Trying to use a mic?!?!

[Beyer66]

hey, i just joined the forum, i hope some people here can give me some tips on usinig my net-md recorder.i'm trying to record live music with it. i just bought it from ebay a month or two ago, its a sony Net MD MZ-N510CK, which doesn't have a mic-in port, but my buddy had one once and he said you can use the line in with a powered mic. i borowed his sony powered mic, and it works, but i have to set the line level for recording all the way to 30 and the final recording comes out at a low volume. of course i tried everything like checking the batteries, etc..

i even contacted customer service via email with sony, and they advised me that the model # on the mic i'm using is not compatible with my MD. i asked which mic IScompatible, and they didnt really have an answer. i see alot of independent companies on the web selling stereo mics with battery boxes in-line, which look cool because you can hide the two small mics under the brim of your hat or something if you want to bootleg a concert. anyway, has anybody used one of these mics? http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewI...A%3AIT&rd=1

its 80 bucks and if i spend that much and it doesnt work that will suck. i also have been considering getting a new hi-md unit. i found some good prices on them, and i know they have mic-in plugs.

any ideas? should i get a better unit???

[bobt]

The only way you will get a mic to work with your unit is with a pre-amp, you would to better to try to plug into the mixing board line-out. That is not possible a lot of the time, so your next real choice is getting a unit with a mic input. a 700 or 800 can be got relatively cheaply, but if you can spare the dough, get an RH1, you will like it.

Good luck,

Bob

[A440]

With amplified music you can go Mic-Battery module--Line-in. That's how I do nearly all my concert recordings.

These are the mics I use, about the size of Jelly Baby jellybeans:

http://www.soundprofessionals.com/cgi-bin/gold/item/SP-BMC-2

and this is the battery module, about the size of a keychain remote:

http://www.microphonemadness.com/products/mmcbmminminc.htm

That's a 9V battery module, stronger than your 1.5 volt AA and way smaller.

Very stealthy and hi-fi.

They're not the only choices by any means, but if you're recording music with any bass in it, look for a frequency response of 20-20,000 Hz, which your Sony doesn't have. (The ECM-MS907 is 100-15,000 Hz.) Before you buy Giant Squid, which does advertise 20-20,000 Hz, listen to the sound samples on their website. They sound awful to me--possibly because they're using bass roll-off without mentioning it, but there's no bottom to the recordings (check the B-52's or the Blue Notes) and the vocals are hugely exaggerated.

Yes, you should get a Hi-MD unit like the MZ-NH700 ($150 at http://www.minidiscaccess.com), not so much for the mic jack (though it's excellent for interviews) but because you'll be able to upload your recordings to a PC. (If you have a Mac, save up for a while and go for the MZ-RH1.) However, if you are recording amplified music you'll probably want to get a battery module and go through line-in anyway, because loud music often overloads the built-in mic preamp.

Edited September 13, 2006 by A440

[Richard]

* Moved to Live Recording Section

[Beyer66]

With amplified music you can go Mic-Battery module--Line-in. That's how I do nearly all my concert recordings.

These are the mics I use, about the size of Jelly Baby jellybeans:

http://www.soundprofessionals.com/cgi-bin/gold/item/SP-BMC-2

and this is the battery module, about the size of a keychain remote:

http://www.microphonemadness.com/products/mmcbmminminc.htm

That's a 9V battery module, stronger than your 1.5 volt AA and way smaller.

Very stealthy and hi-fi.

They're not the only choices by any means, but if you're recording music with any bass in it, look for a frequency response of 20-20,000 Hz, which your Sony doesn't have. (The ECM-MS907 is 100-15,000 Hz.) Before you buy Giant Squid, which does advertise 20-20,000 Hz, listen to the sound samples on their website. They sound awful to me--possibly because they're using bass roll-off without mentioning it, but there's no bottom to the recordings (check the B-52's or the Blue Notes) and the vocals are hugely exaggerated.

Yes, you should get a Hi-MD unit like the MZ-NH700 ($150 at http://www.minidiscaccess.com), not so much for the mic jack (though it's excellent for interviews) but because you'll be able to upload your recordings to a PC. (If you have a Mac, save up for a while and go for the MZ-RH1.) However, if you are recording amplified music you'll probably want to get a battery module and go through line-in anyway, because loud music often overloads the built-in mic preamp.

you said i should get the hi-md JUST so i can upload my tunes to a PC??

i can do that with my current unit, or any minidisc recorder cant i?

i would think the major advantage of the hi-md format is the 40 hour discs, and the ability to use it as a additional computer drive if needed.

thanks for the advice on the mic, though. i may consider one of those mics, because even if i switch to a nicer recorder eventually, i can still use this mic.

[raintheory]

Only Hi-MD units will actually upload (faster than realtime, digital copy) to PC.

You can run a line from any MD recorder to your PC soundcard and record in realtime (analog).

[A440]

NetMD units like yours can download songs from the computer faster than realtime, but it's only one-way. You can't upload live recordings you have made--only record them out of the headphone jack.

Hi-MD finally (and way too late) allows direct, fairly fast digital uploading. Only one model of Hi-MD will upload older recordings that weren't made on a Hi-MD unit--that's the RH1.