Nady RSM-4, Great ocarina microphone, great price, $79.95

[Cliff]

If you're looking for a great microphone to record the ocarina, we have had the best results from ribbon microphones. Ribbon mics used to be quite expensive. Recently some high-quality, low cost ribbons have come to market.

Karl was doing some research recently and found good reviews for the Nady RSM-4. He bought one, and has done some testing with it with great results.

And the price right now is $79.95 from Musician's Friend.

Karl will be covering tips for recording the ocarina in the future.

Here's a link to it in Musician's Friend:

http://pro-audio.musiciansfriend.com/product/Nady-RSM4-Ribbon-Studio-Microphone?sku=277107


Update: The placement of the mic relative to the ocarina is pretty significant. Karl will be doing a simple video in the future sometime.

[ubizmo]

At the risk of sounding like a complete dope....can this microphone be connected directly to a computer via USB, or is it necessary (or preferable) to use some other recording device and then transfer the file?  The product description doesn't mention USB.

ubi

[Cliff]

ubi,

This is a standard mic which you would connect via XLR:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/XLR_connector

It can't be connected directly to your PC. I am not very experienced with recording equipment, so I hesitate from making recommendations of the best way to hook stuff up. I'm hoping that one of our members experienced in recording can give some recommendations on good ways to hook up a standard mic to a PC.

Thanks.

Cliff

[ubizmo]

I suspect this mic needs to be used in conjunction with some piece of dedicated recording/mixing equipment.  Not sure, but it looks that way.

ubi

[Karl]

Thanks for raising this issue, Ubi!  With ribbon mics, you do need a pre-amp.  I run the mic into a mackie mixer before going to the computer.  I've got to run now, but we'll have to talk more about this.

[ubizmo]

I wonder if something like this, http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0012AUHXW/ref=s9subs_c1_267_img1-rfc_p-frt_p-3237_p_si2?pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_s=center-1&pf_rd_r=0XVBBYC121EEH7C4PE58&pf_rd_t=101&pf_rd_p=463383351&pf_rd_i=507846, would be any good.  Hard to say without trying it, I guess.

ubi

[Secretagentdan]

that's a cool mic ubi. To save money on a pre-amp as mentioned by Karl earlier..you can use a guitar fx pedal as long as it is powered. just a thought.

[cerescop]

The mic that Ubizmo refernced is a blue snow flake. I bot one. It does better than the mic in the laptop but it has its own preamp built into it. it will pick up most sound in a room. it is also kind of directional. it needs to be pointed in the gerneral direction of the sound source. The other thing is it is sensitive to electronic noise. I have to move it away from my laptop as it picks up noise from my laptops cooling fan. once setup well it does a passable job.

[rancourt]

Indeed, an XLR mic will need to be connected to a preamp to be recorded. Many pro and 'prosumer' audio capture devices include a mic preamp with an XLR input. At the entry level, a USB audio interface like the Focusrite Scarlet, Presonus AudioBox, M-Audio FastTrack USB, Alesis Multimix, Lexicon Alpha, or Roland Tricapture will provide at least a single mic preamp for an XLR mic. (You may wish to check to make sure the interface provides 'phantom power' to the mic, if your mic requires it, too. Some ribbon mics -- the RSM-4 is a ribbon mic -- need phantom power to be turned off, making its availability in your preamp a moot matter.)

The RSM-4 is definitely a gorgeous little sensitive mic for expressive captures. Provided that you have, or don't mind acquiring, a suitable preamp and means to get that amplified signal into your recording device, I can definitely see it pairing nicely with your Mountain ocarina!

[Dan Hazy]

Does this microphone have a 1/4 inch output? The type of cable that plugs a guitar into an amp.
I use a loop station to record my songs and any mic I use would need 1/4 inch output cable.

[rancourt]

Does this microphone have a 1/4 inch output? The type of cable that plugs a guitar into an amp.
I use a loop station to record my songs and any mic I use would need 1/4 inch output cable.

The mic itself has an XLR output, but an XLR to 1/4" TRS cable is as easy to pick up as an XLR to XLR cable. I don't know enough about your Loop Station to know if there'd be an impedance or levels problem DI'ing with a mic into it, but there are affordable solutions for that, too, if so.