Microphones Chord CCM1

[Colin the Bear]

Chord ccm1. Is this a good mic? It seems to get decent reviews.

Is a larger diaphragm, 32mm, more desirable than a say 16mm?

What's a FET pre amp?

Shheeesshhh!

 

[jrintaha]

FET = field effect transistor. As opposed to a BJT (bipolar junction transistor) preamp or vacuum tube (or "valve") preamp. Doesn't really matter which type - no type is inherently bad or good. There are good ones and bad ones in all of them. Don't know about the diaphragm size.

 

[Young Col]

FETs behave a bit more like valves than ordinary BJT transistors, being essentially voltage operated rather than current operated. They are less noisy than BJT transistors and less bulky than vacuum tubes (and don't require the high voltage and heater voltage of valves, so don't need such bulky power supplies).

 

[altissimo]

Chord appear to be one of those companies that sell generic Chinese made musical equipment with their brand name stamped on it. As such this mic won't be much different to all the other cheap Chinese condenser mics out their eg Behringer, Samson, Fame etc
Personally I'd go for something like an Audio Technica AT2020, AKG perception 120, Rode NT1A or SE Electronics SE2000 mk II - these companies are at least specialist microphone manufacturers and have better quality control on their cheap Chinese microphones

bear in mind that a condenser mic will also need 48volt phantom power from either a mixer, external phantom power supply or an audio interface that has that facility

 

[Colin the Bear]

The chord has been dropped in price to £46 including postage, gets good reviews and has a 32mm diaphragm, built in FET pre amp and includes the spider mount. I'm tempted. The "Tbone Elvis" I just got is great live but I'm wanting something to record with and this is in my budget range.