Topic: on a budget

[Vally1978]

I need a decent mic, nothing fancy for recording concerts in arenas or larger theatres.  I am really tight on money these days, but am wondering what I can get that is on the cheaper side but will sound decent.  I am taping for myself, so the "trained ear" will not be hearing these recordings.  I am looking for small mics too, not the larger ones.  I also would like to do without a battery box, thanks!

Any suggesstions?

[jpschust]

define "cheaper side"

[mirth]

superlux set? Thats definitely on the cheaper side....

[twatts (pants are so over-rated...)]

What are you trying to record?
What is your max. allowabel budget?
Do you have space limitations? (other than that warranting small diaphram mics)

Terry

[pfife]

Do you not want battery box 'cause of the money, or some other reason?

I have a set of quite stealthy SP mics (built into a set of headphones) w/ a bb that I'll sell you for quite cheap.  I just need to run the new set I got to make sure all is well, and then I will part with them.  I'm talking like $100 or so for the whole thing.

Go to soundprofessionals.com and search for the items at the bottom of my sig to see what I am talking about.  I've stealthed quite a bit of sheeit with them, and you'll be happy with them.

[Vally1978]

When I say cheap I mean less then $50. 

I don't want this to take up too much space.  That is why I don't want to bother with a battery box.

I am a newbie, so I am interested in just getting some shows on cd first...then I will decide where to go from there.  A better mic, battery box, etc.

So...I have been looking on ebay,a nd they have really cheap mics on there, but I am not sure if they are crap.  I guess cheap=crap, but I just wanna get some practice in for now.  In the Spring I am gonna start taping some Sarah Mclachlan shows.

Help!

[mirth]

Not much you can do with $50 that will be listenable at concert-level volumes... Good luck

[pfife]

Look for the sony mics- I bought my first mic, a Sony909A, on ebay for $45.   But that's a pretty big mic (relatively speaking...) but it worked. 

You're going to need something that is powered by an internal battery.

And I am not trying to shill here, but there's a huge, huge difference between a battery powered mic, and mics powered by battery box.  Enough improvement to warrant spending $50 if you can.

This is an addictive, expensive hobby...

[Vally1978]

Are these mics shit?



http://search.ebay.com/minidisc-mic_W0QQsofocusZbsQQsbrftogZ1QQfromZR10QQsotrZ2QQsosortpropertyZ1QQsosortorderZ1

[pfife]

Yeah, but you are getting what you pay for... 

Not trying to rain on your parade or anything, but you aren't going to find anything that people wouldn't consider shit for $50 or less.  But, its you, not us, who is spending the money and listening to the tapes, so if you're happy, then that's what matters.

Just don't listen to other people's tapes- you'll want to upgrade with a quickness then.

[Vally1978]

Just don't listen to other people's tapes- you'll want to upgrade with a quickness then.

I know...I know.

One day I will get there...haha!

[pfife]

do those mics have cables with them??  It looked like it was only a mic.  if no cable, you'll have to get some kind of cable.

[Vally1978]

do those mics have cables with them??  It looked like it was only a mic.  if no cable, you'll have to get some kind of cable.

It looks like a few of them just plug right into the mic input.

[pfife]

do those mics have cables with them??  It looked like it was only a mic.  if no cable, you'll have to get some kind of cable.

It looks like a few of them just plug right into the mic input.

IC.  What are you recording with?

[Vally1978]

What are you recording with?

I just got a SONY MZ R900 MD recorder.  Have not used it yet....like I said, a total newbie! haha!  I will be going to a show next week at a small lounge though....gonna use it for a practice run.  Just purchased it on ebay yesterday. 

[pfife]

What are you recording with?

I just got a SONY MZ R900 MD recorder.  Have not used it yet....like I said, a total newbie! haha!  I will be going to a show next week at a small lounge though....gonna use it for a practice run.  Just purchased it on ebay yesterday. 

Do you know if it has a mic input?

[Vally1978]

yup it does, checked into that for sure!

http://minidisc.org/part_Sony_MZ-R900.html

[pfife]

Those mic's don't have a battery in them, do they?  I don't think they'll work if they don't have a battery.

[Vally1978]

I have no idea...it says they are for use with minidisc tho....I've not bought one yet, still looking around. 

[pfife]

a mic w/o a battery in it is not going to work.  I found that out when I used the mic's I am trying to sell w/o a battery box.  There was nasty static all over the whole tape.  Completely unusable.

[mirth]

If you're looking at mini clip-on type mics then give SoundProfessionals a gander... They have many similar microphones, and they read the board (I think... right retailer?)

[pfife]

He's looking at cheaper than SP... I already tried to shill him my used SP mics...

under $50.... gonna be tuff to do.

[jpschust]

maybe the giant squid stuff?  dont recall how cheap that stuff is

[Vally1978]

I went to the Giant squid site...and this is what I see....now which type of mic do I want? 

"Specialists in Miniature Stereo and Mono, Cardioid and Omnidirectional Microphones"

I have no idea!

[Vally1978]

Something like this?

It says u just plug it in, so I imagine it doesn't need a battery.

http://www.giant-squid-audio-lab.com/gs/gs-oak.html

[bl6216@yahoo.com]

Here take a look on here they only cell md and they have low end mics. http://www.minidisco.com/mics-headphones-mics.html

[hoobash]

When I 1st started taping I had this mic with my d6 analog. You'll be suprised how good it sounds for $33.

http://www.buy.com/retail/product.asp?sku=90099950&loc=12435&sp=1

[Sanjay]

Something like this?

It says u just plug it in, so I imagine it doesn't need a battery.

http://www.giant-squid-audio-lab.com/gs/gs-oak.html

to be quite honest anything you do with that is going to sound like absolute shit, it won't even be listenable.  Instead of dropping 50 bucks on a piece of trash, just save an extra 40 and buy these: http://www.giant-squid-audio-lab.com/gs/gs-poweredbattery1.htm I made great tapes with almost these exact same ones and it will actually be a worthwhile set of mics.   The battery box is so small it shouldnt be a problem to hide, and to get anything worth listening to again you are going to have to get a battery box.

[Brian_CT]

This is my first mic (and the place I got it from). I bought it because a MD taper friend of mine also uses it. I just started this summer, but have gotten some pretty good sounding shows using it.

http://www.thetwistergroup.com/product/ECM-719%2520D11514.html

It's only $64 and it's small enough to stealth with.

[Ed.]

don't mind me while i try to make a sale here 

http://www.taperssection.com/yabbse/index.php?topic=26377.0

i bought these as a step up from my sony ecm mic back in the day.  and they were a huge improvement.  if i were you, i'd go for a battery box, it might be a bit of a pain, but really, its worth it.  with the battery box the mics can handle higher SPLs (sound pressure levels) and they'll sound a lot better.  these are omni's, which means they'll pick up things around them, however, i've taped many a concert with them and have never really had problems with them picking up the conversation of the people behind me.  I'd usually always wear them in binaural fashion - clipped on the bill of my baseball hat right where the bill meets the hat itself and they worked like a charm.

I'd let them go for $80 and I'd pay shipping.  Its a bit more than $50, but I think you'll find it to be worth the money.  These are dynamic audio mics, and in my opinion they sound better than the giant squid mics - but thats just my opinion.

I ran these right into my nomad jukebox's line-in, if you'd like to hear some samples...

http://www.archive.org/audio/etree-details-db.php?id=8784
http://www.archive.org/audio/etree-details-db.php?id=12999

...there are some plus a bunch of others in the fuzz section.  good luck and happy taping.

[twatts (pants are so over-rated...)]

Dang, Ed...  Wish I had seen this offer for 80 few days ago!  I just bought those Squids from SirChek...

Yeah, Valley.  Pick up those mics from SpeshulEd, or that $65 sony uni-directional (twister group link).  And run that into the MD.  That'll be perfect starter rig, small, stealthy. 

My worthless advice,

Terry

[Ed.]

+t - its all good.

i don't think the dynamic audios are being made anymore - the webby doesn't work anymore - they're decent mics tho for the price.  lots of smashing pumpkins tapers used them from what i heard.

[Vally1978]

Thanks for the help guys....I am thinking of getitng the  SONY ONE-POINT UNIDIRECTIONAL STEREO MICROPHONE.  I already got myself a crappy mic and power supply to just record a show next week for the first time.  So I am stuck with that...it will probably sound like crap to everyone, but me, haha.....practice makes perfect...or well close to it cause I know I'll never be that great at taping. 

The guy I am buying them from says the mics sound better then just good, so we'll see if he is talking out of his arse, or not.  haha.

[Sean Gallemore]

907 baby!