matched) and skill of the builder. The inexpensive mics that Sony offers for minidisc are relatively big, add self-noise and don't pick up enough bass (most go down only to 100 hz). So other mic makers, small and large, fill the gap. Microphones similar to greenmachine's are easily available in the United States from Sound Professionals, Microphone Madness and Core Sound, and in Canada from Church Audio. People elsewhere have either had to pay a lot more or hope that hobbyists selling their own homemade versions on eBay would live up to their claims. Now that greenmachine is selling them it makes it a lot easier for people elsewhere in the world to afford them. If you do want to sneak these mics into a concert, they're small and concealable. If you don't, they still sound good and are very versatile. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fatmuttony Posted March 16, 2006 Author Report Share Posted March 16, 2006 Apologies to TLV and A440, I missed these two replies from the two of you.I am SERIOUSLY considering greenmachine's mics. But, what with the RH1 due for announcement, and my need for a good MD recorder with line-out capabilities (NH900?), I need to plan out my expenses a bit I guess I'll have to wait for reviews of RH1 (June?) before I can make up my mind.Thanks for all the info though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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