Behringer may have just taken the lead in "Best Bang/buck" mics

Harvey, would the output of the mic be high enough to bring into a line port? I'm not sure how building a phantom supply would help people who are using a typical computer soundcard, as you mentioned.

Regardless, this could be a cool idea for portable recording/sample gathering. Any chance you could point to a schematic or draw one? I can solder, but I need explicit instructions cus i'm stoopid.

Slackmaster 2000
 
I think I can explain it pretty simply. You'll need:

a small box,
a female and male XLR,
5 - nine volt batteries,
5 - nine volt battery clips,
two - 6,800 ohm (1%) resistors,
and two small, non-polarized 10 mfd capacitors.

Wire all 5 of the nine volt batteries in series, the (-) of one battery connected to the (+) of the next battery.

Connect the (-) pole of the last battery to Pin 1 of both XLR plugs.

Connect the (+) pole of the first battery to one end of both 6,800 ohm resistors. Tie the other end of the resistors to Pins 2 and 3 of the female XLR (the XLR that goes to the mic).

Connect one of the 10 mfd capacitors from Pin 2 of the female XLR plug (the XLR that goes to the mic) to Pin 2 of the male XLR plug (the XLR that goes to the board).


Finally, connect the other 10 mfd capacitor from Pin 3 of the female XLR plug (the XLR that goes to the mic) to Pin 3 of the male XLR plug (the XLR that goes to the board).The two capacitors prevent the phantom voltage from getting back into the board.

Mount the whole thing in the box, and you're ready to go. You can add a two pole (off/on switch in series with the batteries, if you wanna get fancy and have a shutoff. You can even put an LED in it to indicate "On").

Current drain is minimal, so the damn thing should last forever (even if you leave it on constantly).

If you pick up any stray hum from the box, line it with aluminum foil and connect the foil to Pin 1 of either XLR.
 
This is a pretty neat idea. How much voltage does this throw out? Enough to power a condensor, or just an electret? I'm no electronics guru, but do you multiply voltages in series? So 9*5 = 45V? Phantom power is 48V, do the 3 volts matter? Or am I just way off. Please explain I'd like to learn!

Also, you didn't explain how this would help somebody with just a computer and soundcard. Did you mean somebody who's got a computer, soundcard, and preamp without phantom power? The reason I ask is that I've been looking for a cheap way to record samples out in the wild...and maybe one of those cheap digital recorders could work, or even a cheapo minidisc recorder (can't afford the more expensive units...not high enough on the priority list).

Thanks!

Slackmaster 2000
 
Tee hee! :D

If that little box works like any other phantom power supply, I have a trip to Radio Shack in the very near future. I've been wondering about a cheap way to get my condensors as portable as my laptop, but every option I've seen requires an electrical outlet. Now I' m all excited to get out the ol' soldering iron.

Thanks,
Chris
 
Harvey said: "I think I can explain it pretty simply . . .

. . . Finally, connect the other 10 mfd capacitor from Pin 3 of the female XLR plug (the XLR that goes to the mic) to Pin 3 of the male XLR plug (the XLR that goes to the board).The two capacitors prevent the phantom voltage from getting back into the board. "

Chess says: Uh, yea. So all you're saying is he has to hook up that other doohickey from thingamabob 1 of the whatchamadoodle (that goes to the main thingey). And the two doohickeys prevent the phantom whatever from getting back to the main thingey.

Harvey, you really have a way of stating the obvious.
 
45V and a thank you

Slack, FWIW, my console's phantom supply is 45V. It's common on older Trident desks and works fine with 414s, SM81s, and the like. I think the phantom supply was suggested for someone who's soundcard could be switched to mic level but didn't provide 48V. So you still need something with mic level inputs.
Also, a big thank you to Harvey for bothering to give these mics a listen. I tried my new pair as OHs last night and they put my SM81s into retirement. Actually, it's a win-win since I prefer an 81 on snare and they're free'd up now! I wonder if those 603's would sound as good on toms as 451's do? Ahhh, inexpensive flexibility is a wonderful thing...
 
For those of you who "wanna do it right", I think Radio Shack has a small, round 12 volt cigarette lighter battery that's about the same diameter as a standard AA battery, but half the length. You could probably get one of their thingies that hold two AA batteries and put four of these 12 volt batteries in it, and get the full 48 volts to the mic.

Yeah, chesrock, I do try to keep expanations pretty simple for people without a lot of electronic experience - kinda like a rooting section going, "Yeah, you can do this!".
 
ok, these things suck

I bought 4 of these from 8th street..they all sound different, totally...I mic'd up a Yamaha NSa-636 playing Bon Jovi's It's my life from about 4 feet away, all of them pointed at the woofer, along with an AKG C3000b, just for kicks..

#1 - upper mids are very accented, highs are fairly sibilant
#2 - highs are kinda tinny, better than #1 overall
#3 - bass is less prominent than both 1/2, mids/highs are better
#4 - highs are somewhat harsh..best of all 4

C3000b - everything sounds more natural, no real harshness.

in comparison, the 8000's sound kinda gross compared to the AKG, just like something is 'wrong', but can't really put a finger on it.

But for $35 a piece, I could rig one up in the studio for a constant talkback mic..but forget about doing any stereo recording where consistency matters..they might sound decent on individual instruments, but it would be the last mic I'd go for..I think I'd go for an SM57 first.

I'll write more when I test them further, but so far, I'm underwhelmed.

--Sal
 
oh yea

And as a side note, I had the gain on my mackie board at 4 o'clock for the 8000's, and at a shade more than 12 for the AKG..but that could be from the cardiod bass proximity, although there wasn't any noticeably prominence when listening., and I had them all 4 feet away.

..just in general, the 8000s sounded unnatural, whereas the AKG sounded much smoother/natural, without any weird colorations

Everything was run thru my 32*8 with stock preamps.

--Sal

And as a side note, 8th street shipped the mics seperate from something else I ordered with them, because it wasn't due in for a few days..so praises to them, especially since the shipping was free.
 
no hard feelings but i think the majority here are going to trust harveys ears and experience when making their minds up
 
I think alot of us trust Harveys ears to weed out some crap and help with decisions, but in the end, ours ears tell us what we need to hear......
 
i dont think anyone mentioned they sounded better then the mics you have mentioned its better to read and ask rather then just make a statement in the middle of a post go back to post one start reading and have a listen to these mics as others have seem to have achieved good results maybe theres something that your doing which may need some tweaking
 
I dunno....

I got two of em and I'm not complaining...a better 70 dollars I could not spend, that's for sure. I didn't a/b them super closely but I have used them as a pair of drum overs and they sound quite alike to me.

The first thing I did was put one in an open room about shoulder height and play my acoustic guitar while singing and moving my head closer and farther from the mic just to kind of experiment on the sound with no prox effect. It was cool.I played that little track to my bass player and even HE said he couldn't believe how flat and realistic it sounds. I didn't detect any more noise than was already on in the background (an air filter).

It's a wierd mic thats for sure since most mics hype one frequency or another but I think the more creatively you use this mic, the cooler the results....(I stuck it up in a stairwell for ambient verb...COOL!) THANKS HARV!!!!

Now lemme make two more points:

1. If anybody thought they were getting Earthworks quality for 35 bucks, they deserve anything they get (or don't get for that matter)!:p

2. I'm not a pro...so fuck me and my little pissant observations too!!:D :D

Ok that's all,

heylow
Rock Jedi/Indie Snob
www.heylowsoundsystem.net

PS I'm listening to the Flaming Lips' Soft Bulletin record and thinking "I will never be that cool." Thought I'd share:rolleyes:
 
AND....

...it's cool to know I started a new page for a change!

(hee hee post count upper!! who'll notice in such a long thread, right?);)



heylow
(yadda yadda yadda)
 
hm

I read most of the posts in the thread, which is why I bought them..I got the impression they were a decent omni..but I was just saying they don't even compare to an SM57. Maybe mine are defective..but all 4 being bad.. I dunno

The main problems I have with them is that all 4 sound entirely different, so a decent stereo image is gonna be defective..they all have an entirely different color.

I just expected better.

I think I remember Harvey saying his worry was of consistency between mics..this is definitely true for the ones I got.

--Sal
 
I just tried mine tonight on acoustic guitar with Harvey's over-the-shoulder technique--about 6 inches above the bout. I also used an MXL 603 about 6 inches above the 12th fret for a stereo recording. I'm quite happy with the result.
 
Recorded drums w/ a couple of room mics, and used an ECM to fill in the HHat/snare. About 3 feet out & 2 feet above the HHat directly to the left (drummer's POV), pointing down diagonally toward the HHat.

Gave me a very predictable and "honest" representation of that side of the kit. And worked well at both super-loud and moderate playing levels.

Great new toys-
My thanks to Harvey..
 
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