Topic: The outdoor durability of electrets - two years and counting

[fotoralf.be]

A little over two ears ago, Thomann reduced the Roland WPM-10 ear mics
from over 100 to a mere 9.95 euros. I bought a few to play around with
them and since August 15, 2020, a pair of them has been dangling at
their cables in front of my street-side window, protected by just a
little faux fur and connected to a MOTU traveler Mk3.

Admittedly, the window is facing to the East, so the mics aren't
directly hit by rain but they've been through high humidity, fog and
morning dew, storm-force winds as well as temperatures ranging from -15
to almost +40 deg c.

And, to my own surprise, they're still working flawlessly. I'd never
have expected them to last this long, out there.

I've made a lot of recordings, from fireworks and thunderstorms to birds
in the early morning, road construction works and posers with awfully
loud bikes and cars at night. I'd never had made any of them if I had to
set up mics each time.

I call them the greatest fun to be had for 9.95 euros.

Unfortunately, they're sold out at Thomann's. But if you get hold of a
pair just cut off the USB plug, this isn't a USB interface anyway, and mount a
simple stereo jack plug instead. They work with the usual plug-in-power from all
portable recorders.

Here's today's blog post on the subject. It's German but you can still
look at the photos:

https://the-real-fotoralf.blogspot.com/2022/08/der-grote-spa-schon-zwei-jahre.html

Here's a few sounds:

https://the-real-fotoralf.blogspot.com/2020/10/allegro-vivace-opus-3.html

https://the-real-fotoralf.blogspot.com/2020/10/kurz-aber-heftig.html

https://the-real-fotoralf.blogspot.com/2021/01/frohes-neues-allerseits.html

https://the-real-fotoralf.blogspot.com/2022/02/eunice.html

Enjoy
Ralf

[commongrounder]

Very good!
I’ve also had great success with outdoor electrets. I have a pair of simple electret mics mounted in small home-made weather resistant housings that have been working flawlessly for 7+ years. These are used to monitor a bird feeder near our house, and have been through minus-30 to 90+ degrees Fahrenheit temps, and 99% humidity. I also have a pair of Audio-Technica boundary mics similarly mounted that have been outside for two-plus years that have performed flawlessly, as well. Those feed a preamp and recorder that is on 24/7, and can be set to record in seconds, if something interesting comes along. The first set feeds speakers for the aforementioned bird monitoring. Very satisfying!

[SMsound]

Wow the Roland WPM-10 look great for  stuff...

Does anyone make something similar now? This is the first time I've seen mics that look like headphones.

[fotoralf.be]

There's a bunch of them on the market from different manufacturers.

The absolute classics are the OKM ear mics by soundman.de available in various qualities.

Just do a google search for ear or binaural mics.

If you happen to have an iPhone or iPad with a lightning connector, you might look on ebay or Amazon for Sennheiser's Ambeo Headset. You'll find them on sale for as little as 39 USD. The original price was around 300 USD. 

[Niels]

Wow the Roland WPM-10 look great for  stuff...

Does anyone make something similar now? This is the first time I've seen mics that look like headphones.

Roland CS-10EM, but the Sennheiser Ambeo is a better deal.