ME-80 electret condenser microphone?

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michael2

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Hi all, I am new here. Looks like a nice little community. To introduce myself I will ask this question:

I found a TEAC ME-80 electret condenser microphone in my basement while looking for something. Anyone know anything about this mic? I have googled but found nothing. Unfortunately I haven;t had the time to play with it. Anyone know what type of battery I should use for it, or any other info? THanks a bunch, and I'll be seeing you around.
 
michael2 said:
Hi all, I am new here. Looks like a nice little community. To introduce myself I will ask this question:

I found a TEAC ME-80 electret condenser microphone in my basement while looking for something. Anyone know anything about this mic? I have googled but found nothing. Unfortunately I haven;t had the time to play with it. Anyone know what type of battery I should use for it, or any other info? THanks a bunch, and I'll be seeing you around.
Click to expand...

That mic was made for several companies by Primo, a Japanese OEM electronics firm. It is the same as the much-revered but highly over-rated Nakamachi CM series units favored by the Deadheads. They all use a penlight sized 8.4 volt battery that is no longer available. I suppose they could be modded to use 48v phantom but I'm not aware of anyone doing this with any success. A 1.5 volt battery will work but s/n ratio, output, sensitivity are compromised somewhat. I have several in my collection, including an omni capsule or 2 but none have been used in over 20 years.
 
RRuskin said:
That mic was made for several companies by Primo, a Japanese OEM electronics firm. It is the same as the much-revered but highly over-rated Nakamachi CM series units favored by the Deadheads. They all use a penlight sized 8.4 volt battery that is no longer available. I suppose they could be modded to use 48v phantom but I'm not aware of anyone doing this with any success. A 1.5 volt battery will work but s/n ratio, output, sensitivity are compromised somewhat. I have several in my collection, including an omni capsule or 2 but none have been used in over 20 years.
Click to expand...

The Deadhead set still love them! They are often modded to be "chopped", where the battery & transformer are removed and the mic is powered directly with a low-voltage source. It would not be difficult to do a phantom conversion, but that's much less commonly seen.

I find Naks to be rather unremarkable and very low sensitivity . . .
 
I recently found an ME-120 in my collection of "stuff". It appears that the battery leaked so badly that I can't get it open. :( I owned two of them at one time and am sure the other is around here somewhere, probably also sealed shut.
 
A 9V rechargeable (whether NiCd or NiMH) is typically 8.4 volts or so. Just run a couple wires out of the case and replace one of the set screws with a normal screw and a 9V battery clip on the outside. My parents have a couple of old mics with a similar mod for the same reason.

As for cleaning the thing up, try a strong solution of baking soda and water. Use an old toothbrush. Wear rubber gloves.
 
I presume it's this:-

teac-me80-2.jpg


This got me for a mo. as the only ME 80 I knew about was the Sennheiser one - the short gun head for the K3 system.
 
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