At 04:55 PM 7/17/2006, Lesley W. Brunet wrote: >Can anyone recommend a good lavelier microphone for use with the >Marantz PMD670 recorder? > >I didn't realize that my good ole Radio Shack plug ins won't work >with my new digital recorder. I replied to Lesley off-list and in a response just now, Lesley indicated others were interested in this, so I thought I'd post the whole exchange. One other addition: for wiring stuff up, there is a great resource at: http://www.rane.com/note110.html and there is a link to the superior PDF version at the end of this page. My initial response: I'd be curious why the mics don't work? If you like the mics, you might look at getting/making an adaptor cable or changing the plug on the end of the cable. Is it a powering issue? That might be able to be solved as well. Lesley replied: It's the plug. I hadn't thought of changing the plug, because the mics aren't that expensive. I replied: The Marantz has 3-pin XLR-type professional mic connectors. Great! I assume your Radio Shack mics have 1/8" miniature phone plugs on them now. Here's what I would do: cut the plugs off the mics connect an XLR to the mic. You would wire shield of the cable to pins 1 AND 3 and the centre conductor to pin 2. BUT there is a risk: If you accidently turn on the phantom power switch, you will probably destroy the mics. If you want a really, really good lav mic, you want a Sennheiser MKE 2-P-C Article No. 04224 http://www.sennheiser.com/sennheiser/icm_eng.nsf/root/04224 http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/controller/home?O=productlist&A=details&Q=&sku=227154&is=REG&addedTroughType=search About $300 US. This is a killer mic and one of the most popular pro lavs around. If you want really good, this is it. No fuss, no muss, no risk of damaging the mic from the phantom. Unless you have a captive tech or you do it yourself (my route), probably changing the connector would be more costly than the mic is worth, sadly. Lesley replied: You're kiddin' me, right? No, seriously, it would be easier to buy a new mic. If I had already spent $300 on it, I might try this....if I could. (Pause) Google time. [ http://www.richardhess.com ] No wonder you know about this stuff! I will certainly save this information....but I'll probably end up at Radio Shack! I replied: Not kidding you, I'd just go into my parts cabinet while my soldering iron was heating and be done with it in fifteen minutes. I'm trying to steer you away from an adapter as the likelihood is you'll have intermittent connections long term and you still run the risk of blowing up the mic with the phantom power. I don't think Radio Shack has XLR lav mics, but I could be wrong. The MKE 2 is a real classic and, well, two of them are worth what the recorder is worth. It's actually not uncommon to have more money in the mics than in the recorder...but I digress. The AKG C417 is an option at $219 at B&H Photo Video http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/controller/home?O=productlist&A=details&Q=&sku=128224&is=REG&addedTroughType=search Have you checked out Andy Kolovos's page at Vermont Folklife Center? It didn't open for me tonight (the whole site seems down) but it's here: http://www.vermontfolklifecenter.org/res_audioequip.htm My friend Susan Kitchens's web site is here http://familyoralhistory.us/ but I don't think she's dug into that problem. I fear that most Lavalier mics today are designed to be plugged into wireless transmitters. Radio Shack didn't list any, which doesn't mean they are not in stores. You won't find mics with pro connectors at Radio Shack (by and large). Perhaps a hand-held, but I didn't see any Lavalier mics listed and their Tie Tack mics looked pretty bottom-end. Sorry, I don't know anyone in Houston I could recommend to do this. I'm in the Greater Toronto Area. Good luck. Please let me know what you find out. A good music store (or maybe even Guitar Center) might have something. Lots of stuff comes from China into these places and unless you know precisely what you're looking for on the Web you'll see stuff in stores you can't find in catalogs. I did a little more looking at mic options. The Sony ECM-55B which may not plug directly into the Marantz without and extension cable (the barrel of the connector may be too big, my ECM-50 which is ancient is like that, I think) is $335 list at B&H, they emailed me $267.95 http://www.bhphotovideo.com/sitem/sku=49324&is=REG&m=Y&BI=E324 The Audio Technica AT831R is $183.50 at B&H http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/controller/home?O=productlist&A=details&Q=&sku=68269&is=REG&addedTroughType=search This one is nice as it comes with a 25' cable. Works on phantom power only (no battery to go dead in mic). All-in-all this might be my first choice for this application. Don't forget the velcro cable tie to neatly coil the 25' cable. Remember, wind it overhand-underhand so it doesn't kink. I could not immediately find an appropriate Web resource on how to do that. I think after the Radio Shack condenser lavs, you'll be very unhappy with this Shure SM11 dynamic lav. I've never met a dynamic lav I liked http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/controller/home?O=productlist&A=details&Q=&sku=68445&is=REG&addedTroughType=search $99.95 The Shure SM93 is $146.50 and should be OK (the cable body is an issue, again, perhaps) http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/controller/home?O=productlist&A=details&Q=&sku=76169&is=REG&addedTroughType=search The Sony has been a classic, but the Sennheiser is far superior. One final thought...I looked at www.core-sound.com and they provide mics to the "stealth" taper community. Their musical instrument mics are $255 for a pair that can be separated up to 20' BUT they don't offer XLR outputs from their battery box. Len? Moskowitz at Core is good at doing customs, so you might ask him. I bought a few digital audio things from him early on before there were mainstream optical-coax converters for example. Cheers, Richard Richard L. Hess email: [log in to unmask] Aurora, Ontario, Canada (905) 713 6733 1-877-TAPE-FIX Detailed contact information: http://www.richardhess.com/tape/contact.htm Quality tape transfers -- even from hard-to-play tapes. A posting from the Archives & Archivists LISTSERV List sponsored by the Society of American Archivists, www.archivists.org. For the terms of participation, please refer to http://www.archivists.org/listservs/arch_listserv_terms.asp. To subscribe or unsubscribe, send e-mail to [log in to unmask] In body of message: SUB ARCHIVES firstname lastname *or*: UNSUB ARCHIVES To post a message, send e-mail to [log in to unmask] Or to do *anything* (and enjoy doing it!), use the web interface at http://listserv.muohio.edu/archives/archives.html Problems? Send e-mail to Robert F Schmidt <[log in to unmask]>