Annoyed by the handling noise my pocket voice recorder picks up, I bought some external mics last fall. Not only did the noise disappear, the recordings also gained much more bass and stereo depth.
The mics I got were Sound Professionals SP-TFB-2s, which someone recommended in this field-recording forum. Interestingly, the TFB-2s are designed to fit in your ears, using the shape of your outer ears and head to create a binaural image. When I wear them, people just assume I'm wearing ear buds, which is great for covert recording.
The TFB-2 mics, with and without optional windscreen. Installing them in your ears takes some practice and a mirror at first.
The mics use an omnidirectional pattern, which produces a very spacious sound, but picks up lots of reverberation indoors. You can hear the effect in this recording of metronomes at the NAMM musical instrument show. The first part of the recording uses the voice recorder's built-in mics. Then I switch to the in-ear mics.
- Metronomes (MP3)
Here's another before-and-after example—a bagpipe troupe from the opening day at NAMM. You can hear the drums overwhelm the voice recorder's automatic gain control, but the difference in frequency response and imaging is obvious.
- Bagpipes with Onboard Mics (340KB MP3)
- Bagpipes with TFB-2 Mics (948KB MP3)
I put some more TFB-2 examples in the Digital Media Insider podcast about portable recorders, including one recording I made outdoors, where I think these mics work best.
I got the beige color; the mics are also available in black.
What happy recording discoveries have you made?
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@Robert: Thanks for writing. I'm not aware of any three-way shootouts among the mics you're considering. I now own both the TFB-2s and the Giant Squid Podcaster mics. The latter are too sensitive for concert recording; I bought them for interviews.
Once you figure out how to install the TFB-2s in your ears, they're dependable. (I haven't encountered handling noise.) I've found that mounting the alligator-clip style of mics consistently is trickier, though with cardioid mics, you have more options. Listening to the clips at the Giant Squid site, I thought the omnis sounded more natural.
Both companies recommend external power packs (which provide more voltage than the plug-in power from the recorder) for recording loud concerts. Please let us know what you discover.
I've reported your CAPTCHA woes. I often find that I need to refresh the page before hitting Submit to initialize the CAPTCHA; the first word that comes up is often mismatched internally, so even if you type it correctly, it doesn't work.
I am tempted to buy the TFB-2s, $97, for my new Korg MR-1 recorder, but I am also considering Core Sound's Low Cost Binaural mic, $75, see http://www.core-sound.com/lcmics/1.php , or Giant Squid Audio Lab's Omnidirectional Stereo mic $65, see http://www.giant-squid-audio-lab.com/gs/gs-stereo1.htm. I do see the advantage of the TFB-2 in eliminating handling and rustling noises caused by handling, touching and moving the mics. I want to record music concerts. Would you recommend one of the three for this purpose? Are there comparison clips on-line that you are aware of? Thanks for your expertise, Rob
I am tempted to buy the TFB-2s, $97, for my new Korg MR-1 recorder, but I am also considering Core Sound's Low Cost Binaural mic, $75, see http://www.core-sound.com/lcmics/1.php , or Giant Squid Audio Lab's Omnidirectional Stereo mic $65, see http://www.giant-squid-audio-lab.com/gs/gs-stereo1.htm. I do see the advantage of the TFB-2 in eliminating handling and rustling noises caused by handling, touching and moving the mics. I want to record music concerts. Would you recommend one of the three for this purpose? Are there comparison clips on-line that you are aware of? Thanks for your expertise, Rob On another subject; The "Captcha" is way too hard...You can't tell the difference between f and t the way they're displayed.
I am tempted to buy the TFB-2s, $97, for my new Korg MR-1 recorder, but I am also considering Core Sound's Low Cost Binaural mic, $75, see http://www.core-sound.com/lcmics/1.php , or Giant Squid Audio Lab's Omnidirectional Stereo mic $65, see http://www.giant-squid-audio-lab.com/gs/gs-stereo1.htm. I do see the advantage of the TFB-2 in eliminating handling and rustling noises caused by handling, touching and moving the mics. I want to record music concerts. Would you recommend one of the three for this purpose? Are there comparison clips on-line that you are aware of? Thanks for your expertise, Rob On another subject; The "Captcha" is way too hard...You can't tell the difference between f and t the way they're displayed.
I am tempted to buy the TFB-2s, $97, for my new Korg MR-1 recorder, but I am also considering Core Sound's Low Cost Binaural mic, $75, see http://www.core-sound.com/lcmics/1.php , or Giant Squid Audio Lab's Omnidirectional Stereo mic $65, see http://www.giant-squid-audio-lab.com/gs/gs-stereo1.htm. I do see the advantage of the TFB-2 in eliminating handling and rustling noises caused by handling, touching and moving the mics. I want to record music concerts. Would you recommend one of the three for this purpose? Are there comparison clips on-line that you are aware of? Thanks for your expertise, Rob
I am tempted to buy the TFB-2s, $97, for my new Korg MR-1 recorder, but I am also considering Core Sound's Low Cost Binaural mic, $75, see http://www.core-sound.com/lcmics/1.php , or Giant Squid Audio Lab's Omnidirectional Stereo mic $65, see http://www.giant-squid-audio-lab.com/gs/gs-stereo1.htm. I do see the advantage of the TFB-2 in eliminating handling and rustling noises caused by handling, touching and moving the mics. I want to record music concerts. Would you recommend one of the three for this purpose? Are there comparison clips on-line that you are aware of? Thanks for your expertise, Rob
I am tempted to buy the TFB-2s, $97, for my new Korg MR-1 recorder, but I am also considering Core Sound's Low Cost Binaural mic, $75, see http://www.core-sound.com/lcmics/1.php , or Giant Squid Audio Lab's Omnidirectional Stereo mic $65, see http://www.giant-squid-audio-lab.com/gs/gs-stereo1.htm. I do see the advantage of the TFB-2 in eliminating handling and rustling noises caused by handling, touching and moving the mics. I want to record music concerts. Would you recommend one of the three for this purpose? Are there comparison clips on-line that you are aware of? Thanks for your expertise, Rob
I am tempted to buy the TFB-2s, $97, for my new Korg MR-1 recorder, but I am also considering Core Sound's Low Cost Binaural mic, $75, see http://www.core-sound.com/lcmics/1.php , or Giant Squid Audio Lab's Omnidirectional Stereo mic $65, see http://www.giant-squid-audio-lab.com/gs/gs-stereo1.htm. I do see the advantage of the TFB-2 in eliminating handling and rustling noises caused by handling, touching and moving the mics. I want to record music concerts. Would you recommend one of the three for this purpose? Are there comparison clips on-line that you are aware of? Thanks for your expertise, Rob
I'm considering the TFB-2 mics but have read that any recordings made with them need to be played back through headphones, as stand alone speakers will not reproduce the stereo image correctly and sound weird. Is this your experience?
@Mark:
I have an H2 would these mics be a good match?
I just got an H2 in on loan, so I'll let you know. These omni mics do pick up a lot of ambience, but comparing cardioid and omni recordings at Giant Squid Audio labs, I tended to like the omni recordings better. Granted, those were not binaural mics, and some people have complained about noise in the H2's preamps, but I'll give it a shot.
You might also post your question on our audio forum.
I have an H2 would these mics be a good match? I would be using for both recording friendly situations and stealthy situations. I wonder about omni directionals,most concerts there is alot of crowd noise to be avoided.(They should have an enforced talkers section in the rear for those who cant appreciate good music.The H2 can power these mics right? Any thoughts or suggestions on mics. I am using the built in mics and have been pleased with them but I want to get the best sound I can
I did pretty much the same thing in 1983ish, albeit much lower tech - but it still worked well. I removed both speakers from a cheap headset, and installed Radio Shack lavalier microphones in place of each speaker. I then connected the mics to a Sony Walkman (of course it was cassette tape at that time) and when I placed the headset on my head, a mic in each ear, and the walkman in my pocket, I had a cheap portable binaural recorder. At that time, sampled sound was not used in video games (I was at Atari Games at the time), so the sounds ended up in a Fairlight synthesizer instead of arcade games.
I got the black and silver color; I had no choice.