Now, the next time you want a stereo microphone, you can hit print.

Well, okay – that’s not entirely correct. But a combination of last-century DIY (circuits for making the mic) with this-century DIY (3D printing for making a convenient housing) means a custom microphone you can build that’s exactly suited to your needs. And, oh yeah – it’s both cheap and fun.

Frank Piesik shares this project via Google+ and his blog. The plans are open-sourced and available on GitHub, so you can try making your own if you like; you’ll just need a 3D printer or 3D printing service for the housing (or you can try making your own via another, more traditional means).

Most importantly, the results sound terrific. Have a listen to some sound samples:

The ingredients:

First, the original project: Panasonic WM61 homebrew microphone design [Wildlife Sound Recording Society]

3D files on Makerbot’s Thingiverse

pMic on GitHub

Features:

On/off switch

Gain boost (which could be converted to gain damp)

Preamp (which could be removed and replaced with phantom power)

9V battery (for powering the capsules, adding headroom)

And in this case, an old iRiver h120 with Rockbox firmware does the recording – another abandoned product saved from turning into toxic waste. Upcycle!

Best of all, because of the design here, modifications are easy, which isn’t true of most consumer mic products. And it looks pretty:

Thanks, Frank!

http://frankpiesik.wordpress.com/2013/11/20/pmic/