Support

Use a spaced pair (AB): two omnis some distance apart. Wider spacing, 1 to 2 metres or more, gives a broad, spacious image for forests or halls; 25 cm or less gives an intimate field for a solo instrument or foley. Start narrow and widen until it sounds right. A thin sound or missing low end means phase problems: adjust the spacing. A matched pair keeps the image consistent.

On the road I use the compact K&M 23550; for wider stereo, the K&M 23560. Or skip the bar: tie the microphones to opposite sides of a tree about 15 cm across, or use an elastic band to keep ‘m there. The trunk acts as a natural baffle, much like your head between your ears.

Birds close up: start a few centimetres apart and widen. Waves from a distance: around 2 metres apart. Rain very close: a few centimetres. The further you are from the source, the wider you can space the pair.

For calm days the foam windfilter is enough. Outdoors, use the Furry Windfilters: in my tests they reduced wind noise by about 25 dB at 39 to 49 km/h. When stronger wind is present, try to not put your microphones directly in its path, but place them off center. They are omnidirectional, so you will still be able to record the scene.

If it supplies 48 V phantom power (P48), yes. Cortiça does not work on plug-in power, the low voltage many small recorders and cameras offer on a 3.5 mm input. When your recorder has XLR inputs and offers phantom power Cortiça should work without a hitch. Users have confirmed the following recorders work well for them:

Zoom

• H1 XLR
• H5studio
• H6studio
• H6essential
• F3
• F6
• F8n Pro

Tascam

• Portacapture X6
• Portacapture X8
• DR-40X
• DR-100mkIII

Sony

• PCM-D10

Sound Devices

• 833
• MixPre-3 II / MixPre-6 II / MixPre-10 II
• Scorpio
• 888

There’s no single right setting, because the probe’s output depends almost entirely on the source and the distance. It’s a passive coil (7.5 mH, 42 Ω), so its output scales with the strength of the field and how fast it changes. Pressed against a switch-mode charger it can deliver a hot signal, while a few centimetres away from a quiet device it’s down near the preamp’s noise floor.

Rough starting points on a typical recorder preamp (0 to about 70 dB of gain):

Weak or distant fields, subtle digital chatter: 50 dB and up

Strong sources, probe touching (chargers, transformers, motors, induction hobs): roughly 10 to 25 dB

Typical devices at close range (laptops, phones, LED drivers, routers, hard drives): roughly 30 to 45 dB

Set the gain for the loudest moment rather than the average, since sweeping the probe over a device can raise the level by 30 dB or more within millimetres. Find the hottest spot first, then explore from there. On 32-bit float recorders the gain setting mostly affects monitoring, although very strong fields can still overload the analog input. Keep headphone volume moderate and use a limiter if available. Thanks to its low 42 Ω impedance, the probe adds almost no noise of its own, so a quiet preamp pays off with weak sources. Near mains-powered equipment, a high-pass filter around 80 to 120 Hz keeps hum from eating your headroom.

Better not. Practical rule: a passive coil gains nothing from phantom power, so switch it off for that input. If you can’t, because it’s ganged with a channel that needs it, make sure the coil (and XLR cable you connect it to) is fully floating across pins 2 and 3, with nothing to pin 1 except the cable shield.

Yes. Enter your VAT number at checkout, I will check your number in the VIES system and make sure it is correct and refund you the VAT amount before shipping out the order and sending an updated invoice.

Every instrument except DIY kits has a two-year warranty from the date of purchase, covering defects in materials and workmanship. I repair or replace it, whichever makes more sense. It does not cover misuse, unauthorised modifications or repairs, normal wear, power surges or floods, or use with incompatible equipment. When something goes wrong and you are out of warranty, write me and I will try my best to help you out. Here are the full terms.

Write to me with your order number and a short description, ideally with a photo, video or a recording of the problem . I will get back to you shortly and tell you how to send it in.

Customers in the EU can cancel within 14 days. This is the Cancellation policy.