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Best power mic
- Thread starter undertaker
- Start date
i like the 198 for a mobile mic. ..lot of good reviews for the sl41
for a base mic i like tuners plus 3b and ssk are my favs
for a base mic i like tuners plus 3b and ssk are my favs
I found my Astatic 575- m6...its amazing what you can find after drinking a few beers!!!
I can always find the floor with enough tequila.
You are freq. better off adding an electret condenser mic element to your stock mic than you are with overpriced modern power mic's.
The origins of the power mic where for stock radio's in the 1970's that shipped from the OEM with 60% modulation and overly aggressive AGC/AMC. A lot of them did not have adjustable pots so you clipped a resistor and slapped a power mic on it.
Only the cheapest of radio's are like that today and even then they are more like 80% modulation not 60%. That is how and why we have crap mod's around today still like super swing and NPC.
The most idiotic thing I have ever seen is to combine "noise canceling" with "Power Mic".......The two things when combined are oxymorons just like combining "Jumbo" and "Shrimp" together. Think about it "noise canceling" is because you are operating in an environment that is noisy. The last thing you want to do is attempt to cancel out noise passively with caps then amplify everything when in a noisy environment. That is when you want a dynamic mic with active noise filtering which is the opposite of what is sold.
Since people do not have a clue what is going on or how things work they toss money at a problem in a backwardS manner. Companies end up selling you a $3 noise canceling power mic for $50 that is the opposite of what you really need and laughing all the way to the bank.
I am not anti power mic I just think 90% of the time people use them for all the wrong reasons and 99% of the time overpay for what they get.
The origins of the power mic where for stock radio's in the 1970's that shipped from the OEM with 60% modulation and overly aggressive AGC/AMC. A lot of them did not have adjustable pots so you clipped a resistor and slapped a power mic on it.
Only the cheapest of radio's are like that today and even then they are more like 80% modulation not 60%. That is how and why we have crap mod's around today still like super swing and NPC.
The most idiotic thing I have ever seen is to combine "noise canceling" with "Power Mic".......The two things when combined are oxymorons just like combining "Jumbo" and "Shrimp" together. Think about it "noise canceling" is because you are operating in an environment that is noisy. The last thing you want to do is attempt to cancel out noise passively with caps then amplify everything when in a noisy environment. That is when you want a dynamic mic with active noise filtering which is the opposite of what is sold.
Since people do not have a clue what is going on or how things work they toss money at a problem in a backwardS manner. Companies end up selling you a $3 noise canceling power mic for $50 that is the opposite of what you really need and laughing all the way to the bank.
I am not anti power mic I just think 90% of the time people use them for all the wrong reasons and 99% of the time overpay for what they get.
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The noise cancelling electret in the Palomar sl41 cancels noise quite effectively, and the Output level is much higher than a dynamic microphone.
isn't the real purpose for a power microphone only to be able to talk and mot have to have your face right up to the microphone?
Example... Desk Mic. arms length away and still sound good?
Example... Desk Mic. arms length away and still sound good?
Some people like to do this but it's bad mic technique and really amplifies background noise. Most of the time you'll sound better talking a few inches from the mic and just turning the mic up just enough to reach 100% modulation.
The d104 is a high impedance mic element and sounds best when connected to a high impedance input. If you connect an unamplified d104 to a modern radio designed for a 600 ohm mic the low frequency response gets chopped off. I'm sure you've heard someone say d104 microphones sounds tinny. They can if you use them wrong or buy one with a bad element.
The amplifier board in the base not only amplifies the audio but gives the element a higher impedance to work into. The factory components in the amplifier board are still restrictive for some taste so people started building their own amplifier boards with fets. A friend of mine makes up a batch of boards and sells them when he has time. They work great with a good d104 element and modern cb set. Unfortunately many of those old elements are dried out junk so buyer beware of those shiny silver eagles. The latest craze is replacing the d104 element with a condenser element. Some of them sound very good but it's not a d104 anymore.
I have to admit I have done this in the past but am well aware it is not ideal to do! LOL I would often reach up and key my Radio Shack Noise Canceling Pre-Amplified Mic when four wheeling and I really did not want to have my hands committed to holding a mic. I would crank the gain on the mic up and the radio at 100% and just reach for the PTT and leave the mic in it's hanger. This way if I needed both hands on the wheel or needed to shift I did not have to drop my mic. I have driven manual transmissions almost exclusive since I could drive with only a few exceptions.
I do not like eating my mic and being able to have it 2 inches away is nice. My voice is really deep and getting right up on most mics dynamic or electret tends to make my voice sound muddy sometimes depending on the mic. holding it away seems to help a bit.
Think Darth Vader! LOL People tell me I have a wonderful speaking voice but I think I sound like Grape Ape or Magilla Gorilla? I will say this when I yell people have no problem hearing me and my voice carries well. The average Drill Sargent would love my voice and my volume. I am a big guy so plenty of oral cavity and lung to develop the sound. It is not a voice though that is cheap mic and CB radio friendly. I am always looking for some more highs to improve talk power and intelligibility! I also like to reduce low's to keep from swamping the radio is too many lows and mids. So for me mics that most call tinny work well for me because of how deep my voice it they tend to block more of that. That said those same mics sound really bad for most people. This is why there is no universal mic radio combo! Just like two guys can play the same trumpet and sound totally different because the trumpet and mouthpiece is only half of the equations the volume of the oral cavity of each musician drastically affect the end sound. So one guy might sound bright and another guy dark playing the exact same gear. Mics are much the same depending on what spectrum of sound you input what comes out can be really really different from one person to the next.