Topic: Kork MR1 Mic Preamps?

[jmz93]

So, how are they? I'm glad so many of you have expensive gear to run in front of the MR1, but the deciding factor for me will be how it sounds without additional gear. Has anybody tried CSB's or imilar and battery box running straight into the MR1?
thanks.

[CC#]

Hi,
 I purchased an Mr-1 a few days ago.. new to this site, new to field recording..
 I notice when I use the included mic ( no pre-amp, straight from the box) there is audible noise in my recordings, I havent tried setting the gains lower to see if that would reduce the noise, its not "crazy" noise but its there if you listen, I also have been recording low level sound sources (not live music), so I'm guessing if you do record loud spl's you wouldnt really be able to hear the noise, though I believe you will need separate mics to handle loud level signals as the MR-1's included mic will not suffice. I intend (as planned) on getting qaulity pre-amp/mics in the near future to bypass the Mr-1's internal pre-amp and cheap mic.
    Given the noisy pre-amp and cheap mic I was very impressed with the sound quality, all in all I'am very happy with the Mr-1 so far, there have been some "drawbacks" posted on this forum about the Mr-1 regarding limited battery time out in the field, lack of a hold button, user settings would be reset after a period of time if left un-used.. and some other post's. Being that I'm fairly new to this and that the MR-1 is my first recorder I do not find these issue's a problem, I'm not a hardcore taper, just like to record sounds dump em into my laptop and go (Foley). I'm sure eventually Korg will addrese some of these problems via an update. In the end the sound quality of the unit is amazing, and the unit doesnt feel like a "toy".
 
 I will try to lower the gain settings in the MR-1 and do some recordings to see if the noise level will go down, final exam week is in full affect so I cant wait til its over to start recording.


(Korg Mr-1 recorder is more than great however it would be a waste to use the included mic/pre-amp for recording, I would invest in sep. pre's and mics to fully take advantage of its potential.)

Hope this helps..
   

[richardl]

The supplied mic is very noisy. I've been recording direct into my MR-1 using are a pair of AKG C1000s which are fairly ordinary as mics go, and there's no comparison.

Also the MR-1 has a hold button. You slide the grey power button up to hold. (I think it's the big brother MR-1000 that may not have a physical hold button.)

[Nick's Picks]

the preamps ...no good news here.  the op-amps used are...from what I hear, the kind used in car stereos.

I took a bunch of pictures of the guts of mine after a short time on the dissection table and send them off to Doug Oade for a look see. 
His responce:  These are even worse, they use a low end car stereo op amp used by kraco, sparkomatic, etc. There is no hope for this one except to run it stock with a preamp.
It is a a JRC 2123 a 4 op amp verison of the 2121.
http://semicon.njr.co.jp/njr/hp/fileDownloadMedia.do?_mediaId=129 "

so much for MODs w/this deck.

[manamana]

nick did you ever post the pics of an opened up MR-1 here? I'd be curious to see those.

[Nick's Picks]

not yet.  I need to resize the pics.  but i'll do it today.

[CC#]

Hi,

 While I'm saving for a pre-amp... would it be possible to use Sonic Studios DSM-1S mics without the pre-amp for the time
being???  DSM-1S>Mr-1 ? 

Thanks!

[CC#]

*bump*

[Colin Liston]

Hi,

 While I'm saving for a pre-amp... would it be possible to use Sonic Studios DSM-1S mics without the pre-amp for the time
being???  DSM-1S>Mr-1 ? 

Thanks!

I don't see why you couldn't.  Try it out.

[guysonic]

Hi,

 While I'm saving for a pre-amp... would it be possible to use Sonic Studios DSM-1S mics without the pre-amp for the time
being???  DSM-1S>Mr-1 ? 

Thanks!

While it is possible to use DSM-1S mic into MR-1 MIC level input without external preamplifier, it takes a special powering PA-10PFC(-DMP) module to both power and protect this mic from accidental phantom powered inputs.  

Cost of PA-10PFC(-DMP) adapter is nearly 2/3rd's that of lowest costing PA-3SX-U preamplifier solution.

External PA-3SX-U with dual mini plug adapter for MR-1 is a way more satisfying and worthwhile low noise solution over passive powering adapter's performance with noisy MR-1 mic preamp.