Sennheiser's MKE2 from Microphone Madness

[Von Recklinhausen]

I have got the Sennheiser's MKE2 from Microphone Madness [/url](http://www.microphonemadness.com/products/mmhlsomsenmi.htm). I am using it with a minidisc (Sony MZ NH-1). They are suppossed to be balanced and come with "mogami" cables, but I don't know if they are two or three wired design. Really, I don't know even what is two or three wired design. Can somebody, please, explain this concept?
Another question is if they can be powered with phantom power, since they come with a stereo 1/8 minijack. The originals MKE2 can, so, what modifications should I do to have them phantom powered?. Thanks a lot.

[poorlyconditioned]

I have got the Sennheiser's MKE2 from Microphone Madness [/url](http://www.microphonemadness.com/products/mmhlsomsenmi.htm). I am using it with a minidisc (Sony MZ NH-1). They are suppossed to be balanced and come with "mogami" cables, but I don't know if they are two or three wired design. Really, I don't know even what is two or three wired design. Can somebody, please, explain this concept?
Another question is if they can be powered with phantom power, since they come with a stereo 1/8 minijack. The originals MKE2 can, so, what modifications should I do to have them phantom powered?. Thanks a lot.

Do *not* apply phantom power unless you know what you're doing!!!  All of these small mics use low (battery level) voltages.  They may run off phantom, but you'll need some sort of adapter (voltage dropper, plus transformer of some kind usually) to make it work.

What are you trying to do?  I would try them first with "plug in power", set your MD to "manual level" and "mic sens" to "lo".   If they overload/brickwall with this, try a battery box (www.soundprofessionals.com is a good starting point).  If you've still got problems, open up the connector.  How many wires are there *from each mic*?  If there are two (eg. shield plus core wire), it is two wire.  If there are three (eg., shield plus red plus blue, or something like that), then they are three wire.  If you've got three wire, you can use a battery box like I show at:  www.cs.uwaterloo.ca/~mannr/AT853.

Enjoy...

  Richard

[zowie]

You could try emailing Microphone Madness.  I've found them to be pretty responsive.

[Von Recklinhausen]

I have got the Sennheiser's MKE2 from Microphone Madness [/url](http://www.microphonemadness.com/products/mmhlsomsenmi.htm). I am using it with a minidisc (Sony MZ NH-1). They are suppossed to be balanced and come with "mogami" cables, but I don't know if they are two or three wired design. Really, I don't know even what is two or three wired design. Can somebody, please, explain this concept?
Another question is if they can be powered with phantom power, since they come with a stereo 1/8 minijack. The originals MKE2 can, so, what modifications should I do to have them phantom powered?. Thanks a lot.

Do *not* apply phantom power unless you know what you're doing!!!  All of these small mics use low (battery level) voltages.  They may run off phantom, but you'll need some sort of adapter (voltage dropper, plus transformer of some kind usually) to make it work.

What are you trying to do?  I would try them first with "plug in power", set your MD to "manual level" and "mic sens" to "lo".   If they overload/brickwall with this, try a battery box (www.soundprofessionals.com is a good starting point).  If you've still got problems, open up the connector.  How many wires are there *from each mic*?  If there are two (eg. shield plus core wire), it is two wire.  If there are three (eg., shield plus red plus blue, or something like that), then they are three wire.  If you've got three wire, you can use a battery box like I show at:  www.cs.uwaterloo.ca/~mannr/AT853.

Enjoy...

  Richard

Sorry for being so late to answer. I am recording violin rehearsals and classical music concerts, and I am getting pretty recordings in these situations. However, when recording very quiet ambient sounds, the results are worse, since there is too much "self noise". I have recently upgraded from another MIcrophone Madness microphone (MM-BSM-1) with worse self noise specifications, but I haven't notice it in the results. So, my main problem is not overloading, but the self noise. I think that, since the MKE2 is a phantom powered microphone, I would get better recordings with a phanton unit. What do you think about?

[Von Recklinhausen]

You could try emailing Microphone Madness.  I've found them to be pretty responsive.

I have tried to get some help from them three times before buying the microphone and one more time after buying, but I haven't got any answer at all. I think this is a very bad customer service. I hope I don't need any repair on it, because I begin to doubt if anybody there reads the e-mails.

[udovdh]

I think that, since the MKE2 is a phantom powered microphone, I would get better recordings with a phanton unit. What do you think about?

Just use one 9V battery to power the mic. MKE2 can be phantom powered using a special adapter. You don't want that.

[poorlyconditioned]

I have got the Sennheiser's MKE2 from Microphone Madness [/url](http://www.microphonemadness.com/products/mmhlsomsenmi.htm). I am using it with a minidisc (Sony MZ NH-1). They are suppossed to be balanced and come with "mogami" cables, but I don't know if they are two or three wired design. Really, I don't know even what is two or three wired design. Can somebody, please, explain this concept?
Another question is if they can be powered with phantom power, since they come with a stereo 1/8 minijack. The originals MKE2 can, so, what modifications should I do to have them phantom powered?. Thanks a lot.

Do *not* apply phantom power unless you know what you're doing!!!  All of these small mics use low (battery level) voltages.  They may run off phantom, but you'll need some sort of adapter (voltage dropper, plus transformer of some kind usually) to make it work.

What are you trying to do?  I would try them first with "plug in power", set your MD to "manual level" and "mic sens" to "lo".   If they overload/brickwall with this, try a battery box (www.soundprofessionals.com is a good starting point).  If you've still got problems, open up the connector.  How many wires are there *from each mic*?  If there are two (eg. shield plus core wire), it is two wire.  If there are three (eg., shield plus red plus blue, or something like that), then they are three wire.  If you've got three wire, you can use a battery box like I show at:  www.cs.uwaterloo.ca/~mannr/AT853.

Enjoy...

  Richard

Sorry for being so late to answer. I am recording violin rehearsals and classical music concerts, and I am getting pretty recordings in these situations. However, when recording very quiet ambient sounds, the results are worse, since there is too much "self noise". I have recently upgraded from another MIcrophone Madness microphone (MM-BSM-1) with worse self noise specifications, but I haven't notice it in the results. So, my main problem is not overloading, but the self noise. I think that, since the MKE2 is a phantom powered microphone, I would get better recordings with a phanton unit. What do you think about?

What are you recording to?  Minidisc or Nomad Jukebox or ?.  Perhaps your noise is coming from this.  Just how quiet are these "ambient" sounds?  Are you trying to record crowds/traffic/public spaces or quiet nature scenes?  More info would help isolate your problems, be it mic, pre, or recording device.

  Richard

[Von Recklinhausen]

I am recording to a Sony MZ-NH1 minidisc, with the microphone directly into the Plug-In-Power mic attachment. The ambient recordings I try to get are ambient bird singing. In these situation I set the MD at "manual volume" and the mic sensibility at "high".

In a very interesting topic at the Minidisc Community Forums http://forums.minidisc.org/index.php?showtopic=10744&hl=Von%20Recklinhausen&st=30 (see post 35 and on) it has been quite clearly stated that the minidisc preamplifier is of very good quality and it isn't the origin of noise. However, the Plug-In-Power circuitry is quite noisy, but it can be bypassed using some specific phantom power units (Art Phantom II or Rolls PB24).

That is the reason why I think the phantom unit coud be my solution, but I would need to connect the microphone to the power unit.

[udovdh]

That is the reason why I think the phantom unit coud be my solution, but I would need to connect the microphone to the power unit.

You don't want phantom power. Just enough power to let the FET on the mic do its work. A 9V battery will do. Really.
(Plus, of course, 2 capacitors and resistors)

[zowie]

In a very interesting topic at the Minidisc Community Forums http://forums.minidisc.org/index.php?showtopic=10744&hl=Von%20Recklinhausen&st=30 (see post 35 and on) it has been quite clearly stated that the minidisc preamplifier is of very good quality and it isn't the origin of noise. However, the Plug-In-Power circuitry is quite noisy, but it can be bypassed using some specific phantom power units (Art Phantom II or Rolls PB24).

That is the reason why I think the phantom unit coud be my solution, but I would need to connect the microphone to the power unit.

That's not what I read that post and others as saying.  It says running mics that really need 48 volts on 9 volts or less gives poor noise results (duh), and that the interaction between the recorders plug-in power and some external phantom units creates noise problems (interesting).  They don't say, I don't believe (some of the posts are less than clear) that the plug in power creates noise in and of itself.  I've never seen any indication that those MM mics are made to run on phantom.

[Von Recklinhausen]

That is the reason why I think the phantom unit coud be my solution, but I would need to connect the microphone to the power unit.

You don't want phantom power. Just enough power to let the FET on the mic do its work. A 9V battery will do. Really.
(Plus, of course, 2 capacitors and resistors)

Oh, sorry, but... what are capacitors and resistors? These are terrific words for me. Have in mind that an electric socket is quite the same for me that a black hole for astronomists, I don´t know what there is inside it. Can I suppose that the battery boxes from Sound Professionals and Microphone Madness have... those things?

[Von Recklinhausen]

In a very interesting topic at the Minidisc Community Forums http://forums.minidisc.org/index.php?showtopic=10744&hl=Von%20Recklinhausen&st=30 (see post 35 and on) it has been quite clearly stated that the minidisc preamplifier is of very good quality and it isn't the origin of noise. However, the Plug-In-Power circuitry is quite noisy, but it can be bypassed using some specific phantom power units (Art Phantom II or Rolls PB24).

That is the reason why I think the phantom unit coud be my solution, but I would need to connect the microphone to the power unit.

That's not what I read that post and others as saying.  It says running mics that really need 48 volts on 9 volts or less gives poor noise results (duh), and that the interaction between the recorders plug-in power and some external phantom units creates noise problems (interesting).  They don't say, I don't believe (some of the posts are less than clear) that the plug in power creates noise in and of itself.  I've never seen any indication that those MM mics are made to run on phantom.

Yes, you are right. I have written from memory. The right conclussion was noise from the interaction between Plug In Power and some external phamton power... and the interaction between my poor english understanding (specially in electronics) and my poor english writting.

[udovdh]

That is the reason why I think the phantom unit coud be my solution, but I would need to connect the microphone to the power unit.

You don't want phantom power. Just enough power to let the FET on the mic do its work. A 9V battery will do. Really.
(Plus, of course, 2 capacitors and resistors)

Oh, sorry, but... what are capacitors and resistors? These are terrific words for me. Have in mind that an electric socket is quite the same for me that a black hole for astronomists, I don´t know what there is inside it. Can I suppose that the battery boxes from Sound Professionals and Microphone Madness have... those things?

There's various resources available on the internet that can elaborate on resistors and capacitors.
I assume average battery boxes have capacitors and resistors. Ask if the boxes fit with your MKE-2.

[noam]

I have been using the MM Sennheiser MKE-2's with HiMD MZ-RH10 for classical concerts for 18 months now with superb results. Self noise is not an issue at all. I plug them to a 9v battery box (either MM or SP), into line in, recording levels set to manual, 30/30. I get really outstanding results, even according to fineshmeckers  - Noam

[zowie]

I have been using the MM Sennheiser MKE-2's with HiMD MZ-RH10 for classical concerts for 18 months now with superb results. Self noise is not an issue at all. I plug them to a 9v battery box (either MM or SP), into line in, recording levels set to manual, 30/30. I get really outstanding results, even according to fineshmeckers  - Noam

Ever try them on PIP?