AZS microphones

[debra]

However, given the trends and advancements in audio technology, I decided to venture into something new and researched the market to find the Best ASMR Microphones for all budgets. I'm aiming to take my audio recording to the next level for my videos because, let's face it, audio quality plays a huge role in ASMR content. So I'm excited to see how these new microphones can elevate my ASMR game!

For audio recording nothing beats external microphones placed some distance from the accordion, combined with a good digital audio recording device.
All the built-in or attached-to solutions discussed in this thread are for amplifying the sound of the accordion for live performances. None of them are the best for making recordings.

 

[Ventura]

That is a bit of an odd development. When I bought a few sets (that was a few years ago) they had 5 + 1 and 5 + 2. I bought the 5 + 1 sets. Things have changed because they are all powered by a 9V battery whereas the ones I bought back then were powered by 2 AAA batteries (so 3V only).

there is a limitation that affects possible clipping of the audio waveform
which is improved by 9 Volt vs 3 Volt, because the power "rail" is wider

the aaa batteries would last much longer, so if that is important to your installation,
i suggest adding an extra 2 cell holder and improving it to 6 volts.. the pre-amp
op-amp and bias for the Mic elements can handle the difference as long as the
buffering capacitor across the + and - power section is rated high enough
(like @ 16 volts) usually power section caps are selected well over the needed voltage

it is a minor improvement, but bass frequencies particularly can easily spike
the waveform peak to peak, so i thought i would mention it

i agree getting the mic's on separate sections are more versatile, and one thing
i have done is on occasion the surplus parts suppliers will get (new) old type computer
mic's in batches for less than a dollar each, and the ones like the old Apple mics
which are round have lovely little round single Mic circuit boards. Swapping the
omnidirectional mic elements for unidirectional is another $ or so then all you need
is the op-amp section to finish it up, whether u make it from scratch or borrow one
from an old Microvox or just hit Amazon for something handy

 

[JerryPH]

See? A hybrid kit like this for both left and right hands looks ideal, I am of curse not sure how well they would work in real life.
There is not a ton of technology involved, but there are some aspects that are above my current knowledge levels... I am back to thinking of making my own set again.

 

[debra]

there is a limitation that affects possible clipping of the audio waveform
which is improved by 9 Volt vs 3 Volt, because the power "rail" is wider

the aaa batteries would last much longer, so if that is important to your installation,
i suggest adding an extra 2 cell holder and improving it to 6 volts.. ...

I now have a 5+1 unit (of which I don't use the 1) from "Caverna Eletrifações para Acordeões" (a new Brazilian supplier) which works well. It uses 9 Volts, but I find the power consumption (7mA) just a bit high to use a 9 Volt battery. I first installed 6 AAA batteries, but later replaced them by 6 AA batteries, which happily fit under the grille of my bass accordion, but which would not fit in many other accordions. I want batteries to last for a year or more. The AA ones will do that. I don't know what the power consumption is of other systems, like AZS or Harmonik, but I suspect that a 9 Volt battery won't last very long on these either, especially not the ones with tone-control in addition to volume.
I must say that with the 3 Volt Carini setup I have not experienced any distortion from clipping, and this despite the fact that the bass accordion provides strong sound by means of large reeds.

 

[JerryPH]

For audio recording nothing beats external microphones placed some distance from the accordion, combined with a good digital audio recording device.
All the built-in or attached-to solutions discussed in this thread are for amplifying the sound of the accordion for live performances. None of them are the best for making recordings.

Agreed... kind of, and only if the environment is near perfect. There is no AC or heating fans turned on, there are no windows open where the neighbor's dog, cat, birds, cars/trucks or lawnmower is not anywhere nearby. Also your room has no echo or reverb and is sound controlled to the Nth.

A good internal mic setup on an accordion removes a lot of those needs above that an external mic system demands.

Finally, as good as everything external can be (and they DO sound good with the right mics capturing!), if you are making videos, external mics are ALWAYS going to be in the shot interfering, which frankly can be annoying as heck for me.

Under ideal circumstances, I am seeing that a good internal setup and good external setup both have some advantages over each other that the other is missing. In terms of best possible sound? I bet a good sound engineer can make both sound so good that none of us here could tell the difference, especially in the $1000us range for external or internal mic ranges.

 

[debra]

...

Finally, as good as everything external can be (and they DO sound good with the right mics capturing!), if you are making videos, external mics are ALWAYS going to be in the shot interfering, which frankly can be annoying as heck for me.

...

When you do video and the image is something that is interesting (not an old guy sitting on a stool in a recording room...) then the sound and image are often recorded separately. I have shot a few (totally uninteresting) videos in my living room and everything you see me play is playback. The sound was recorded beforehand and is being played through speakers (not visible in the video) while I pretend to be playing what you hear.
Recording the sound is something that is not so easy with an external mic setup like I use, because my room is not soundproof, when school's out the neighbor's children may make noise, playing in the garden, and for instance in this season people are preparing their houses and gardens for winter, so you hear chainsaws, leaf blowers, woodchippers, etc., etc. And when it rains hard that can also be heard... And then there are airplanes, helicopters, ambulances and other noise-makers. So I sometimes have to wait for hours (or days) before I can make a recording.

 

[JerryPH]

When you do video and the image is something that is interesting (not an old guy sitting on a stool in a recording room...) then the sound and image are often recorded separately.

Not me, never will I fake a video, unless I am doing a multitrack or multicam... this old man sits in his chair and live records it allllllllll.

Just mostly kidding, but the point I was making is that internal mics don't pickup external sounds anywhere near as much as external mics. I can (and literally have) played the backing track over the speakers 5 feet away from me and recorded acoustic accordion at the same time using internal mics and I needed to raise the track 40db to BARELY hear the backing track in the accordion track. I *can* leave my window open and have people talking outside my window, neighbor's dog barking and it never gets audibly recorded... but recording on external mics, I would catch everything and I can clearly hear my mom sneeze upstairs and her answering to my "bless-you!" with a "thank-you" retort on my soundtracks... lol My AC/heating must absolutely be turned off if I am using externals. That's one of those advantages I was talking about for internal mics.

Invisibility on video would be another (wire hanging down being the exception, but it is easy to hide). I'm currently working on working on the best placement for sound and image quality using externals. Later I hope to work on placement that doesn't hurt quality or image too much but places them in a manner where I can "cut them out" of the video. Audio quality before video appearance for now. I may need to add some more room acoustic control as well.

Stereo separation is a big advantage for internals too. Most accordions "spray" treble side sound in an incredibly wide pattern that "infects" the left hand track a ton, My Gola, Beltuna and Scandalli are the biggest offenders in my collection for this (it's also likely why they sound so good to a wider spread audience!). With the Beltuna internal mics, I can separate left and right hands a LOT better than the external mics and really control the image.

 

[debra]

Not me, never will I fake a video, unless I am doing a multitrack or multicam... this old man sits in his chair and live records it allllllllll.

...

And you record it all pretty well too!
I must admit that my playing is too rubbish to do live recording with video. I cannot reliably play a whole song (with both hands) without any errors. (And that's a very mild self-evaluation of my playing capabilities.)
I have done a few multitrack recordings with myself duplicated a few times in the video. It was a lot of work and I don't think the results were worth watching (although the sound recording itself was acceptable).
I have done "Ombra mai fù" (Largo, G.F. Handel),
"Violin Concerto in C major, opus 64 (mov. 2), Mendelssohn",
"String Quartet in F major: Serenade, Hoffstetter", and then a few with just people side by side...
They are all on my YouTube channel if anyone is interested in watching instead of just listening.
It is sooooo much work... so I abandoned this quickly and resorted to just record the audio.
In the videos no stereo separation was needed when recording each track because I only used the right hand. I'm not very good with my left hand. I did use it for all of "Turks Fruit" (solo performance) and "Ecce Homo Qui est Faba" (duo performance) but other than that it's used only when I'm making a quintet arrangement and there are some places where a sixth voice was really needed.

It's a "nice to have", that complete stereo separation, but now that everyone uses earbuds or headphones you really don't want it. It takes you back to the sixties/seventies when recordings were made with very wide stereo that sounded great through speakers and horrible through headphones. The ability to cope with background noise however is something I'd appreciate a lot, considering how often I have to interrupt recordings because of noise coming from outside. Maybe I'll give it a go on one of my next recordings. This will be a situation where I'm glad I have the Microvox system (placed on the grille): I can move it from one accordion to the next for recording each track. With a truly built-in system like AZS, Harmonic or Caverna Eletrifações para Acordeões you need a separate one for each of your accordions.

 

[JerryPH]

I just spent a few minutes looking at how "Caverna Eletrifações para Acordeões", and truth is that they looked like they did a fair job, but, how he drilled in to the accordion and more specifically the reed blocks (TWICE! He was off by an inch the first time), sent chills down my spine imagining that being done on my Gola.

No matter if I like the performance of the internals better, no matter their advantages, THAT is NOT happening on my Gola... haha. Today I am trying out 2 systems today (both stereo, but one with a separation of a few inches and another with a much wider placement), and will do some comparing of the sound. I think I already know what will happen, but let's see if I get any surprises. In the following couple of days I want to try out a few different recording methods/mic placements.

 

[debra]

I just spent a few minutes looking at how "Caverna Eletrifações para Acordeões", and truth is that they looked like they did a fair job, but, how he drilled in to the accordion and more specifically the reed blocks (TWICE! He was off by an inch the first time), sent chills down my spine imagining that being done on my Gola.

No matter if I like the performance of the internals better, no matter their advantages, THAT is NOT happening on my Gola... haha. Today I am trying out 2 systems today (both stereo, but one with a separation of a few inches and another with a much wider placement), and will do some comparing of the sound. I think I already know what will happen, but let's see if I get any surprises. In the following couple of days I want to try out a few different recording methods/mic placements.

The company makes the mics. I don't know who you saw install it in the accordion.
The mics appear to be decent. But I would certainly not let anyone but myself install it in one of my accordions. (Fortunately I don't need to, because I have the mics in my bass accordion and for the other accordions I use Microvox which requires no installation.)

 

[JerryPH]

The company makes the mics. I don't know who you saw install it in the accordion.

"Caverna Eletrifações para Acordeões" < their youtube channel. > https://www.youtube.com/@cavernaeletrificacoes793

 

[jozz]

seems like a nice system

what bugs me it that these suppliers all tend to use 'deluxe' potmeter caps that are hard to 'read' in low light / on stage
you have to tilt your head looking down to be able to read how it is turned



they look great on the sales brochure but I always replace them with the more practical / tactile caps -->

 

[debra]

"Caverna Eletrifações para Acordeões" < their youtube channel. > https://www.youtube.com/@cavernaeletrificacoes793

Thanks. What a terrible technician... He's bad at drilling the holes, put the bar with mics non parallel with the edge of the grille... and he didn't use a box for the battery that allows for easy replacement without having to take the bass plate (under the belt) off. They sell nice boxes for that...
Still, the microphones themselves work well.

 

[debra]

seems like a nice system

what bugs me it that these suppliers all tend to use 'deluxe' potmeter caps that are hard to 'read' in low light / on stage
you have to tilt your head looking down to be able to read how it is turned

...

Mine have potmeter caps without any markings at all. I end up just feeling where the hole for the tiny bolt is that holds the potmeter in place.
So far they haven't bothered me much. I set up the volume (and tone control) to my liking and then don't change it during a performance.

 

[Ventura]

https://www.amazon.com/Longdex-Chicken-Vintage-Amplifier-Potentiometer/dp/B07Z3GGYDJ/ref=sr_1_6?keywords=chicken+head+knobs&qid=1697111693&sr=8-6

chicken head's are the best

 

[debra]

https://www.amazon.com/Longdex-Chicken-Vintage-Amplifier-Potentiometer/dp/B07Z3GGYDJ/ref=sr_1_6?keywords=chicken+head+knobs&qid=1697111693&sr=8-6

chicken head's are the best

It's been a very long time since I saw these chicken head knobs, except on the tone-generator I built around 40 years ago (and still have of course).