I’m currently working with the 4ms MetaModule and would like to connect a microphone to it. I understand that the MetaModule doesn’t have a built-in mic preamp or specific mic input, and that microphones generally output a much lower signal (mic level) than what modular synths expect.
Here’s my situation:
I only have the MetaModule and no additional mic preamp or external modules for amplification. I’m wondering if there are any special types of microphones that can work directly with the MetaModule, or if I absolutely need to invest in a mic preamp or additional gear. Would a dynamic microphone work without phantom power, or is an external preamp always required to boost the signal to modular level?
Any advice or recommendations on how to solve this issue would be greatly appreciated! If you’ve had experience connecting microphones to the MetaModule, I’d love to hear how you managed it.
if you used a passive mic that doesn’t require any phantom power (i.e. shure sm58), it can work with the mm without any preamp (just need xlr->1/8) but would need to use the airwindows bitshift gain module and bump the gain up to 4+ to hear it since these passive mics are line level. or the airwindows purest gain module will work as it goes up to +40db - its a good one to map a mm knob to, although it uses a bit more cpu than bitshiftgain due to its built in slew.
so far ive tried a lot of passive or line level things direct into mm- guitar, contact mics, tape/vinyl players, ios devices, laptop and they have worked great as long as i boost them inside mm with those airwindows modules
i actually tried the bog audio offset module first before any others (with scale turned all the way up) and found that i unfortunately needed to use 2-3 of them in a row to get the line level devices up to useable volumes. bog offset uses 10% cpu each and is mono, but i found later (with the cpu database dan made) the airwindows bitshiftgain uses 7% and can get REALLY loud and provides stereo. aw purestgain still goes pretty loud uses 11% and gives more detailed control over volume where bitshiftgain only does volume in steps
