Funky Microphone Find....

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Gargamel

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Has anyone ever heard of this MIC made by Marantz?

EC-33S Superscope
One Point Stereo
BiDirectional Electret
Condenser Microphone

I just bought it off EBAY....$25.00
It arrived a few hours ago. I hooked up my POD into my mixer (1604 vlz pro) and Mic'ed one of my Mackie HR824 monitors. I pluged the Mic directly into my sound card and recorded a few takes of a very saturated guitar tone (think Master of Puppets/Metallica)

I positioned the MIC in a few different places. It sounds very similar to my sm57. Not as dark as the 57. It had more clarity. I'm psyched. It's total chesse as far as the construction (its plastic)...however, it sounds great, and thats all that matters.

here is a link to a picture of it.

http://cgi.ebay.com/aw-cgi/eBayISAP...&showTutorial=0&ed=1005159102&indexURL=0&rd=1
 
It's been a while, but I'm pretty sure it was made by Sony, for Superscope (who originally introduced the Sony line under their Superscope label). Probably a pair of 1/2" back electret cardioid condenser mics similar to the Sony ECM-23. Kinda weak in the bass range, but a nice top end.

Try replacing the 1-1/2 Volt battery with a 6 to 12 volt for more output and greater dynamic range.
 
Harvey,
I have recently been given a pair of Teac MC-201 condensers.
Do you have any knowledge of these mics?
They are still in their original cases with mounts, etc but I think the electrolytic capacitors may need replacing.

ChrisO :cool:
 
Probably a rebadged Primo or Sony. Both these companies make a lot of different condenser mics for sale by other manufacturers.
Got a picture?
 
Harvey,
Thanks for your reply. The details are on the base of the mic around the cable outlet. It says "TEAC MC-201 Electret Condenser Mic. 600 ohm Made in Japan"

I'm just curious as to whether they would be useable in our studio for acoustics, o/heads, etc.

Scanned pic attached.

Many thanks........ChrisO :cool:
 

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I don't think it's a Sony - probably it's a Primo. How useful is a little harder to answer. Try it on a few things.
 
What do you think of the ECM-360 sony mics going for 29.00 at Musicians friend. Marked down from 109.00?
 
Harvey,
You suggest using a higher voltage battery. I may be off target here but I thought a lot of these small condenser mics only used a 1.5 volt AA size battery. Are you saying there is an AA size available in higher voltages, if so can you post the manufacturer and model number please.

ChrisO :cool:
 
There is a funky 7 volt battery just a tad fatter than a standard AA battery that will fit inside most mics (many mics have small plastic guides to center the battery - you'll hafta cut those out).

My favorites are the small 6 and 12 volt "N" size batteries, but you hafta use a metal extender to fill up the rest of the space in the mic (I usually use a small 1/4" bolt, about 1" long).

Most are available from Radio Shack. Most electrets can be powered anywhere from 1.5V to 10 or 12V quite safely. The improvement in dynamic range and performance is well worth the trouble of finding a higher powered battery and kludging it to fit.
 
Darrin,

The Sony ECM-360 is probably an ok mic - nothing special. Sony has always separated their mics into two divisions; home and studio. The home mics are mass produced, while the studio mics are more carefully made.

The only point where they met occasionally was with the ECM-22 and ECM-23, their bottom of the line studio models, which had the same capsule as their top of the line home mics.

Their big studio mics, like the C37A, C38, C48, and the C800G are still highly prized mics and command healthy used prices.

There are some older Radio Shack electrets out there that Sony made (using the ECM22 capsule) that sound very good when modified with the higher voltage batteries.
 
Anyone seen the plastic $40 shotgun condensors at Stapples? I was tempted. Maybe on snare from above?
crunch city!
 
I just happened to find an old Marantz EC-5 Superscope condenser mic on ebay that takes one 1.5v AA batery, it sounds really good on vocals and just about anything.

Harvey can I ask you these questions, can I use higher voltage battery on this mic and it should give me a higher signal to noise ratio and slightly better sound quality ?

Also should I put a off and on switch so the battery does not run down and how long does the batteries last if left in mic ? Otherwise I have to unscrew the head capsule everytime to get the battery out. Should I just leave the battery in ?

Also Does it drain the battery only when the mic is plugged in ?

Thanks for your advice or anyone else here that knows about this.......???
 
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