Hi, I'm in the process of purchasing the awesome iriver hp-120. The included microphone seems to be pretty good, but I'll probably want to buy an external microphone.

I want to do amateur recording (a lot of voice), but I have a variety of situations where I could be recording.

I'm pretty clueless about what I need. Can you recommend an article/ consumer website about this? Do I need to buy only a microphone or soundboard/amp also?

What kind of money are we talking about?

My needs:
1)under $200 (if possible)
2)preferably dual use for documentary filming
3)wireless if no loss in quality.
4)I probably want a mikestand for a table or a floor stand.
5)Because I'm not sure what I want, I'd want versatility more than any one particular feature.
6)small size? (wishful)

Robert Nagle
www.idiotprogrammer.com

[quote=bigidiot,Dec 17 2003, 06:48 PM]
Start with:
http://www.minidiscaccess.com/generic.html?pid=29
and
http://www.vermontfolklifecenter.org/res_audioequip.htm
(page down to microphones)
hope this helps

NSM-SA100 Stereo Microphone: http://www.advancedmp3players.co.uk...products_id=124

The Nextway NSM-SA100 is a super high quality amplified stereo microphone designed to be connected to the 'Line In' socket on MP3 players that feature direct encoding.



Features:

- The microphone enables pin sharp voice/live music recording and is powered via 2 x LR43 batteries (supplied).

- You can select either mono or stereo recording via a switch on the side of the unit.

- The Microphone comes gift boxed, with a protective carry case and accessories.

- This microphone is ideal for recording a lecture, live concert or a dialogue.


Cia'

The link for the line-level microphone doesn't work.
There are excellent inexpensive mics for close-miked voice wuch as the shure sm-58, but they are not general purpose. I'm not an expert on mics but a condenser mic might be the best for an all-round mic. Under $200 you could consider a Sony ECM-MS957 (or the cheap and small ECM-MS907) plus a portable preamp from ebay for around $50. If you don't need stereo you have more options.

Sony ECM-MS907 is great, you may also try Aiwa CM-DS6 . It is cheap but nice

good: http://www.shure.com/microphones/models/sm58.asp
neumann: http://www.neumann.com/infopool/mics/produ...5&Language=Engl

You could check out ebay, there are some awesome little microphones there, my friend has a small collection of the following mics:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewI...5710403641&rd=1

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewI...5711476926&rd=1

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewI...5711476925&rd=1

They work well, and have about 20Hz-20,000Hz range, and they work with MP3/DAT recorders.

My friend does amateur recording with these, he's got about 8 of them, in various positions and he does recording with 8 separate channels. I couldn't believe the quality of his "amateur recording".

If you're into serious stuff you might want to forget these and look at something else. These microphones are great because they seem to reduce that annoying fuzzy background and they also limit that dreadful deck noise. I've found they are good for my purposes. Your mileage may vary. They are certainly not the best microphones you can get (that's for sure!) but for the price range ($10-15) per mic you can't really go wrong. For stereo recording you'll need two of these.

Best of all they are ridiculously cheap.

Regards,
Ben