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My 12 year old son just bought a tapoe reorder and some tapes as a cheap way to record his saxophone playing.The tape recorder is a standard home recorder deck that has a place for right and left mics each with 1/4 inch jacks. We tried it with a set of ear buds which works surprisingly well, but there has to be some inexpensive mics that would work even better. Any suggestions.
Edits: 08/21/15Follow Ups:
Start with Shure SM57's. Dynamic cardioid mics that do decent pretty-much-anything, but shine on electric guitar and snare, and are surprisingly good on vocals. On ebay often for $30-40 each. Super rugged - practically indestructible.
At a vocal mic shoot-off in the studio, we had all the greats, like the Neumann U47, U67, AKG C24, Lawsens, etc... and we added a 57. It wasn't in the same league, but there was nothing embarrassing about it, especially given its 250-to-1 price advantage.
Other options are the Audio Technica dynamic mics - all good.
The AKG D200-E is another option, though it doesn't show up on ebay that often. It has a similar sound to the 57, but it has 2 capsules in the mic head: the tweeter capsule feeds from the top, and the woofer capsule feeds from the sides/read. This lets you adjust the frequency balance by the angle you put the mic - about 45-degrees for flat, straight-on for highs only, and pointing away from the source for lows only. This makes it a very versatile mic.
Do not get a condenser mic unless you tape recorder has phantom power on the mic jacks, which is very unlikely. Stick with dynamic mics.
WW
"A man need merely light the filaments of his receiving set and the world's greatest artists will perform for him." Alfred N. Goldsmith, RCA, 1922
Back in college, I had a pair of AKG D200Es. Nice mic. I drooled over the D224, but they were beyond my budget.
:)
Remind me to not waste my time replying to this stuff.
:)
It would help greatly if you'd include the brand and model of the deck.
Also, the 1/4" jacks would indicate high impedance mics, although that's not certain. If the jacks are tip-ring-sleeve (TRS), they are sure to accommodate low impedance mics.
At this moment, I'd suggest an inexpensive mic preamp-in-a-box such as Presonus. This will give you XLR low impedance inputs, and open up your mic options, since the vast majority of good mics are low impedance. You would connect this to the Line inputs rather than the mic inputs.
AKG, Audio-Technica, BeyerDynamic and Shure all make microphones in the $100 range which are quite nice for the money.
Sure, he's only 12 now, but, trust me, it's better to buy good stuff than cheap stuff - it lasts longer in the "upgrade rotation". My first tape recorder was a Roberts (Akai) 1719. Quarter track, 3-3/4 and 7-1/2 ips. Then, I got a Concord something or other with auto reverse. Then, I got a Tandberg half track. Then, I got a Revox half track 7-1/2 and 15 ips. But by the time I bought the Revox for $900 (brand new), I had spent as much on the other decks as the Revox cost me. See what I'm sayin'? Avoid "upgrading" to the extent possible - you'll save money.
(On the other hand, I see parents buying Bach Strad trumpets for their kids. That's a bit over the top and misguided.)
:)
to say nothing of "condenser" or electret mics that require "phantom power" to operate.
See link below for ideas.
Note -- there are adaptors available to adapt XLR (balanced) to unbalanced 1/4" or 1/8" consumer-type mic plugs -- the only other really important variable is mic impedance (high or low). Sensitivity is also something of an issue.
Then again, there are the classics of yore -- fine mics like Shure, Electrovoice, etc. -- but I am thinking of cheap consumer mics of decent quality like the Radio Shack Realistic "Highball", etc. The latter should be available cheap at garage sales, etc. if one keeps one's eyes open.
If the OP gets stuck finding a pair of mics, send me an e-mail; I think I could provide a pair of usable mics on extremely long term loan (assuming the OP's in the US). ;-)
all the best,
mrh
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