Hi Everyone,
I'm new to "this board" and wanted to share some info with you all. It's nice to find a forum I can relate to.
In reference to Tascams PE-120 :
They're electret condensors. They take one AA battery each and won't run on phantom power. Once upon a time they were OK but there are so many decent quality small diaphram condensors out there cheap (Octavas, MXL-603s,etc) that unless they were damn near free, I'd pass on them. I rarely put them up anymore. The self noise is a little high.
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Mike
Not so Mike,
The PE-120 will "operate with a "AA" but that is not the correct battery that the mic functions with to spec. It uses a cylindrical 9 volt battery with a transistor
built in. In particular the Eveready 206. If you are using a "AA" battery that would be the reason for the "high self noise" you are experiencing...the voltage isn't enough to run the FET circuitry and the microphone requires alot of mic pre which in turn raises the noise floor of the mic. I have used the PE's on acoustic guitar with great results, (as a stereo pair) one on the neck about 9th fret and the other on the lower bout of the guitar.
I certainly don't consider my mic selection vast, moreover, selective to perform specific tasks :
2x Groove Tubes GT-33 with omni and cardiod caps
1x M-Audio Solaris -muilti patt.
1x Rode NT-1
1x Marshall MXL V67
2x AT mb4000
1x CAD
m169
2x Tascam PE-120 with cardiod and omni caps
2x AT Digital Reference 3700
1x AKG C1000
3x SM57
2x SM81