Please help identify this Mic

Posted: Tue Apr 08, 2008 6:39 am

I purchased this mic at a garage sale, but the seller could not tell me what kind of system it went to. I am hoping that someone here can give me some guidance on identifing the mic either through testing or through visual inspection.

The cord is approximately 6' long. It has an eighth inch (1/8") connector on one end and the lapel sized mic on the other end with a clip. The connector end has a screw type bezel above the tip that is permanently attached. I am guessing that this is to allow the connector to be attached to a reciever of some kind.

I am hoping to use the mic with my MacBook Pro and Mobile Pre USB unit. The MacBook of course only has a line in jack and the mic does not respond in any way when plugged in. The M-Audio unit has a XLR(x2), 1/4"(x2) inputs and a single 1/8" stereo mic input. The unit also has Phantom Power capabilities.

I am trying to determine what kind of mic this is and what the best method would be for using it with the equipment above.

Thank you for your help!

Here are some photos:
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Posted: Tue Apr 08, 2008 7:40 am

I'm almost positive that it is a sennheiser that goes to a body pack. It looks just like the one at the theatre I work at. The receiver we have is a sennheiser ew100. Personally i'm not to thrilled with the mic itself. We use them all the time because of all the plays we have going on here ,and they tend to crap out easily. The mics see alot of abuse though so thats probably the reason why we go through them so fast.

Posted: Tue Apr 08, 2008 8:03 am

Sounds like it might be better for me to try and dump this on eBay and pick up something else ... is there an easy way to test this ?

Thanks!

Jamie

Posted: Tue Apr 08, 2008 10:03 am

One way is to have the body pack and receiver ,and run it through a p.a. ,or get the proper adapters for it and run it through a board or an interface.

Posted: Wed Apr 09, 2008 12:02 am

This is absolutely NOT a Sennheiser microphone. I happen to know that product line well.

What you have here is an inexpensive Chinese lavalier microphone that comes with inexpensive wireless microphones. It most likely came from an Azden low-cost wireless system. It does not work on Phantom microphone power. Your connections are most likely sleeve = ground, ring = + 6 volts, Tip = unbalanced output. The ground, sleeve, is common for audio & power. It's worth about five dollars. It's great on toms but you'll has to put a transformer on its output along with a battery to power it. Don't even think about trying to use the Phantom power as all you will get is hum & buzz. Otherwise, if you're time is worth money, purchase a Radio Shaft condenser microphone for $20. It will save you a lot of time and you'll have the same microphone.

Now that's a little different than finding a vintage/antique RCA 77 DX ribbon microphone at a guitar shop for $400. Like I did. But you just never know what you might find? I recorded a rock band in Richmond once over a weekend. We recorded in their garage, with my remote truck and while I was cleaning up at the end of the day, I found another RCA 77 DX amongst all this junk. I asked them where they got this busted and dented microphone? They told me they had gone to the Richmond Virginia dump to drop off a mattress and found it lying on the ground. It didn't have a cord and I was told it was no good. They asked me if I was interested? I thought it was cool looking and I could put somebody else's condenser element inside so, I traded it for that day's recording fee. I fixed the dent in the grill. Put a new cable on. Expected to be ruined since it was sitting outside in the wind. But Nooooooooooo! They say ribbons are easily damaged by wind. You wouldn't believe the sound on this microphone and perfect working condition no less! I was stunned! OMG! I was just lucky I guess? Go figure? This shouldn't be. Keep hunting at those garage sales.

What's one man's trash is another man's treasure.
Ms. Remy Ann David

Posted: Wed Apr 09, 2008 7:59 am

Just out of curiosity, I used a volt/ohm meter to test for continuity. I found that the sleeve shows as being connected to the metal on the outside of the mic tip and there is continuity between the sleeve and the ring. There is no continuity between the tip and the sleeve or ring. Does this make sense for the type of mic your are describing?

I hate to just throw it away .. is there any chance that it could be used in any way?

thanks!

Posted: Wed Apr 09, 2008 10:38 am

Sorry Remy ,I misjudged the microphone ,but when the theatre I work at orders new replacement mics from sennheiser thats what they look like.

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