I was thinking about getting the Field Kit expansion pack just for the electroacoustic pickup(and I’d probably get some use out of the contact mic- but surely there has to be more efficient options(in the states).
Ideally something that I can plug into my phone to record with(so I can immediately transfer it to my DT via the SRC Transfer app #Plug)
Anybody have any good suggestions?
It’s one of these, essentially
It will need some sort of amplification for your phone I think, I use it with my old zoom h1 and have to bump the signal a bit
you’re the best! Thanks!
What do you suggest as far as amplification goes?
I bought one of those recently and use it with my Zoom H1. It works perfectly, but I also had to buy an adaptor for it so it wouldn’t only record into the left channel. So much cheaper than the commercial versions though, even with the Zoom recorder!
There is one problem you probably will encounter with these cheap contact mics, and that is noise. The more expensive ones are basically the same, but have a matched pre-amp which makes them more usable. But that all depends on your needs of course. That said, the cheap ones are dirt cheap and are great to try it out, and you can probably eliminate a lot of the noise with something like RX or even audacity.
Check Jez French Riley, I got some from him
I picked one up from Amazon recently for less than £2!
As others have mentioned, the recording is very quiet and once boosted, will have a huge noise floor, but this can be fixed with software quite easily. The final quality does depend on the source material though
The Koma expansion pack does have a unique item and that is a waterproof contact mic. I would be very interested to hear if anyone has managed to source one of these!
Do you suppose that a headphone amp might sufficiently boost the sound?
It probably wouldn’t be difficult to make a waterproof contact mic. They’re just piezo pickups yeah? I wonder how much they’d be dulled if coated in silicon or similar…
You could just plasti-dip any contact mic to waterproof it
I’m not sure about that but I have got reasonable results just normalising the recording and then cleaning up the noise floor afterwards. Not perfect but definitely useable!
This guy uses a Barcus Berry designed for the job, but its quite pricey:
Its a great idea but I don’t feel like I am skilled enough at that sort of thing. I feel the same about soldering irons too!
I saw a Koma vid on Youtube and a rep was saying thats exactly what they do for the Field Kit mic. I wouldn’t know where to begin though.
ah its really really easy, the worst thing is figuring out what to do with all the leftover plasti dip because its a big container, you literally just dip the mic in and set it to dry after
https://www.amazon.com/Performix-12213-Plasti-Dip-Black/
you can also get a spray now, which looks way more convenient
link:
Thanks, I may look into it at some point. That amazon link doesn’t work for me though, Just says sorry we couldn’t find that page!
edit: I found it via google, looks really easy actually! 
The barcus berry has a good freq response. in the lower freqs other pick ups (like the akg c 411) sucks. The barcus doesnt. Also keep in mind that the signal to noise ratio on passive pickups is much lower than on amp powered pickups…at least in my experience.
OK, I’m planning to make a waterproof contact mic soon but the way things are with the parts and Plasti-Dip, I may as well make 10 or even more.
The only thing that I am not sure of is how to seal the 3.5mm jack lead with the wires from the contact mic. I guess I could just solder it short and fold/stick it to the back of the piezo before dipping, but I am really looking for a neater solution if there is one.
I don’t have knowledge of electronic parts but maybe someone else knows a solution? I’m thinking some kind of sleeve or something like that.