teac me-80 microphone

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ishee

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hello everyone,
i recently found this microphone and i was wondering if anyone could give me any information about it? it appears to be a condenser. but i really know nothing of this mic, i tried to google but no luck
i notice when i unscew the top it looks as if a battery would go inside? anyone know what type of battery? also there is a switch what is that for?
phantom power, and would i turn it on and then turn on the pahntom power on my mixer/ track? please forgive my niave questions i really no nothing about condenser mics as i am unexperienced and a newbie to the recording process any info and help would be wonderful!
thank you for your time.
ishee
 
Teac ME-80 condenser mic

Hey! I've been an enthusiastic user of this mic since 1977 (OLD, eh?) I bought FOUR of them to use with the teac A2340 4-track simulsync deck that I also bought that year.

The ME-80 is a GREAT mic. It is a condenser, and I've made some really awesome-sounding recordings over the years. I swear by this mic and give it an unqualified recommendation to anybody. You won't believe how well it captures a full drum kit within the mix of a live band even if you use only two in an "x-y" config anywhere in the room (I find it works particularly well about 5-8 feet in front of the drums, positioned at about "vocalist-mouth" height, which is where I'm using it right now in a basement recording situation).

The mic DOES use a cylindrical 9-volt battery (the original was a mercury unit, and was banned in the US some years ago). There IS a workable replacement - Everready #206 (also known as neda 1611). The replacement battery is "slightly" larger in diameter, which means it's a somewhat tight fit in the battery compartment, but it WORKS, which is better than scrapping the mic.

The switch has "off", "m", and "v" positions. "off" should be obvious - it disconnects the battery. The "m" is for "music", and the "v" is for "voice". The difference is that "m" is "full range", while the "v" position has various frequency mods intended to optimize for voice recording.

I notice your post is from 2008 - hope this info helps. Like I said, I've been using the ME-80 since '77 and I love it, so it's nice to see somebody else interested in it.
 
And will the microphone run on phantom power only as well?
 
The mic was made by Primo of Japan and is the same as the old Nakamichi 300. The only difference being that the ME 80 came with a single cardioid capsule while the Nak came with 3; cadiod, omni, & shotgun. TEAC's 3 -cap version was called the ME 100.
 
And will the microphone run on phantom power only as well?

There's a small transformer isolating the internal circuitry from the mic cable, so I DON'T think phantom power will work (transformers don't pass dc, eh?)
 
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