Can EYESY use an unpowered microphone?

EYESY
1

I’m looking at some small gooseneck microphones with a TRS output. The form factor seems perfect for plugging into to EYESY for ambient sound. I wonder if something like this will work with EYESY, or if I need a powered microphone. The manual isn’t specific about microphone types. Any experience or advice on particular models that work would be welcome. Thanks in advance.

2

The EYESY can adjust the input gain up to 300% so the mics you mentioned may work. However, you might need a powered mixer to get the mic signal a little ‘hotter’ if the mic is too low.

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3

if only there was a small and portable microphone available with a built-in and adjustable preamp, everything would be great!
:wink:

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4

Which mic are you referring to sgotb?

5

the Critter & Guitari Microphone, which is no longer being made. A little friendly sarcasm at Chris because I think their microphone is one of the coolest things ever. :orange_heart:

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6

https://www.critterandguitari.com/microphone

I too was recently looking for a microphone for this purpose and am sad that I missed out on the C&G Microphone.

7

Oh, I understand. The Kaleidoloop replacement mic also looks like it might do the job, but I’m not sure. And it isn’t in stock.

8

I don’t have the Kaleidoloop, but from what I understand, it seems doubtful that it would do what you’re looking for.

From the KL manual:

The Kaleidoloop features a 1/4" monophonic microphone input jack.

This input is specifically designed for the Kaleidoloop microphone and provides a small amount of bias voltage to power the mic.

This is important to know for two reasons:

  • The Microphone will only work with the Kaleidoloop.
  • If you connect other sources to the input jack, the bias voltage can introduce noise into the signal.
9

I tried a Boya BY-M100, it didn’t work at all, it is made far cameras, the may have a small power delivered as well?. A sennheiser e906 worked, but input levels were very low probably too low.

  • maybe one could hack into the system, and change sensitivity up to 1000%?
  • recommendations for a simple, low budget battery powered mic?

I would prefer the “no battery” way, to think about one thing less in my setup :wink:

10

According to https://www.lencarta.com/boya-bym100-microphone:

[The Boya BY-M100] microphone powers itself off any connected device’s battery or power supply…

The EYESY does not provide power from the Audio Input port, so the Boya BY-M100 will not work with the EYESY.

11

thankyou @chrisk . What do you think, up to 1000% input sensitivity, possible? Is it hardcoded and compiled, or might it be changed in a script somewhere on the eyesy? I am SSH savy :wink:

12

Also, I’ve found that I can use my OM LS-P5, with “monitoring on” during recording (headphones out…). I’ll need to record, for monitoring to be active, but hey, I own it already and it’s batteries/accus last a very long time, so it looks like good solution to me :slight_smile:

13

You can change the Python to increase the gain. SSH into the EYESY (user: music, pw: music), then edit this file: /home/music/EYESY_OS/engines/python/osc.py

You want to find this function:

def audio_scale_callback(path, args):
    global etc
    val = args[0]
    etc.audio_scale = val

And change the last line to:

etc.audio_scale = val * 10

This will cause the gain knob to go from 0-3000% instead of 300%. The onscreen display might still say 300, but it should be working if you were to check the VU meter.

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14

thanks a lot, will check this out!

15

@oweno I’m struggling, cannot save the file, it says “read only filesystem”. Is that normal? I notice that sometimes, my EYESY shows the rainbow screen at the beginning for quite a long time 2-3 minutes, and rarely stays there forever?

I can write to /sdcard/…

music@eyesy:~ $ pwd
/home/music
music@eyesy:~ $ touch test
touch: cannot touch 'test': Read-only file system
music@eyesy:~ $
16

The filesystem is read only by default, so you need to change it to read write mode. Use this command:

sudo mount / -o remount,rw
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17

It worked (the mount). If it really worked, I cannot yet say, I was at a concert venue, and having a lot of other things to do.

What I can say, though, is that plugging my still to low input signal into a BOSS Metal Zone Pedal as Mic Preamp, and pushing it that way, works very reliable and direct, not even SHIFT is needed on the EYESY :wink:

More feedback to come.

18

Finally, I got some time to check this. And it works! I have connected a Sennheiser e906 with XLR > TS to the EYESY, and

etc.audio_scale = val * 100

So basically 0 - 30’000%. I can see the EYESY react while typing on my keyboard, with 300% sensitivity (equals 30’000 in the EYESY). Still, 0% is 0%, so I manage to also deal with the quieter levels.

This is really cool, as I need one battery powered device less :slight_smile:

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