Stereo field mic options

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dres

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Hi people,
well I've got one of my NT1's on ebay and the bids are coming in very nicely so I'm wondering what to replace it with.

I've always had a desire to get lots of field recordings to add to my music. Often I go places and hear great sounds and think...if only I had a little mic and recorder to capture this ?

I'm looking to set up a budget field recording setup. The Rode NT4 is one obvious choice since it is a stereo mic with an option to run off batteries - can be run into a cheap minidisk recorder. But it's rather bulky...

Are there any other options like this only cheaper ?
Are there any little mics by sony etc that are worth using ?

Thanks
dres
 
I hear good things about the NT3s although I don't have any myself - I do know they can be run on batteries so that will help you get outside - leaves you in mono, of course, but I'm sure a pair of them would work OK, the NT4 is X-Yed, which may or may not be the best set-up for this sort of stuff (I don't actually know - just a thought).

I have the problem of trying to keep the great Australian outdoors outside - nothing like having the perfect guitar take almost finished when 30 cockatoos fly overhead! :D
 
It's comforting to see there are a few Australians around these forums.... Thanks Armistice, the NT3's had crossed my mind... but I'm thinking of something that is small and can be held in the hand.. the NT3's are a little bulky to be walking around with... let alone 2 for stereo !

Has anyone had experience with video camera mics or the mics sony sells eg:

ECM-MS907

http://www.sonystyle.com/home/scat.jsp?hierc=9688x8758x8761&scatid=8761

Is the quality comparible to an NT3 ? even close ?

Thanks
dres
 
LMFAO@cockatoos.................I have them as well as King Parrots, Rosellas (both crimson and Eastern varieties, Currawongs and assorted others to deal with, all of which love to come into the trees about 4 mtrs outside my studios front glass/aluminium sliding doors. I recently built an airtight "airlock" about 2'-3' inside that slider using 10mm laminated glass, etc................now I can't hear a thing from outside but still have the view.


Dres,

Are you going to need omnis, cardiods, hyper-cardiod, etc........as knowing this will be a determining factor in which mics to consider.
I doubt whether something small enough to be easily hand held will give satisifying result unless you are prepared to spend considerable dollars.
 
ausrock: well I'm not entirely sure which pattern would be best ? I would just like to record stereo with a single mic, something I could realisticaly walk around with plugged into a minidisk, grab a 30 second sound clip and move on. It seems two cardiods in the XY configuration is the obvious option but then I'm fairly new at this... maybe there are other compact methods ?

Like I suggested initially, the Rode NT4 fits the bill and I may yet go down this rode (no pun intended). I'm just looking for advice to see if there are any other options in this price range.

.. it seems to me there a lots of videocamera mics etc and wondered if anyone knew much about them... ie how they compare sound quality wise to the NT4 ?
 
I guess a lot depends on whether you are just wanting to "capture" general soundscapes, or whether you may want more specific sound targets. If it's the former then the RODE may do, however if you need to capture a specific sound then chances are it may be "mono" and you may need to consider a "shotgun" mic.

I doubt that anyone has enough experience with RODES' NT4 to pass reliable comment.

:cool:
 
Hi
I have good experiance with AKG C-522, have built in battery, it is X/Y cardioid stereo mic. Also try with CROWN's PZMs, I'm using them to record wide atmosphers in nature and also for radio documentarys, but you will need phantom power for them.
Good luck
 
You should take a look at SONY ECM-MS957 about $300. My brother has done some truly impressive live recordings with a top of the line walkman and the SONY one point mic. For less bucks, you can do OK with SONY ECMMS907, about $100, but the first one is my main choice for stereo recording in a live setting with KORG PXR4. This is the perfect remote mic for a micro setup.-Richie
 
I know that AKG doesnt produce that mic anymore but you can try at ebay or some other auction sites. Also there is good Audio Tehnica sereo X/Y mic for some 300$. Those two are better choice than ANY Sony.
 
Richard: I was looking at the ECM-MS957 on the sony website, looks OK on paper but trooly thinks otherwise !

Trooly: thanks for reminding me about Audiotechnica options. Do you actually have experience with the Sony ECM-MS957 ?, I know they make a range of mics from esoteric to rubbish but what about this one ?
 
I was using two or three models of Sony MS mics, I don't remember wich models, but I waesnt happy about the sound. There is no layers on records you get with sony and thea sound generaly just like child toy mic.
Dres: How much you want to spend anyway?????
 
trooly: well the NT4 can be bought for $AUS 450 ($US 225) and I might just end up getting this... However I'm curious to know what other options are available for a similar price (or less). For instance the videocamera market is huge and I figure there must be compact mics available from cheap junk through to high end.. I guess I'm in the wrong forum for advice on these ? Also there appears to be a market for minidisc mics that I know very little about.....Any ideas are appreciated

Thanks
dres
 
I have no idea how much it costs, and it looks really expensive, but the AKG C426B might be worth looking at.

Or you might want to try like an 8 or a 12 inch shotgun condensor.
 
radio shack had an audio technica stereo condenser on sale for cheap. this would give a great sound and at the price, i think it was about 30 bucks would also be fab as a backup or kickaround mic.

the same mic is available from full compass audio. you have to call for the discount prices.

this is a high quality unit with flexible connectivity and all accessories included and runs on batteries.

a real no-brainer!

:)
 
The Audio Technica 822 and 825 stereo mics are among the best low-cost stereo field condensers. The 822 is unbalanced and uses battery power, hence is best for plugging into units (like MiniDisc) with a stereo 1/8 in. microphone jack. The 825 is balanced & can be phantom powered - works well with field pre-amps like the Grace Lunatec. Sony made and makes a bewildering array of 'consumer' stereo mics with 1/8 in. plugs - I've heard maybe 4 or 5 of them, and IMO they aren't nearly as good as the Audio Technicas.

Scott
 
Tchad Blake (one of my favorites) uses a couple of small mics, lavs I think, and sticks them in his ears. He will walk around and record everything he hears biaurally. It only really sounds the same through head phones, but it sounds preaty cool through speakers. He talked about it in an artical in Sound on Sound magazine. Pretty cool stuff.

http://www.sospubs.co.uk/sos/1997_articles/dec97/tchadblake.html

Or if you liked the biaural thing, but didn't want to look quite so silly, you could get a KU-100 dummy head from Neumann (bit pricey, though, and I hope it doesn't rain.)
 
DigitMus: the Audio technica 822 looks like it might be the best option. Although there seem to be quite a few DIY projects on www.minidisc.org that use these cheap capsules and a handful of components.... very cheap, so I might try this as well. Does anyone know where you might buy good quality minature capsules in Australia ?
 
Minidisk Marvell

Just to update this thread.....

I sold my NT1 for a very good price on ebay and bought the cheapest minidisk I could find (Sharp MD-MT80).... then following advice from www.minidisk.org I made a stereo mic with some $2 electret capsules.

I must say I'm speachless about the quality of the recordings. OK they are not $1000 LD condensers... and the inbuilt mic preamp is a little hissy. But all things considered, for the cost and the convenience/weight this little setup is unbeatable ! I've never tried minidisc, even though it's been around many years... I'm now a convert. The only critisism is you can't put the disks into your PC for transfer (I've not seen a PC drive ??)
 
Walkman-style minidisc recorders are a good bargain for doing stereo digital recording; most casual liseners simply can't tell them from CD recordings. I had my doubts about the compression until I bought one and heard it myself.
- There's no way to go directly digital from MD to PC that I've seen. There once was a PC data drive sold, but it did not read MD music disks. For Walkman-units, the USB digital transfer devices (Xitel) all seem to transfer from PC to MD only. You gotta go line-out to line-in, or headphone-out if there's no line-out on the MD. You don't really hear any loss of quality doing this though.
~
For good mini mics/binaural mics try a place named Microphone Madness. I have a pair of the TMM-1's and CMM-2's and a L-R splitter cable from this company. Both mics sound very nice for their prices.
 
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