Hello all,
I want to record birdsongs and read the posts here. I decide to buy a olympus LS-11 recorder and the price is OK. But ME66/K6 microphone is expensive for me. Has anybody got some advice for a cheaper one?
Thank you,
XiaoMing
Hello XiaoMing,
The LS-11 is a great choice for a recorder, I have one and like it very much. The only issue with buying a shotgun microphone for it is that the LS-11 is not a balanced input recorder and does not supply phantom power to the microphone. This is an issue when choosing a microphone of the shotgun type as the LS-11 has low noise preamps and the ME66 or ME67 microphones, being low self noise/high output and with an internal battery, work extremely well with the LS-11. I use both the ME66 and the ME67 with my LS-11 and if there is any way you could afford either of these microphones, in the long run, you will not regret having spent the extra money they cost.
The only other shotgun microphone I know of that costs less than the ME66 and has a self contained battery and will work with the LS-11 is a R0DE NTG-2 however, it has a higher self noise and lower output than the Sennheiser ME series. As to how well it works in comparison to a ME66 I do not know as I've never tried one myself.
Most other professional shotgun microphones cost more than the ME66, require Phantom power and work only into a balanced input and to use them with a LS-11, you would have to have a external Phantom power supply with a transformer to convert the balanced mic wire to an unbalanced input for the recorder. By the time you get all working, you will have spent nearly as much as a ME66/K6 would cost based on USA prices and the ME66 is plug and play with the LS-11 with a Hosa Technology XVM-105F mic cable. I realize microphone prices vary from country to country, I have no idea what price differentials exist where you are however I strongly recommend the ME66/K6 as being ideal with the LS-11.
If you choose to use some other brand or type of microphone, and you are handy with technical issues, you probably can save money by building your own interface module to power the microphone and convert from balanced to unbalanced should you decide to use a different type of professional grade shotgun microphone. This is not difficult to do.
There is also E-Bay, I have purchased two ME series mics on E-bay, one very good condition ME67/K6 and one ME66/K6 like brand new even though used. The ME67 I was able to by for about one quarter of its new USA dealer price and the ME66 was about 1/2 what I'd have to pay a dealer. Both were like brand new and in the original boxes with the original paperwork.
Hope this helps...