Topic: Looking to Start a Rig - Few Basic Mic Questions

[opsopcopolis]

The Tascam DR-40 Stupid Deal of the day inspired me to start the rig I've been threatening to start for years now, and upgrade from my Sony Hi-MD, as much as I love it. 

I mostly run in semi-stealthy situations, or at least not fully out in the open, so I was wondering where a good place to start would be mic wise.  I have a relatively low price range as of now, but I think I remember seeing a thread that linked to somebody's site a while ago, where they had some modded stuff that fit my needs pretty well, but I can't seem to find it anymore.

[opsopcopolis]

Just a quick followup, will my Sony ECM-907 mic work with the Tascam while I'm searching for nicer mics?

[Phil Zone]

Church audio is is probably the best place to start, though the dr 40 is xlr, most church audio runs on 1/8 stereo jacks. For 300 you can have a preamp and a set of cards and a set of omnis. They sound great And can be used with stealth as well as on a stand. That's personally what I would do, but they're are other mics such as the audio technica at853s which are great mics. Good luck on your search!

And as far as using the Sony mics you have with the tascam, I'm not sure... It's 1/8 plug and dr40 is xlr so you would have to convert that somehow.

Good luck and let us know what you end up doing

[opsopcopolis]

Thanks!  Ill definitely check out Church.  As for the Sony, a simple 1/8 > 1/4 adapter would work right?  The Tascam has XLR and 1/4 inputs I believe

[Phil Zone]

Thanks!  Ill definitely check out Church.  As for the Sony, a simple 1/8 > 1/4 adapter would work right?  The Tascam has XLR and 1/4 inputs I believe

Ya that's should work!

[chinariderstl]

The Audio Technica AT853's are another option.  With the 4.7k mod, they terminate to an 1/8" stereo jack and you can run them with plug-in-power.  They pop up from time to time in the Yard Sale.

Sound Professionals carries a similar product for $200.

http://www.soundprofessionals.com/cgi-bin/gold/item/SP-CMC-4U

[Scooter123]

I'd pick up some used mikes  while you search for the ultimate set.  Church Sennheiser, At and others are all good mikes, good enough to start with. 

[vanark]

Ben, I definitely agree with the approach of finding a used set of a solid mic and go from there.

I went:

Oktava MK-012 Cardioids
AKG SE300B/CK91-CK93 (Cards/Hypers)
AKG C460B/CK61 (Cards)
AKG C480B/CK61-CK63 (Cards/Hypers)

I've pulled good recordings with all of them and the first two are definitely good affordable buys if you find a used set.

Also, I can help you out with a preamp to get you started, plus whatever extras I can pull together from my gear.  Are you still in town or did you graduate?