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Message: <blockquote data-quote="wrosenkr" data-source="post: 1846476" data-attributes="member: 87017">Optimum Use of Sony PCM-M10 and Professional Microphones* #12wrosenkrGear interested*Join Date: Jun 2010Posts: 1Confusion About Pro Microphone and PCM-M10I have two of the Sony PCM-M10s and have been 100% pleased with their performance when using the internal microphones, external professional microphones and the line-in input to make 48-kHz 24-bit recordings.For the "mic" level input, which is designed only for consumer-type microphones, the Sony manual says, "We recommend you use the Sony ECM-MS957 electret condenser [stereo] microphone." This consumer-type microphone, unlike professional-type microphones, was designed to work with what the manual calls "plug-in power" to power the microphone (set in the menu). This simply powers the microphone for a "mic" level signal that the recorder amplifies internally.The intended way for users to connect a professional microphone (including the shotgun mentioned in the first question of this thread) to the PCM-M10 is to plug the microphone's balanced XLR cable into a preamp that provides phantom power (I bought a Sound Devices MM-1 for this purpose) and then connect the line-level output of the preamp to the "line in" on the PCM-M10 (using a short Sound Devices cable with XLR female mono to 1/8-in stereo TRS male plug). The professional microphone's mono signal then is recorded perfectly to both stereo tracks on the PCM-M10 with this method.The signal level output is manually adjustable at the preamp and the signal level input also is manually adjustable on the PCM-M10. The recordings, with level adjusted correctly, are free of electronic noise and have the same full dynamic range as when recording correctly with the internal microphones. The metering and LEDs make this easy.If I understood the first post correctly, the poster has been trying to match a professional microphone to the consumer mic-level input on the PCM-M10. The mic-level input was not designed for this, but the Sony manual is not especially helpful in distinguishing "plug-in power" from the phantom power used by many professional microphones. Apparently, Sony was trying to explain the operation of this recorder to average consumers without using the terminology familiar to audio professionals.I am not an audio professional or a bird song recordist but have read books explaining these differences, making the basic technology fairly simple to apply for my needs. Hope this helps clear up the basic issue. *</blockquote>

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