Sony PCM-M10 with a shotgun mic?

Question

Hello,

I've seen this question asked regarding the Sony PCM-D50 but have yet to find an answer as to how this sort of thing works for the M10.

So is there a way to use a shotgun mic with the M10? I've read about problems using this setup in other forums due to the M10's lack of a mono mode and was wondering if any of you have used this setup successfully.

I'm new to sound collecting and I've been using the built-in mics for various things, but I know a shotgun mic is the next step, and I'm on a budget.

Any info would be much appreciated!

Answer 1

I know the question has been answered, but for what it's worth, I've been using the M10 + NTG2 with batteries with great success.

Answer 2

I'd suggest a Denecke PS1A.

It'll effectively run your mic in dual mono, and it'll supply you with nice sounding phantom power and with an adaptor it'll convert your xlr to 35mm.

Here's a test of that exact box on a D50 that I ran.

the concept is fundamentally the same between the D50 and the M10. Neither will just record a straight mono track, neither provides proper phantom power, neither has xlr inputs. The Denecke addresses all of that while not adding one ounce of redundancy, since you'll still be using the Sony preamps and A/D.

The Denecke gear is really good sounding stuff. Rugged, compact, and reliable so I'd highly recommend it.

Back at the studio you can use waveagent to split the tracks out into .L and .R files and then delete the odd ones.

Answer 3

I use a Audio Technica AT875R short shotgun mic. It is supposed to be powered with 48V Phantom power, but actually you can power it from the couple of volts plug-in power from the Sony M10 , believe it or not. Obviously, there is a drop-off in performance but it works quite well.

The upside is the AT875 produces a large output signal so it doesn't require a high input gain level on the M10 - result is very low noise floor.

All that is needed is a cable with a 3.5mm stereo plug at one end and an XLR female at the other to connect the AT875 to the M10 mic input.

Answer 4

There are two ways to go really. First choice is what Rene states in his answer, get a separate phantom power supply and then an adaptor from XLR to 3.5mm, but this would also require you purchasing a good shotgun mic as well (if you haven't got one already). The second choice, assuming you have no mic, would be get a shotgun mic that is battery powered, something like the Rode NTG2. This option is probably the most suitable as you are on a budget. This mic is pretty good and will be a great buy to start out with, you might also consider getting a Rode PG2 pistol grip and a 'dead cat' windjammer to keep out the wind and handling noise. You could probably pick all this up for around £200 / $300 or look on auction sites where you might find good deals on second hand gear.

As for the mono issue, well it's really not an issue. I actually have the D50 (love it by the way) and use a shotgun through a Sound Devices Preamp. It's simple enough to just remove one of the channels in post. As a simple method to split the channels I use AudioGate from Korg (I started using it when I got a Korg MR-1) it's a really simple program and can convert any format to pretty much any other format as well as exporting dual mono. I normally do this and remove the Right / number 2 channel. (http://www.korguser.net/audiogate/en/download.html)

Hope this helps.

Answer 5

It´s no problem. I own a m10 since yesterday and thested the Røde NTG2 with an internal Battery in the M10 with PlugIn Power Enabled. Have a listen.

https://soundcloud.com/andreasusenbenz/sony-pcm-m10-with-r-de-battery