Topic: iRiver iHP-100 (H-100) plug-in power?

[OMA]

The excellent iRiver Taper's FAQ states:

[160] Does it provide plug-in power to power electret condenser mics?

Yes. The iriver provides 2.5v of plug-in power (1v more than most mini-discs I believe), which allows it to power electret condenser mics such as dpa-4061s or at853s (terminating in a stereo mini-plug of course) without the need of a battery box.  However, providing external power such as that provided by a battery box will likely improve dynamic range and spl handling of such mics.

I have a Sony ECM-DS70P minijack condenser electret mic with "plug-in power". Where do I plug it in the iRiver iHP-100 and what option do I have to use? I haven't been able to record from any microphone other than the internal one.

[shaggy]

Plug the DS70P into the Optical/Line In jack. Go to 'Settings > Recording', it will go to the live recording menu (displaying the recording meters and gain setting values).  Next, push the A-B button (bottom one on Right Hand side of player), this will go to the recording settings menu.  Select 'Source > Line In'.  This should provide power to that little DS70P.  Adjust gain in live recording menu.

[sunjan]

Plug the DS70P into the Optical/Line In jack. Go to 'Settings > Recording', it will go to the live recording menu (displaying the recording meters and gain setting values).  Next, push the A-B button (bottom one on Right Hand side of player), this will go to the recording settings menu.  Select 'Source > Line In'.  This should provide power to that little DS70P.  Adjust gain in live recording menu.

Shaggy got it all right. You'll probably need a LOT of gain, though. Just for the heck of it, start with +48dB, set gain to Safety (clip) and watch the levels settle in. If they settle above +20dB or so, time to get a Church pre... 
Assuming that you've read the FAQ, you know that the digital gain above +24dB is no good.

When I ran my ECM-121 > H120 in emergency stealth situations, I always needed more gain. Get close to the stacks and bring earplugs. 

[petur]

I'm not 100% sure, but I think not all iHP100 series have plug power. IIRC only h120 and h140 have it.

[OMA]

First off, thanks for your answers!

It seems petur is right, because it didn't work.

I had already tried selecting "Line In" in the Source menu (Rockbox), like shaggy suggested, but the recordings were silent.

This time I tried again but with a +48dB gain, like sunjan said, and while the bars moved a little when rubbing the mic, the recording was still silent (except with a lot of background noise).

Regular line-in recording (with an actual analog cable connected to the output of another audio device), on the other hand, works very well, so it seems I'll have to use an external preamp, which adds extra bulk.

I'm using an old non-working Sharp MiniDisc as the preamp for now
(what doesn't work is the recorder part of the MiniDisc, but the mic preamp works great, so I use the headphone output connected to the iRiver)

I also have a 9V square battery based preamp bought off eBay some years ago, but I think it's worse than the MD preamp, because it distorts a lot and even the waveform looks odd (only the upper half of the wave is recorded!)

[petur]

thanks for confirming. So you just need a cheap batterybox to power the mic. Easy...

[sunjan]

I'm using an old non-working Sharp MiniDisc as the preamp for now
(what doesn't work is the recorder part of the MiniDisc, but the mic preamp works great, so I use the headphone output connected to the iRiver)

That's a pretty clever ghetto pre, given that you can pick up broken MD recorders almost for free on ebay!
Maybe the frequency response won't be absolutely flat when you route the signal through the headphone output, but for a starter rig it's perfect for low budget.

I've read posts here where people still keep their analog Sony tape recorders in the chain, just for the preamp stage. Apparently the models with 1/4 mic inputs are ideal with Naks.