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Binaural mics or my Parabolic, Head-mounted, Orientable, eXtrasensory Listening Device.
I’m here as I know nowhere else to go and I hope someone here can give me a little advice. I am travelling up into the foothills of the Himalayas to a small town called Bir from where you can launch a paraglider and fly into the high mountains. Everything is about weight so I’ve bought a little Black Magic Pocket Camera and adapted two of the very light plastic Canon EF-S zooms to fit onto it. Now I’m looking to put together a pair of in ear binaural mics. This with the camera hand held, the zooms are both with IS, and the mic worn like earbuds will make me just about invisible I’m hoping. After some research there seems to be the Soundman OKM and the new Roland CS-10EM available in the EU. There are some much more expensive mics but in my budget these are the options but after some research I’ve found that the nature recordists use these little capsules, the Primo EM-172-Z1, and put together their own pairs for far less and more importantly with a far lower noise floor and higher dynamic range. So I’m about to give it a go but information is scares. These little mics do require a bit of juice, not phantom power per say but the sort of plug in power that comes from the likes of a Zoom H1, 2.5v will work but more is better. To get them to really open up about 5v is best. Is there a little battery pack of some kind I can run them through? Or will they be fine with 2.5v. Would I be better of just buying the OKMs for my purpose, with these I’ll be recording mostly the ambient sounds of the village and the mountains, the pilots on take-off and the like. Or any other advice before I take the plunge?
The Primo EM-172-Z1: https://www.frogloggers.com/bt-em172/
Soundman OKM II Classic: https://www.asmrhq.com/my-soundman-okm-ii-classic-binaural-microphone-and-dummy-head-has-arrived-my-review/
You should have a pair of these to wear on set or your just not doing you’re job properly: https://nime2015.lsu.edu/proceedings/165/0165-paper.pdf
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2 Replies
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I’ve always wanted to try these but never had the chance, it might suit you.
https://www.3dmicpro.com/Mitra-3D-Mic-Pro/dp/B004VQ9N8E -
Very nice, love the acoustic sculpting on the ends. It’s a shame you can’t open it up and mount whatever mics inside. similar to the life sized rubber head on a stick or rubber ears on a stick but not as funky looking, still though not too stealthy and certainly not a good weight to space, hike up the side of a mountain, idea. I have always loved trying every weird microphone in the shop, I even had one dedicated soundman swallow a mic and yak it back up once, though I should say it wasn’t my idea, he was under no duress. But this time round it’s all about the weight and size so I’m aiming to be using my own head as the mic stand, tricky though that may be.
For now my choices as far as I know are the OKM’s or the cheaper and by most reports just as good Roland CS-10EM or making a pair from the little Primo EM172’s. I’m leaning towards the Primos though I’m still unclear if they will perform well for what I need, can’t get anyone on the phone there.
I’ve seen them sealed in little plastic balls and sunk under water, attached to a stethoscope, inside instruments and tools and mounted in many other fun and curious ways. As there so cheap and homemade it may also be a good experiment in collecting unusual bits of noise in the future. Like a little crash mic.
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