slightly ot: battery driven microphone

[Mike Maloney]

> In a message dated 8/8/00 3:02:03 AM Eastern Daylight Time,
> czech at Micronas.Com writes:
>
> > Ladies and Gentlemen, could you please recommend such a microphone for
me?
> >  I'm not very experienced with microphones.
>
>
I would think that there are two ways to look at it: either go
random-incidence (spheroid) for monophonic accuracy, or use a binaural head
to create a stronger illusion of space.  I think the list of binaural head
manufacturers has shrunk to Beyer and DPA, and I'm not sure about DPA. But
you could probably build your own.

To the random-incidence area:

For reasons that I have not fully determined, anything that I might want to
record with has proven to be a poor microphone for analysis.

If you want to continue with the DIY concept, check out
http://orca.st.usm.edu/~jmneal/preamp1.htm
which describes a preamp and measurement mic system. It's based on the
Panasonic WM-61 electret element, and is an excellent choice, not only for
economy, but for accuracy.

I use a similar system, in this case manufactured by Kim Girardin, available
through Liberty Instruments http://www.libinst.com
for my analysis rig.  I have a B&K mic as well, but I have gotten results so
similar with the Girardin (at less than 10% of the cost) that I leave the
B&K in the shop.

If you really want to get serious, there is Danish Pro Audio (formerly Bruel
and Kjaer microphone division) David Josephson Company,
Aco Pacific http://www.acopacific.com, Microfon Gefell (probably spelled it
wrong), Norsonics, LinearX, Rion, and a few others.  Talking to any of these
people might help you determine what you really need.  Sorry I don't know
more URL's, but I know most of them are on the web.


> If you want to do it cheaply, Shure has an omnidirectional mic in their
Beta
> Green series.  I own the cardioid version (BG 4.1), and it works fairly
well.
>  These ARE in fact battery operable, too.

I'm reasonably certain that they do not have an omni in the BG series. The
only omni mics they have outside the communications mics are the VP64, the
SM63, the SM93 (lav), and the MX series.

Mike Maloney