In answer to your question at the end of this message. Note that the text refers to "Quadra's and PowerPC's microphones that come with the computer". They are talking early to mid-90s here, and refer to the little mini-hockey puck mics Apple used to ship with their computers. Soft foam backing, about 1.5" diameter, beige.
Then Apple realized money could be made selling mics to people, and letting aftermarket whiners into the fray, so they stopped the practice. I can assume without looking up the tech that the only equipment that still uses such a system is iPhones and iPads, but their extended pin on their mic/earphone combo is only to allow both audio sections to share one ground and are mono. Possibly making some assumptions there, and I'll be corrected if so, but for best sound, either use a mic with internal pre-amplification, or run mikes into a small mixer that provides such amplification and has a control to limit or boost it. I've never had a problem plugging a Sony Lav mike into my MacBook, MiniDisc Recorders, and my K5. I've plugged several mics into my K-5, and/or line outs from a Sony and/or Tascam mixer. Most of my concert/Live recordings (back in the day) I used PZM plate mics attached to a 1 x 2' piece of lumber hoisted above the crowd. They were designed for 2 AA batteries, but I modified the battery holder to take a 9V battery. It withstood the SPLs of "really loud" outdoor and indoor amplification with cleaner sound. On Sep 8, 2013, at 06:14 , Igor Roshchin wrote: >> >> Fri Sep 6 00:47:24 EDT 2013 >> Rob Studdert wrote: >> >> On 6 September 2013 03:08, Igor Roshchin <str at komkon.org> wrote: >>> >>> Hi Matthew, >>> >>> Thanks for sharing this one. >>> I see that some reviews and questions to the answers suggest that the >>> microphone is designed to be powered (although not with the phantom >>> mic >>> power? - sounds weird?). >>> I understand that if you use it with a computer, you need to enable >>> the >>> "microphone boost" option. >>> >>> It is not a problem by itself, but depending on the device you are >>> planning to use it with, you may have some difficulties with the level >>> of the signal. >> >> Condenser or capacitive mics (which this obviously is) need >> pre-amplification close to the module and ao require power. Larger >> mics are often battery powered, balanced pro-mics use Phantom power. >> This type of mic is supplied DC from the mic socket and is generally >> termed Plug-in Power, of course not all devices provide this mic >> power. >> >> http://www.bhphotovideo.com/insights/blogs/pro-audio/using-lavalier-microphones-recorders.html >> >> http://support.pentaximaging.com/node/616 >>> >> Cheers, >> >> -- >> Rob Studdert (Digital Image Studio) > > > Thank you, Rob for the reference. > While knowing that condenser mics require power, I just have never > spent a moment to think about that in relation to the fact that the > computers and recorders must provide that via the input port. > > Now, I am curious, and couldn't find the answer by googling: > "Boost" in Windows' microphone settings, - does it turn on the plug-in > power, or does it really boost the sound card (pre-) amplifier? > > > A curious thing: > While reading and searching, - I also discovered, that apparently, Macs > have (had?) a special microphone with a special 3.5mm (aka 1/8") plug: > http://www.directproaudio.com/shop/accessories/guide/microphone-sound-card.cfm#Macintosh > > > Igor Joseph McAllister [email protected] -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List [email protected] http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow the directions.
