Realistic 33-1080 mic

For those too young to remember, Realistic was one of the house-brands of the Radio Shack electronics chain store. Most of the microphones sold at Radio Shack were junk... but, they did sell a few decent ones that were rebranded Shure and Sony mics.

John Lennon, recording acoustic guitar
with a Sony C22

The 33-1080 is reported to be a rebranded cousin of the Sony ECM/C22.

It is a back-electret condenser mic that runs off a single AA battery. Overall, it's a pretty decent mic. Smooth, flat frequency response and a nice vintage-y sound. But... the mic has one major flaw.

Noise!

Seriously. The circuit in this mic generates a ton of hiss. Back in the 70's it was probably not so much of a problem, because everyone was recording to cassette tape, which had such a high noise floor anyway, that maybe no one noticed how bad the mic was.

Realistic 33-1080 condenser mic

However, plugging this mic into a digital system with clean preamps makes you very aware of just how noisy it is.

But, all is not lost! The performance of this mic can be improved!

There is a little 6 volt camera battery called an A544 that, when two are stacked together, are nearly the exact same size as a AA battery. Running the mic at 12 volts, instead of the normal 1.5 volts, greatly increases its signal-to-noise ratio and performance.

Two A544's next to an AA battery

Even running this mic with the increased voltage you may still notice some hiss. It's never going to be as quiet as a modern condenser mic.
Still, it has a great sound that is especially nice on acoustic guitar. If you can pick one up cheap enough, it is definitely worth having around.

Realistic sold a lot of these mics, and you can find them everywhere. Check thrift and donation stores, flea markets, garage sales, Craigslist and, of course, eBay.

I snagged mine on eBay for only $12, and I really like it. But I don't think I'd pay more than $25-30 for one.

Beware! These little batteries are not cheap, and if you leave them in the mic when it is not being used, they will go dead. I've learned the hard way... remove them when not using the mic!