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Hello everybody, first let me thank you all for making this terrific site possible !

A few years ago I did some experiments with binaural recordings; I built a simple stereo mic from an old headphone by replacing the speakers with condensor mics, which works remarkably well for me. I have been using this mic for years on my MZ-R30 minidisc recorder, which has a proper input for condensor microphones.

Some time ago I bought myself iAudio X5 - a portable music player with recording capabilities. I'd like to use my mic whti this device, but it only has a line-in level input.

So what I'm looking for now is a affordable (<$50?) portable stereo mic amplifier to connect the two together. Any recommendations for this, preferrably something that is sold online ?

As an alternative, I am looking for a not-to-cheapish stereo mic that can be plugged into the line-in 3.5 stereo jack right away. Do mics like this exist, and any tips for this as well ?

Thank you very much !

zevv

So what I'm looking for now is a affordable (<$50?) portable stereo mic amplifier to connect the two together. Any recommendations for this, preferrably something that is sold online ?

Hi there,

If I got you right you could just use your minidisc as a mic pre (mic - MD - iAudio), all you need is a short male-male 3.5 minijack cable to connect the MD line-out to the iAudio line-in (quite affordable, isn't it?). I do it often with my player (iRiver) which also has line-in only and the result is decent.
No MD expert here, but a cheap preamp would not give you the quality of a MD preamp (thanx Mike!)

cheers

zevv
As an alternative, I am looking for a not-to-cheapish stereo mic that can be plugged into the line-in 3.5 stereo jack right away. Do mics like this exist, and any tips for this as well ?

Alternatively, any self-powered stereo mic (eg Sony ECM-MS907, Rode NT4, etc) can be pluged into your player line-in. But then you need a strong signal to record anything, so forget about sampling bird calls with this gear for example. Could work for live music, though. Hope this helps.

saludos

Though not in the 50 $ end, you might find something at www.soundprofessionals.com (or www.soundprofessionals.com/cgi-bin/gold/category/540/mics). According to people at taperssection (not quite field recordists, but still), their preamps are good for the price.

Best regards

I'm looking for exactly the same thing. I have an iAudio X5 as well and want to use the line-in for stereo recording. Using a self-powered condenser mic still doesn't yield a line-level signal, so I'm looking for a small battery-powered preamp. As long as it won't cost me a fortune (i.e. below €200 or so ideally) any suggestions are welcome!

The closest I've come to finding something that works is this: www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/MicroMix/

However, it has no battery power option, which is absolutely essential to me.

are there lots of these line-input only devices then? This is a relatively easy device to construct - I am wondering if the market is big enough to produce one on a small scale. Battery would be 9V, I could probably get it down to about $50. Most recorders I've come across did mic in as well, but newer HiMDs won't power my OKMs right - not enough juice so I lose sensitivity, calrity and above all headroom for field recording.

ermine
This is a relatively easy device to construct - I am wondering if the market is big enough to produce one on a small scale. Battery would be 9V, I could probably get it down to about $50.

I too have thought this should not be beyond the wit of even an amateur to construct. Stereo mic input, stereo line out, and 9v operation. Probably 1/8" (3.5mm) mini jack in and out. With 9v PiP to the mic - would give a bit more headroom over usual MD PiP voltage. There must be some suitable low noise mic pre-amp ICs that one could use.

I would be interested, ermine, if you can produce anything.

Mike

I got one of these. Not bad:

http://cgi.ebay.ca/STEREO-MICROPHONES-PREAMP-4-MINIDISC-DAT-MD-MP3_W0QQitemZ260039854948QQihZ016QQcategoryZ3281QQcmdZViewItem

Found this after googling a bit:

http://www.felmicamps.co.uk/products/felbattpreamp.html

Could be interesting.

I picked up a nice sony condenser stereo mic in duty free in holland some years ago,... Not quite the cheapo, but I',ve always got brill clarity from it... not so cheapo, but very content