$260
Refined continuously since 1990, there are no better sounding or more rugged microphones available in their price range.
(All of our mics now come with black clips!)
INTRODUCTION
Binaural microphones come in pairs. When one is placed in or near each
ear they record exactly what your ears hear. When you play a binaural recording
back over
good quality headphones, you hear exactly what you heard at the time
of the recording. The effect is quite startling -- besides preserving a
high fidelity version of a
performance, good quality binaural microphones preserve the ambience
of the recording site. The positions of the performers, the reverberation
and echo of the
room, and the audience reaction are all captured precisely. Binaural
recordings provide the most realistic recordings you've ever heard.
The Core Sound Binaural (CSB) microphones provide a level of sonic performance
unmatched in their price range. When concerts and lectures recorded using
the
CSB microphones are played back on quality headphones the fidelity
is simply startling. The ambience of the recording site is preserved faithfully.
Localization of
instruments is extremely precise. Their transient response is clean
and fast, typical of condensor microphones, and they provide very solid
bass and crystalline highs.
One customer, a very knowledgeable and well travelled recordist, says
that they compare very favorably with the binaural microphone set offered
by Sennheiser at
more than four times the price. Others have favorably compared them
to Neumann and Nakamichi products.
The microphones are very unobtrusive; many customers have called them
"stealthy." When in place, they look like eyeglass retainers, the devices
that athletes and
librarians use to ensure that their glasses don't fall off. The microphones
themselves are amazingly small. When the cord is routed down a shirt or
sweater, there's
little evidence that you are creating a very high fidelity recording
of a sound event. (We strongly recommend that before you record, you obtain
permission to do so.)
DESCRIPTION & MOUNTING OPTIONS
The two microphone cartridges are each mounted in their own satin-black
metal shell. The shell is approximately the size of a jelly bean: roughly
a quarter-inch (.6
cm) in diameter and a half-inch (1.2 cm) long. Being all metal, the
microphone mounts are very durable. The black finish is heat-fused plastic
and is much more
durable than paint. Removable black light-duty foam windscreens are
provided. Heavy duty windscreens are available.
The microphone cable can enter the shell in one of two locations: the
side or the bottom. We now offer three mounting options: two for the side
cable entry and one
for the bottom cable entry.
For the side cable option, the shell can have either a fixed or a removable
miniature alligator clip attached to its base. The clip can be used to
attach the microphones
to any convenient mounting surface, including your eyeglasses, lapels,
collar, shoulder, hats, headband, lighting grids and many others. The alligator
clips are finished
in black and their handles are covered with a pliable black plastic.
The fixed clip is permanently fastened to the microphone shell. The removable
clip sits on a black
nylon disk that snaps into and out of the microphone shell.
For the bottom cable option, the cable enters the shell from the bottom
of the shell, on the surface opposite the microphone face. This allows
you to easily insert the
microphones into a set of elastic eyeglass holders ("Croakies"), sew
them in a bandana or mount them in a hat. They have no alligator clips
so you have to be
creative about how you plan to mount them. You can use velcro strips,
double sided foam tape or whatever you can dream up!
A very flexible shielded cable exits the base of each tube toward the
rear of your head. The cables from the two microphones join into a single
cable roughly twelve
inches from the microphones. The cable runs for six feet and terminates
in a high reliability, multi-pin locking connector for the connection to
the battery box; also
connected to the multi-pin connector (in a "Y") is a two foot cable
terminating in a gold-plated mini-stereo 1/8"/3.5mm phone plug -- other
connectors can be
supplied on request.
If necessary, the cable can be easily split for its entire length, so
that the microphones can be separated as much as 12-feet apart. This is
especially useful
if you use the microphones for interviews: one microphone can be mounted
on the interviewer and the other on the interviewee.
For those who need a right angle plug, we offer a right angle adapter that adds onto the 1/8" plug.
For binaural recordings the cartridges are aimed outward (not forward)
much as your ears are. This copies the human ear, ensures a true binaural
pickup pattern,
and accurately captures sonic information coming from all directions.
The microphones can also be used as a classic stereo (not binaural)
"spaced array" with each microphone placed eighteen inches to two feet
from the other. One
user says that this configuration provides excellent stereo imaging.
This fellow clips his microphones to the light grid over his club's stage.
Another user clips the
microphones to the shoulders of his jacket.
SPECIFICATIONS
The CSB microphone sets are based on a pair of Matsushita (Panasonic)
miniature omnidirectional electret condensor cartridges. They are electrically
and
mechanically modified to provide a more linear sound-to-voltage transfer
function and to eliminate mechanical resonances in their bass response.
The modifications
add more than 20 dB to the microphones' undistorted dynamic range,
flatten and extend their low frequency response, and all but eliminate
recorder overload
distortion.
Before Core Sound's modifications, the Matsushita cartridge's frequency
response is specified flat within 1 dB from less than 40 Hertz to more
than 15 kiloHertz.
Typically they are within 1 dB up to 20 kiloHertz and down less than
5 dB at 30 Hertz. After modification, the modified cartridges (especially
the battery box version
-- see below) sound better than that, typically within 1 dB from 20
to 20,000 Hertz. We match the pair to within one dB of each other. Sensitivity
of the modified
cartridges is approximately -66 dB (0 dB = 1 Volt per microbar). The
microphones are nominally omnidirectional but their pickup pattern is modified
by the
absorption and reflection characteristics of your head and outer ears.
Their noise level is typical of 1/4-inch electret condensor microphones,
approximately 30 dBA.
This is comfortably below the noise level of the Sony WM-D6C Pro Walkman's
microphone pre-amplifier and the ambient noise level at concerts. Thanks
to our
modifications, the CS Binaural mic set has a dynamic range of over
90 dB. They are designed to operate into a nominal impedance of 10 KiloOhms.
The CSBs provide the highest sound quality (e.g., when using a DAT recorder),
and very low distortion operation at the high sound pressure levels typical
of rock
concerts (from 110 db to 140 dB SPL). In addition to the two matched
microphones, the CSBs come with a battery box containing a nine volt battery,
associated
electronics (top quality metallized polypropylene capacitors hand matched
to 1%, and 1% metal film resistors) and a high reliability, locking multi-pin
connector. Use
of the battery box allows us to modify the microphone cartridges for
much improved linearity (less distortion) and expanded dynamic range. The
battery box is not a
pre-amp; it simply provides the correct voltage for the mics and houses
the optional bass roll-off filter.
The battery box is roughly half the size of a cigarette pack, is made
of sturdy die cast aluminum, and is finished in a durable black crinkle
finish. The battery lasts
approximately 500 hours and should be replaced at least once a year.
(Be sure to disconnect the microphones from the battery box when they are
not in use.) The
output to the recorder is a mini stereo phone plug; other connectors
can be supplied upon request.
BASS ROLL-OFF FILTER
Our microphones have a very flat and extended low frequency response.
In some cases, particularly where the hall has an emphasized bass frequency
response ("hall
boom"), you are recording near a room boundary, the air conditioning
system rumbles, traffic noise filters in from outside, or the room's sound
system is equalized
strongly toward the bass, it is desirable to roll off the low bass
frequency response.
To address this we offer two battery boxes with bass roll-off filters. One has a fixed-response bass roll-off filter. The other offers a switchable filter.
The switchable box has a very high quality, locking mini-toggle switch
mounted on the outside of the box under the mini-XLR jack. It is switched
between flat
response and the bass filter response very easily, but the locking
toggle lever must be pulled outward to switch filter positions, and so
can't be accidentally switched.
When used with recorders like the Sony PCM-M1 and TCD-D8, the bass roll-off filter rolls off frequencies below 120 Hertz at 6 dB/octave.
In general, we don't recommend that you have only the bass roll-off
filter unless you regularly note too much bass in your recordings. If you
want to be able to select
between a flat and a rolled-off response, we recommend having the switchable
box, or two fixed-response battery boxes on hand: one that's flat and one
that has the
roll-off filter.
If you find that you need a longer cable, we can supply a 15-foot extension
cable made using the same cable we use for our microphones. It has a gold-plated
stereo
miniplug on one end and a stereo mini-jack on the other.
RECORDING AND CARE TIPS
When recording loud sound sources with your CSB microphones we recommend
using your recorder's low sensitivity (-20 dB) setting. When recording
exteremly
very loud sound sources, either use an external attenuator cable (available
from Core Sound) or use your recorder's line level inputs.
To prolong battery life, disconnect the microphones from the battery box when not in use.
Avoid installations that would abrade or cut the cable. Do not clip
the microphones to their cable and do not severely bend the cables at the
points where they enter
the microphone cartridge shells.
The cable can be wiped clean with a damp cloth.
$260