Easy Step By Step Tutorial - How To Build A DIY Primo EM172 Electret Condenser Hand Held Mic For £20
401This video is a step by step guide on how to modify and build your own DIY hand held electret condenser microphone using the Primo EM172 omni-directional capsule, for less than £20
The tutorial shows how to swap out and replace the dynamic capsule in a cheap plastic hand held microphone with a Primo EM172 omni-directional electret condenser capsule. This guide is about the most simplest and straight forward way to do this type of microphone modification.
The guide also shows how to replace the quarter inch mono jack on the microphone with a 3.5mm stereo, also known as a 3 pole, jack plug. This type of 3.5mm jack is what's usually used for the mic input of most small camcorders, DSLR cameras and many external portable audio field recorders.
The jack is also wired in such a way that it records the mono signal from the Primo EM172 capsule to both channels of the camcorder or recording device that it's being plugged in to. This means that you do not have to re-balance the position of the audio in post in the stereo field, and is also very useful if you want to directly use the video or audio file for playback on a stereo capable playback device or for uploading direct to the internet for streaming etc.
I'm constantly testing lavalier microphones and electret condenser capsules and have to say that the Primo EM172 is the best omni-directional capsule that I have come across, and it is very cheap for such a high quality capsule.
The EM172 is very sensitive, it's also got a wide frequency response that's easily good enough for dialogue. It is also incredibly quiet with regard to self noise, something that becomes very apparent when recording in quiet locations.
As mentioned in the video, the modified microphone sounds great and easily holds its own when being compared to other dialogue microphones costing many times its price. It's also very good for recording ambience and atmospheric sound sources.
The mic can be used for many types of dialogue recording, ENG, vlogging, podcasting, youtube videos, interview recording and is also suited to being used in an on-camera dialogue position. In fact, it hands down beats any built in camera mic that I've used.
Check out this video of the microphone being used with a GoPro Hero 6 Black via the GoPro Pro 3.5mm external USB mic adaptor. In the video I'm using the microphone in a number of configurations, hand held talking to camera, as an on camera mic and hand held and on camera for an interview:
Check back as I will be demonstrating the microphone with other cameras and recording scenarios.
I'm also working on a cardioid version of this type of modification and will post videos as soon as I have found an electret condenser cardioid capsule for this build.
And don't forget. This microphone requires that your camcorder or recording device can supply plug-in power or electret voltage via its microphone socket.
A big thank you to Nick from www.MicBooster.com for his advice toward this modification.
Here are the links to the components. The prices mentioned in the video were all inclusive of VAT and correct at the time of making the tutorial.
The Primo EM172 electret condenser capsule can bought from www.MicBooster.com There are a number of variations of this capsule from www.MicBooster.com including ones with and without cabling pre-soldered to the capsule. I would strongly recommend buying the version with the cables already pre-soldered, seriously, for not much extra it could save you a whole heap of pain :)
Primo EM172 Microphone Capsule with wires: http://micbooster.com/primo-microphone-capsules/10-primo-em172-z1-microphone-capsule-with-wires.html
Primo EM172 Microphone Capsule:
http://micbooster.com/primo-microphone-capsules/8-primo-em-172-z1.html
Primo 10mm Rubber Holder 100E:
http://micbooster.com/primo-microphone-capsules/87-primo-10-mm-rubber-holder-100e-fc032.html
Here is a link to the Pulse Dynamic Vocal Microphone at CPC Farnell:
http://cpc.farnell.com/pulse/partymic/dynamic-microphone-black/dp/MP34625
Here is a link to the 3.5mm stereo, 3 pole, jack plug at Kenable:
https://www.kenable.co.uk/product_info.php?products_id=5011
Although the above microphone and 3.5mm jack will help to keep the budget below £20 for the parts, you can always source the jack plug elsewhere. In Fact, Mic Booster have options for the jack plug, they're a bit more expensive but better quality, which may be a better option if you plan on heavy use.
You may also be able to source a different microphone other the one in my parts list, although I couldn't find a cheaper plastic one myself. You could also use a metal bodied fixed cable microphone, but again, I could only find plastic fixed cabled microphones.
Good luck with your modification and please leave a message in the comments and let me know how you get on.
Thank you for watching my video and take care,
David Harry.