RS Optimus 33-3017 Condensor Mics




!! HELP !!
Here is the mic as I received it. The person I got it from tried to remove the recording element in order to do "stealth" recording. It doesn't appear that there is any major damage to the element. Looks like he just pulled the tiny black and red wires away from the solder.

Here's a diagram I did of the rear of the element:


I'm assuming the first attempt to repair this would be to solder the two wires back to the element. As small and fragile that the element is, I don't want to do any unnecessary "trial-and-error" soldering to see which lead goes where. Does anyone know which color wire goes to which solder point?


RS33-3017 Info
I first found out about these mics on the alt.music.4-track newsgroup, and there has since been a lot of discussion about them on there. Go to Deja.com and do a usenet power search on "33-3017" and you'll find those message. Also, I started to put as many of the "user tips" I could find in a text file. Click on the link below to check it out.
RS33-3017 Tips

In addition to recording acoustic guitar with the 33-3017, I've also experimented with it for audience recording of a live band. Instead of a DAT deck (or even an analog cassette deck), I plug directly into the mic input of a Sony camcorder. The cam is smaller than a cassette deck, plus I can record for 2+ hours without any tape flips. I only had one mic at the time, but hope to try out a 2-mic array pretty soon to see how it works.

Ideally, this will be my set-up for such recordings:

(2) RS33-3017 mics > Behringer Eurotrack MX802A mixer > Sony camcorder mic-in

For mixdown to my computer to burn to CD, the set-up will be:

Sony camcorder > Behringer Eurotrack MX802A > Midiman Flying Cow 20-bit (S/PDIF) > Midiman DiO2448

Sample MP3's will be added to the page as soon as they're done.
Now that RS has discontinued this mic, it appears that an identical replacement is available: the Shure VR116L condensor. You can see this mic here. However, this mic runs about 80 bucks.

Links:
the Unofficial Radio Shack Microphone Sample Page MP3 samples of the 33-3017 and other RS mics
Mic Test reviews33-3017 for use with a video camera.
Mic info article that mentions the 33-3017
Mic test that mentions the 33-3017


I also have a RS33-1090B PZM (boundary) microphone, which was modded with an XLR plug by the previous owner, and have accumulated some information about them as well:

PZM Links:
Toivo Maki's "My Life with PZM's" includes mods
DAT-Heads Mic FAQ includes mods
Radio Shack docs


Other Pics:


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