I love how portable my Organelle is. Especially with a USB power brick. One thing I would really like is a small stereo mic I can just plug directly into the input (no cable). Has anyone seen anything like this? I have a T shaped one for my old MiniDisc recorder but it appears to be powered and wont work.
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Would the Shure MV88+ work for you? I just bought one and it sounds great. You would need to run a USB cable to the Organelle for power or have an external battery for it, though.
I don’t think you’ll be able to use any strong enough non powered microphones with the organelle as it doesn’t really have onboard analog gain control. I wished that I could use one of the kalaidaloop microphones but alas it didn’t work.
I did find this combination solution. Smallest I could imagine that would also work well…
https://www.microphones.com/microphone.cfm?urlid=358
With
https://www.microphones.com/microphone.cfm?urlid=2493
You could easily use Velcro to attach the pre to the side or back of the organelle and have all the gain you need for a stereo condenser that is tiny tiny. But that is close to a $300 solution.
Easier and cheaper would be zoom h1 with a 1/8” to 1/4” tracks cable into organelle. That solution would be $100 new and $75 used. This gives you all the gain you need drive the inputs of the organelle at the right level.
I definitely wish there was a more elegant solution to this. But these are my ideas.
Cheers!
Hey Organelle community,
I have been struggling to find similar solutions for my MPC Live since 2 years and I’ve finally found the solution and I’m happy to share. The MPC Live has the similar setup as the organelle, no preamp. There’s a gain control though but the signal is very weak.
Of course through a decent multitrack mixer, you can handle gain and Phantom Power but it’s not a portable setup.
I’ve wanted to use my microphones and trying to avoid buying new gears. I have an SM58 Dynamic Mic and an AKG S1000 Condenser battery 9V powered MIC.
First, I’ve found a portable, battery-powered PreAmp: Roland UA-22 Duo-Capture EX. It works well but I’ve found out that the 3 AA batteries are draining pretty fast. And I’ve still had to push the gain to the maximum to have something I need. So…I’ve searched for quite a long time for a independent gain booster and I’ve found the Triton FetHead. Super gain boost without any noise. A really nice solid built piece of hardware, made in Australia.
Then I wanted to have something more portable than the Roland UA-22 and especially more battery efficient in order to built my portable setup. I’ve found, after several hardware tests, the new Mackie M48 48V Phantom Power Supply with a simple 9V long-lasting battery. Again, super strong built. It has XLR input/output I’ve needed in order to connect professional quality Mic.
The solution price is $55 for the M48 + $80 for the Triton Fathead + 2 XLR cables (one MF and one F-Jack + any XLR Mic ($100 for an new SM58).
It’s not cheap but it’s robust and versatile.
I’ve been also wondering if it will work with this Mic: Tascam TM 60 Consendator mic
Is there anyone tried this one with the Organelle?
Hope my setup will helps some others.
Best,
Nicolas
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I went with the Zoom H1 used for ~$75 used and I love it. It’s super simple but the quality is pretty nice for my standards. It’s not the micro size I was hoping for but it’s super small and light. It even has a poopy built in speaker which can be fun for jamming on the run!
Does the Triton FetHead alone work or would I need to buy the M48 phantom power supply too?
Nope, that’s the trick, the Triton FetHead need Phantom in order to boost the gain. I’ve also hoped to find a battery less solution but since neither the Organelle nor the MPC Live has Phantom power, we’re forced to provide one.
There’s still the Tascam TM 60 Consendator mic solution but I haven’t found anybody with a decent test to provide.
Best,
Nicolas
This all makes me wish Organelles were cheap enough to experiment on and risk losing one. I’d love an Organelle with either a built in mic or mic input that could handle a standard dynamic mic like the SM58, as well as a built in battery.
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I’ve ordered the Tascam, and I’ll keep you posted. It might be the cheapest and best solution. The FetHead solution allows much higher quality Mics but maybe the Tascam will do the job just fine. 
Yeah, I just received the Tascam and this is the one. The AA battery provides enough juice to have decent gain, Mic built quality is quite outstanding for the $60 price tag. Let’s experiment.
Just wanted to add that I’ve picked up a Zoon H1n for exactly this purpose and it’s working great.
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I’m super happy with mine. Very versatile and simple recorder.