Are "Cobra Top" Panasonics Equipped With Condenser Microphones?

Hi, folks. Does anyone know if the Panasonic RX-DT75 -- or, for that matter, the upgrade RX-DT95 -- has a condenser microphone?



Maybe in the form of a dot (a tiny hole) in the lower-right portion of the "Cobra top" lid?



And to think that I packed that stereo up earlier today after pacing while listening to it flawlessly play the first eight tracks -- all of them brief, sub-five-minute selections -- from symphonic music masters like Johann Sebastian Bach, Georg Friderich Händel and Antonio Vivaldi (and four other splendid composers) on our Sunday Brunch, Volume II CD (1991, CBS Masterpieces; now slightly scratched).



I did look at the hole for a few seconds (as I must have at least once earlier during my ownership of it), wondering: A condenser microphone? A hole missing its screw? But I couldn't decide what it was, so back into the shipping carton it went, mystery unsolved. (Shrug)



I successfully recorded again with that boombox from FM radio (recording some yesteryear jams from WJCT-FM, Jacksonville, Florida). Before that, earlier that night, I first recorded "Testing, testing, three, two, one," etc., with that machine, using a small, inexpensive RadioShack microphone.



But I doubt that it occurred to me to try recording "over the air" by testing to see if that hole was a condenser microphone.



So the mystery remains.

 

@Easthelp it is really comforting to learn that there are Dudes even more paranoid than me are still in existence!
I have not checked ANY of my resto Walkmans or bboxes for their recording capabilities (that job is for my Nak LX-3!) but to worry about microphone-in, that is Wild!!!

 

Boombox owners did indeed record over the air during the late 70's and early 80's, but after that, the novelty faded, and people realized that those microphones were crap that produced crap recordings. So, given that the Cobra Tops were late 80's or early 90's machines, I wouldn't be surprised if they didn't possess microphones. Plus, one look at them proves they weren't designed to be carried outdoors for long distances anyway, so why bother putting microphones on them?

Coincidentally, that's about the same time they stopped putting shortwave in boomboxes, lol. Seeing as how they could only pick up 1 or 2 stations, what's the point?

 

But ... I remember making a brief vocal recording -- "Testing, testing, today is the Fourth of July, " et cereta -- on my JVC RC-M50JW when it returned from the out-of-state repair firm earlier in 2018.

I used the twin condenser microphones just beneath the tweeter grilles. I remember stating the date of the recording, the approximate time (probably based on my wristwatch) and so on.

I think I then made a recording of the National Public Radio (NPR) retrospective on the evangelical minister Billy Graham, who died in February 2018 at age 99.

I think I then recorded a few seconds from WJBT-FM ("The Beat Jamz," 93.3 MHz, a Callahan, Florida-based hip-hop station).

Of course, I am quite self-conscious of my voice (especially in a recording or in public speaking), but I don't remember the audio itself of the recording sounding dreadful ("boomy," "splatty" or whatever).

Yes, the JVC showed the good maintenance it went through.

That is, "good" -- until the Electro-Sluggish Virus struck again. (Early August 2, 2018, trying to finish listening to Buju Banton's 1993 LP Voice Of Jamaica.)

 

Recording from the radio will sound OK, but not from the condenser mic's. Try taking the boombox to a concert and recording it. It will sound crappy. Good enough for a street rap battle maybe, but not real music.

You just can't pack decent microphone technology into those tiny little 1 cm, 1 gram, 25 cent condenser mikes. Consider that people pay hundreds or even thousands of dollars for good mikes.

 

This reminds me that my Elephant got posted/sold to me with two microphones which attach to its top. Now, thanks to You, I have to find them somewhere to feel that I have the whole package! Oh Boy, this is contagious, and until now I thought that all of us, the anal Dudes, reside in FineScaleModeling forums! Shame on you!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

I will know more when I find them! I just dumped them into one of my "spares" boxes.

 

I'm sorry... but I hafta chime-in about how this thread reminds me of a mix-tape a friend made for himself on his dual-cassette box--which I found in my collection the other day. For reasons beyond me, he didn't bother to pause the recording while switching tapes, resulting in the deck switching to the built-in condenser mics... which picked-up the efforts he made while doing so, along with whatever ambient background noise there was at the moment. Noise like: what his parents were watching on the television in the next room.

 

@nickelindimer This is the mind-set which landed all of us onto MP3 sound... To be fair, MP3 still sounds better than dubbed cassettes I had to use in my teens... Yesterday I resampled America albums onto MP3 for my Boss, to be played in her Wrangler. Much more listenable than overdubbed crapped sound of Uriah Heep/Deep Purple of my "uth"

Microphones stashed somewhere for the Elephant, I am going to follow the philosophy of "Gone With The Wind" heroine and will worry about them tomorrow: today I could not even find a single power cord for my Sencor or Elephant (and I have a few!) so have to listen to Hitachi TRK-5190 while consuming Guinness and enjoying Depeche Mode: "there's only one way to soothe my soul..." as sticky as it comes...
Anyone here ever listened to Imagine Dragons thru LP? I love the tunes but the sound off CDs is horribly overcompressed. Wonder if LP cut to better standards: such a shame that new gigs serve to MP3 crowd, even my fav Steven Wilson/Porcupine Tree sound too ProTools thru my stereo

 

I keep all my power cords hanging over the closet rod so they're fully stretched out and I can easily find the right one.

 

Don't get me started about MP3s and cassette recordings... I still remember how part of Samantha Fox's cover of "I Only Want To Be With You" was wowing oddly when played-back on my dad's car-stereo, regardless of how I adjusted it. As for stuff made before then... well, let's just say it was a hard, steep learning curve for me about monitoring recordings and source material.

As for the "In what way does it sound best?" argument... I feel it's a matter of the insight about how what will sound in a given format, and mastering for "best sound" from it. Also, as for CDs, I avoid remastered releases made after a certain date of classic albums... Zero-leveling and the loudness war seems to have ruined the art.

BTW: "Smoke On The Water" from the "Made In Japan" album: Best cover of the song... And know matter how I hear it, I'm back in my room--listening to it on 8-track via a Panasonic Dynamite-8.

This is why I was glad for Rhapsody allowing full-length listening before buying in the day... It made bootlegging to cassette easy! Just wish I had a decent sound card in our computer at the time.