Customer Reviews

Sony ECM-CS10 Tie-Clip-Style Omnidirectional Business Microphone

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

I've been using Sony's ECM-MS907 for more than 5 years now and have loved it; so two weeks ago I ordered the Sony ECM-CS10 to use for audio journal keeping while on the road. When it arrived just a few days ago, I compared the audio quality of its recordings to that of my existing Sony microphone. In spite of its pleasing aesthetics, I found it to be a sad disappointment!!! The ECM-CS10 is a very noisy microphone with an audio quality far inferior of what I would expect from a Sony mic. (I wonder whether this is because it is a plug-in-power mic).

Frankly, I think I'm probably going to return it and look for something else. I've purchased a number of microphones on eBay and have only been satisfied with one other type of compact mic. Microsound makes it; and its a mic with a cable lead about three inches long. I'm not in any way affiliated with them, but I would recommend their product.

With all of this said, I think I still might spring for Sony's top-of-the-line lapel microphone, just to see whether it's any good.

I have used the ECM-CS10 stereo microphone with my laptop for recording speech for audio embedded web pages. This is a very clear low noise stereo mic. It has a good high frequency response. It is not as loud/sensitive as the omni mics I have tried. But this unit records voice very well and with low noise. It is certainly not as boomy as many of the consumer grade omnidirectional single channel mics I have tried. In the laptop recording mode I use the mic with Sonic Stage audio recording software. It produces nice clean recordings. For top-notch speech sound and to increase the signal/noise ratio I even clip on BOTH the ECM-CS10 stereo mic and an omni microphone. I run them both into a 2:1 adaptor plug which then plugs into the laptop. There is no battery box needed with the laptop audio set up. The laptop supplies its own bias voltage/phantom power to the mic. I have also used this mic with button style battery boxes to feed audio into a Canon GL2 camcorder. It gives good results. Every camcorder needs an external mic or two mics for studio set-ups. These 1/8th inch prosumer mics do the job well without breaking your budget. XLR mic set-ups and wireless microphone systems can cost many hundreds of dollars. I was glad to find ways to use these moderately priced business mics in a smart way in order to get very good audio for web pages and videoed interviews. It is not just the quality of equipment or the cost. it is how you use it. Getting your mic as close to the source is the key to getting good video. Lavaliers like this get the job done well and they do it simply and economically.

While the specs above say:

2-Way power supply offers plug-in power with selected Sony or Aiwa portable recorders; battery power for use with all other recorders

This is NOT TRUE. There is no battery unit shipped with this device; you can see it in the instructions, but it isn't in the package. So, unless you are using it with a "selected Sony or Aiwa" device, DON'T BUY THIS. It won't work.

BTW, I am a slow learner. When I bought the first one of these, I thought it was defective because it didn't have the battery pack. I returned it and got another one, which was absolutely unopened -- guess what! THERE IS NO BATTERY PACK IN THE BLISTERPACK.

The Sony ECM-CS10 is reasonably priced for a stereo mic. I have used it for recording auido lectures and it works well to pick up all comments in a small classroom. If clipped to a lapel, it is crystal clear. I also have used it for recording my band with little distortion and fairly equal levels for drum kit, vocals, and guitar amps...solid mic with little frill for these purposes.

It clearly catches vocals and sound with stereo input to the recorder. It is a powerful microphone which also picks up ambient sound. The tie clip is adjustable to a specific direction desired by the user and may be made to stand on a table with the retractable support.

The product description used on Amazon incorrectly states that this mic comes with a power supply. Wrong. The Sony ECM-CS10 does not come with a power supply. The Sony ECM-C115 does. And the two models share a User Guide, which may be where the confusion originated.

After reading a few of the reviews where this was a concern, I did some research, and was pretty sure that I was not buying a mic with an included power supply. So I was not disappointed. But had I not done that research and relied on Amazon's description, and had I needed/wanted a power supply, I might have been a little upset.

As far as quality of the recording, it's a marked improvement over my digital voice recorder's (Sony ICD-UX70) built-in mic. It's not studio-quality, certainly, but an improvement all the same.

Many reviews here concerns the inability to use without plug-in power. It is true, there are 3 versions of this product: ecm-c10 (mono, no batteripack), ecm-cs10 (stereo, no batteripack) and ecm-c115 (mono, WITH batteri pack, much higher price).

So do you need that batteri pack or not? Depends on what you have to plug it into. Does your equipment have builtin plugin power?

- My laptop has plugin power (but mono)

- Soundblaster audio cards are supposed to have it

- Those compatible recorders have it

- my audio mixing station has phantom power for real condensor microphones, but that is way too much voltage for electret. You can plug it into phantom power through a series 47k resistor.

- if your equipment does not have any power, you can build a batteripack yourself, for mono you need 2 female 3.5jack, a resistor and a 10uf capacitor. CR2035 batteri in series with the resistor. Those 2 in parallel to the microphone pins. The cap going to the output. I tried using a 2k ohm res but the volume was too low. Maybe 200-500 ohm would be better. See here: [...] slash circuits slash microphone_powering.html

I use my microphone to clip onto the wire from Sennheiser HD555, and stripped the wires together, got a extension cord so the wires are equal length. Now I have a headset beating the expensive Sennheiser HD350, much cheaper since I had teh hd555 collecting dust in the drawer anyway. On teamspeak people are impressed at the sound.

I hope this review is helpful for people to get their microphone working.

I purchased this mic and did not notice it did not come with a battery in the line. That is, the computer, camera, tape recorder must be able to supply power to the mic because the mic cannot power itself.

I returned this mic for a full refund.

Despite being advertised otherwise on Sony's site as well as many vendors, this unit is plug-in power only ... it does not come with a battery clip to permit operation with non plug-in power devices. I purchased and had to return.

This mic is a great bargain for the price, producing excellent sound reproduction. I use it with my Sony IC recorder SX 700. This gives me a "wireless" mic for actors without the need of an expensive wireless mic system costing several hundred dollars as well as saves me from problems of RF interference and the bulk of a wireless mic transmitter pack on the actor. All I have to do then is drop the sound take from the IC SX700 audio track on to my Sony Vegas Pro time line and sync with the 'reference' track from my Sony EX 3 media material. This mic hides well on actors. The only problem I have encountered is excessive scratching noise if not properly clipped to clothing. This is a great backup sound source if you are working in a high noise traffic location.