As part of my futile and unending crusade to get something for nothing, I've been shopping around for low-cost mics of reasonable quality. One manufacturer caught my eye with two of his products. I know nothing of these things so I thought I should ask some of the learned gents of this forum.
The first has a Hi-Z Crystal element, Frequency Response of 70-8,000 Hz, Sensitivity of 50dB. It goes for $30 (GBP 18) and here it is in action:
The second is an attractive little number described as having "a high impedance ceramic element mounted inside a stainless steel egg". It goes for $35 (GBP 21) and here it is on video:
There are no details as to the element used in this mic. I noticed a similar egg mic made by this guy and am wondering if it's the same product. That other guy says it's a Kobitone ceramic element, though he doesn't give specs.
Now, I'm on a tight budget (as, it seems, we all are); I'm young and too goddamned beautiful to live on the streets, gentlemen (and ladies, of course). I'm certain I'm not going to get a professional-level harp for $30, but will I get something worth the $30? Or should I just hold off on buying a mic 'til I've hoarded $100+?
All opinions welcome.
Cheers,
Murray
-------------------- www.murrayhunter.net
Last Edited by on Aug 07, 2009 2:00 PM
BTW my first comment about building your own was based on the tea-buoy mic. I just watched the first video and immediately recalled a mini budget lapel mic I saw in Maplin a few years ago, selling for about £3. you might be interested in this. If they are selling these for $7 (£4) then doesn't £20 seem a little inflated? I know what I think of this guy. I'll let you draw your own conclusions.
Hey Elwood I have one of those Palm mics and I found it gives a pretty good crystal sound. However it would be a bit impractical to play a gig with as it has only a short lead and you would need an extension cable to be able to move about. I found the one I have to give good output and it was pretty loud. Good for practising with at home and the small size means you can do things with it that you can't with a bullet.
However as a serious mic for gigging I wouldn't choose this.
If you're on a budget you could buy a 2nd hand Hi-z shure mic from ebay. A 565 or a 515 sound excellent with harp and you can pic up a good second hand one for about £20-30.
Something like this; http://cgi.ebay.com/Vintage-Shure-585SA-harp-mic-MINT-Great-sounding_W0QQitemZ280381400708QQcmdZViewItemQQptZLH_DefaultDomain_0?hash=item414808a684&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14
