The mic is called the Brahma. Like other 1st order ambisonic mics (Core Tetramic, Soundfield SPS200) the output is 4-channel A-format which requires decoding on a computer for use.
It was developed by Umashankar Nakul Sood and is available from his Indian company called
Oomagamma, either alone or as a kit which includes a modified Zoom H2 with an Amphenol connector on top to attach the mic directly or via extension cable:
http://www.oomagamma.com/brahma_kit/brahma_kit.htmlThey have some other interesting mics as well.. like one called the
plate mic, a unidirectional omni phased array.
My take?
Looks like a DIY mic builders dream project that's come to market. In some ways the full kit looks along the lines of Chris Chuch's R-09 mod with his mics sticking out the top as replacements for the internals, but the mics is more involved and is detachable. I haven't heard samples.. except for some ambisonic research clips from researchers in Italy made
underwater! using a special hydrophone version. It is very simple and inexpensive for an ambisonic recording system, but I have questions about the sound quality, build quality, realiability and especially its suitability for music.
It looks to me like the mic itself uses four elecret capsules arranged in the typical tetrahedral configuration, but in this case they are omnis embeded in the surface of a solid sphere. Using many, many omni capsules embeded in the surface of a sphere has been one focus in research into higher order ambisionic microphones. Example:
the Eigenmike. The problem with using omnis on a small surface is the extreme amounts of differential gain required at low frequencies for high orders. I imagine this is also a problem with a first order implementation, so I wonder how well this works in practice at low frequencies. Capsule self noise may also be an issue. Cool to see this offered for ambisonic experimenters, and it seems to have already proven useful for researchers.
Wonder if they'll make a direct to tascam DR2d mod?