newbie / Sharp MT 877 mic?

[r_i_c]

Hi - Ric / newbie,

i experiment a lot with recording devices and have finally caught up with MD. have tried a range of external microphones with the sharp - all giving worries except a tiny 'tie-clip' stereo mic, which the Sharp really seems to get on with -

all the other mics - including a condenser - seem to give a noisy jack connection, which i have never encountered when using them in other devices - so i wondered, is there a particular type of mic which has to be used with this MD player/recorder or all MD's, please?

thanks,

Ric

[A440]

is there a particular type of mic which has to be used with this MD player/recorder or all MD's, please?

In a word, no. Electret condenser mics with miniplugs should all work as well as they work with any other recording device. Since that is an old unit, I would be suspicious of your mic jack having connection problems.

That doesn't explain the tieclip mic working, though. Tieclip mics are usually made for voice, with a narrower frequency range than mics made for other recording jobs (music, ambience, etc.). The fact that it works would suggest that the other mics are picking up some kind of noise that the tieclip isn't sensitive to. But if it's really static coming from the jack connection, that doesn't make any sense--it would be in the tieclip recodring as well. Maybe the tieclip has some infinitesimally fatter plug or something that holds the jack in place. But that is a total guess.

Edited September 24, 2007 by A440

[r_i_c]

In a word, no. Electret condenser mics with miniplugs should all work as well as they work with any other recording device. Since that is an old unit, I would be suspicious of your mic jack having connection problems.

That doesn't explain the Sony working, though. Tieclip mics are usually made for voice, with a narrower frequency range than mics made for other recording jobs (music, ambience, etc.). The fact that it works would suggest that the other mics are picking up some kind of noise that the tieclip isn't sensitive to. But if it's really static coming from the jack connection, that doesn't make any sense--it would be in the tieclip recodring as well. Maybe the Sony has some infinitesimally fatter plug or something that holds the jack in place. But that is a total guess.

thanks A440,

it is weird - when i use the other mics through an extension lead, they all work fine ~ i have no idea why? could it be the other mics are more sensitive than the tie clip (make unknown) , that there is some kind of interaction between mic/jack and recorder, when all are in close proximity, so that distanced by the extension lead, this effect vanishes? one of the jacks started making noises in the mic, like it was acting as an aerial, at one point - or like micro feedback?

extension lead has solved the issue, anyway :]

many thanks,

Ric

[A440]

The unit itself makes noise spinning up the disc. Maybe the tieclip isn't sensitive enough to pick it up and the other mics are. That would explain why the extension lead worked.

Or, if it is a jack problem, maybe the extension lead somehow fits the jack better.

[r_i_c]

The unit itself makes noise spinning up the disc. Maybe the tieclip isn't sensitive enough to pick it up and the other mics are. That would explain why the extension lead worked.

Or, if it is a jack problem, maybe the extension lead somehow fits the jack better.

could well have been either - or a mixture of both? i bought the player to use with an ornithologist's listening mic to pick up ambient, outdoor sound for a soundtrack (small project) - everything worked fine over the weekend when i tested if out: in fact the mic is too powerful, picks up the noise of car engines and aeroplanes that you are not aware of otherwise: i may experiment with a 'sound baffle' - which would double as a wind baffle?

for someone who grew up with cassette recorder technology, the Sharp MD is sensational - with it's plug-in control device so you can noiselessly operate the unit without actually touching it?

highly impressed

thanks

Ric