Studio type microphone advice

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Phoenix
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Studio type microphone advice

Post by Phoenix »

Hi everyone im looking for some advice setting up a boom type microphone for my radios...my budget isnt great so looking for a good solution. If you have any recommendations or experience using one can you let me know....if your already using the boom/foot switch setup can you pop a photo up for me....thanks so far
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Tim
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Re: Studio type microphone advice

Post by Tim »

Depends what radios you intend to use it with.
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ch25
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Re: Studio type microphone advice

Post by ch25 »

WE ARE MOTÖRHEAD, AND WE PLAY ROCK N' ROLL
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Phoenix
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Re: Studio type microphone advice

Post by Phoenix »

Sorry i should have said my radio is a Yaesu FT 840 so its probably not the best for BBC audio but its the setup of the microphone(on the boom) in my shack thats appealing and the foot switch arrangement...
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paulears
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Re: Studio type microphone advice

Post by paulears »

The basics are quite simple = any footswitch that has a locking function - as in you prod it and it shorts the contacts, prod it again, and they open - this simply goes to the appropriate pins in the mic connector - if you don't have the manual, then open up the mic, open up the connector and see which wires go to the PTT switch.

That's the simple bit.

You can buy boom arms - angle poise style for very little money - from a dealer in your country or from China - quite cheap.

The mic is the problem. It needs to be a dynamic type or a condenser type if you can provide the power supply necessary to run it! Dynamics cost not a lot, and are usually the ice cream cone shape - with integral windshield. There is little to be gained in an expensive one because the extended frequency response is filtered away in the radio - only the 300-3K bit tends to get through the radio's processing. The disadvantage of these mics is that they are designed to have the basket windshield virtually on your lip - and can in that position be quite bassy. If you move away so they sound cleaner - the volume drops off quickly. In the US, the EV RE20 mic is popular in broadcast radio stations because getting closer gets louder, but doesn't change tone, so with limiters and compressors, the person using them has much more leeway in positioning. Most UK radio now use condensers because they are more accurate, clinical and detailed - but again, this tends to get lost in comms use. There are also different designs - rather than an ice cream cone shape, you have more chunky designs you speak into the side of. You can pick ups a Chinese side fire condenser and boom for less than £20 - BUT it needs a preamp supplying 48V to make it work, which will probably set you back at least £50 - so a simple dynamic is better.

With care, you can squeeze the mic cable and footswitch cable into one connector, but many people take the radio connector to another box, where the footswitch cable can be added. To fiddle with - start with a dynamic - makes life much simpler.
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Re: Studio type microphone advice

Post by Kaos »

Here is a link to the topic that's already been done at length on T1 here.

viewtopic.php?f=2&t=47779

I got this microphone on the back of hearing one of the posters on the thread....... Shengyue BM-800 Condenser Microphone.

I use it with a Yaesu FT950 with the EQ from the radio doing the magic. Roy from Corsica help me set it upon air a few years back. I also got some settings from users with other studio mics. Powered by a double A battery it lasts for ages. I got a 2nd hand mic cable for my radio from a well known radio supplier in the UK and from E-Bay I got the foot switch. I think the store name was "Technofix"

I salvaged an old light boom to use as a mic boom.

All in all the cost was less than 75 pounds.
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