Sony Electret Condenser Microphones

Bass Master "K"

Bass Master "K"

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In the past two months I have read several articles regarding great uses for MiniDisc Digital recorders. It would seem they are great for many different musical applications, one of which is collecting your own digital samples. This is the one that interests me the most.

Sony is the leader in Mini Disc recorders and the more spendy ones have a "powered microphone" jack (1/8" mini-jack) that can appearently power up "Electret Condenser Microphones"

Sony sells a few different types of stereo mics of this type, one is a single headed unit that is stereo, the other is a "T" design stereo unit with two mics on the ends.

I have a few questions if anyone out there can help on this.

What is the difference between a condenser mic and an electret condenser mic?

Has anyone used these mics and would they be good for collecting natural oriented samples?

I assume a regular condenser mic would kick the crap out of these based on price, is there a way to portably power a condensor mic and get's it's input down to a mini-jack? Is there a way to get it as a stereo sample?

If I can get a mono sample with a regular condensor that is a better signal/sample than using the stereo electret mic's what can I do to make it sound as full as possible? Would faking a stereo signal by copying and offsetting it a few miliseconds with pans to each side be better than a lesser quality but true stereo sample?

Thanks in advance to anyone who can help. I don't want to spend the jack until I can understand this a bit better.
 
I've just finished my uni degree and spent the whole last year working with the uni radio station. Before I'd been there, they had been using Behringer Dynamics as part of the feild recording kits, but they recently swapped over to the Sony Stereo mics. Everyone used to rave about the sound out of these mics, which were nice, a touch to hyped in the top end if you ask me though.
my problem was that everyone insisted they were great for interviews to record a single person in stereo, which to me was a stupid idea. A persons voice is in mono, why would you want to stereo mic it? They did capture a nice atmosphere track though, but when you did an inteview with them, you would end up getting to much background noise. I used to use my Rode NT3 for what I thought was a far better sound, more natural, less noise. As far as your application goes, then if you need a stereo sound, they will do a great job, but you can get a more natural sound with some other mics. If it has to be in stereo, a pair of small diaphragm condensors that can be battery powered (like the NT3's) may be a better way to go. It is more gear that you have to carry though...

-Dr S
 
THANK YOU DR.! I was really hoping someone could lend me some light in this area.

I had heard that radio people were raving about the mini disc recorders and were frequently using them for interviews. As I will be looking to collect samples, getting lots of the background in is not a bad thing with busy samples, but I really apprecate the recommendation on the NT3's. I don't care about holding two mic's if I need to if it serves the purpose. Sounds like there might be a benifit to both.

Regarding the Sony stereo mics, is there much of a difference between the two ended "T" shaped mic with the L and R mic seperate and a single handheld stereo mic that appearently has both mics built into one single unit? Will I notice a sound quality difference in the stereo field?
 
Resurecting an old thread here but hey at least I used the search feature!


I was looking at possible applications for the "T" shaped battery powered Sony Electret mics as I picked up two surplus ones for cheap.

Researching on Google found me a circuit building link with diagrams to build a balanced phantom powering ciruit for studio use but the batteries would be fine for me and would keep it usable for portable recording.

Harvey do think these are useful for anything music studio recording wise?
 
I've never worked with these mics, so take my advice with a grain of salt, but everything I've ever used that has the name "SONY" printed on it has a super-hyped high end, with only one exception, a particularly expensive pair of headphones that one of the local sound-guys uses for checking his mixes.
 
Another respected and less expensive microphone maker than sony is reactive sounds.

http://www.reactivesounds.com/

They have both some single point stereo and mono microphones, plus accessories.

Yes MD players are good for collecting environmental samples, but actually I think that they are on the border of becoming old tech.

What do I think will replace them? Flash memory recorders like these.

http://www.musiciansfriend.com/srs7/g=home/search/detail/base_pid/240239/

http://edirol.com/products/info/r1.html
 
The ones I have were sold for use with VCR's in the medical field where they would pick up a technicians voice as he or she recorded a study. Why they would need it to be stereo is beyond me except that the doppler recordings from ultrasound are also recorded stereo with bllod flow coming toward the probe in one channel and bllod flow away from the probe in the opposite channel...Having a stereo mic would keep the "voice overs" balanced in presentation on playback.

The "T" stereo mic is directly mounted on a 1/4 TRS jack with an "integrated shock mount" between the two.

Basically you would plug the mic into the front of an overpriced "Medical" ($3,000) VCR that had remote functions on the ultrasound equipment to turn the VCR on/off and trun the mic on/off.

I just thought it would be fun to mess around with as a stereo room mic or on some acoustic instruments.
 
The MD recorders with a mic input send a small electrical charge to the mic that powers the electrect condenser mic. That's the so-called "plug-in" power. If you use a mic that doesn't work off plug-in power, I've read that you can get a small amount of distortion. To use other mics, the recommended approach is to use a battery powered mic pre and plug into the line input jack on the MD. Check out www.minidisc.org for lots of info.
 
Those flash memory recorders still have a way to go in disk capacity, battery life, portability, and most importantly, price! I just picked up a used Sharp MD player for $36 on eBay and I love it. I can record for 80 minutes of uncompressed audio. Plus, I was able to use rechargeable AA's to power it. I have a Zoom Palmstation PS-02 but I find the MD is way more convenient and practical for recording my band's practice. I bought the Sony ECM-CS10 mic for $49 at Frye's. So far, I'm pretty happy with it but it is a bit "bright".
 
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