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Gear / Technical Help => Recording Gear => Topic started by: drgary on September 09, 2025, 12:49:56 PM
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Does anyone have experience with Sonorous Objects mics? I am considering a pair because of their small size, because Clippy mics are not available from a US vendor and because someone said that Clippys and Sonorous Objects mics use the same capsules. Any accounts of experience or opinions will be appreciated.
Thanks.
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The homepage says EM272, so yes - same capsules.
I have clippys and they are great, but very sensitive so can be a challenge for lound music.
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The homepage says EM272, so yes - same capsules.
I have clippys and they are great, but very sensitive so can be a challenge for lound music.
Maybe this topic fits better in Microphones & Setup, yet...:
Last week I recorded an amplified show, not extremely loud yet about 8m from the stack with CoreSound cardiods on my Tascam FR-AV2 and at the same time (as a test) with Clippy mics on my Edirol R09-HR.
I set the R09-HR mic input sensitivity to 'low', record level to 10, no limitter. I knew this would be a far stretch as the R09-HR only provides ~2.5V PIP, which is not ideal for the Clippy mics.
The CoreSound cardiods recording came out perfectly, but the Clippy's result was not good. The waveform did not digitally clip, and I think the analog input of the recorder didn't clip; I started with record level 12 and then turned down to 10 after the first song, and the recorded waveform clearly reflects this change. If the analog stage would clip with 10 it would definitely clip with 12 and neither showed clipped wave forms. The problem with the recording is that it sounds as if there was a fast limiter active. On each base drum kick or bass guitar snare hit, it sounds as if the volume is turned down a bit. Also with applause, there were no high peaks with each clap as you'd normally expect.
So my conclusion is that the Clippy's just can't handle the sound pressure in such an environment. Maybe it would have been a bit better if I could have supplied higher PIP (e.g. 5V or 9V), but I have no battery box available for that. And even then, the Clippy's/EM272 are just not made for loud stuff.
On the other hand, a little while ago I recorded a semi-acoustic gig (guitar, cello, vocals and base drum) with the Tascam FR-AV2 (5V PIP) and the Clippy's which came out very fine. (Hear @ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MIT0RaKLGw4 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MIT0RaKLGw4))
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[snip..] the Clippy's result was not good. The waveform did not digitally clip, and I think the analog input of the recorder didn't clip; I started with record level 12 and then turned down to 10 after the first song, and the recorded waveform clearly reflects this change. If the analog stage would clip with 10 it would definitely clip with 12 and neither showed clipped wave forms. The problem with the recording is that it sounds as if there was a fast limiter active. On each base drum kick or bass guitar snare hit, it sounds as if the volume is turned down a bit. Also with applause, there were no high peaks with each clap as you'd normally expect.
Haven't listened, yet given your description I suspect the low PIP voltage might be the culprit.
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Haven't listened, yet given your description I suspect the low PIP voltage might be the culprit.
The link is to a good recording with the Clippy's, using the 5V PIP of the Tascam. You may be very right with the bad recording about the low PIP being the issue. I may repeat this test if I get or build 9V a battery box. Yet it still stands that the Clippy's apparently can't seem to handle high SPL.
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I tend to use a limiter when using clippies, but it depends on what I'm seeing and where I place them. I've had clippies FOB in a 4 mic setup that handled a pretty rowdy show just fine. I believe their max spl is over 100dB. I only have xlr clippies and only feed them 100% pure Colorado phantom power. I pet them and give them positive reinforcement before any field deployments. Do use double wind pro, which may help reduce the spl.
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In my experience, you can easily record acoustic and moderately amplified music with the Primo capsules, even when they are starved with the usual 2.5-3V PIP.
But loud rock, no way.
I seem to recall the spec sheet recommend around 8V for optimal performance. I have never tried supplying additional power to see if that helps and I probably won't as I primarily use mine for field recording.
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It might make sense for this thread to be moved to the mics & setup category: https://taperssection.com/index.php?board=3.0
Here's a guide for building your own mics with a different set of capsules: https://www.instructables.com/The-Sound-Sleuthers/