Best Option for Sound Capture

[Liquid_Squelch 0]

All,

I've had a cheap condenser microphone located in the gable vent of my attic "looking" down at the street below. It was good enough to hear car passing, horns honking, or the occasional kids yelling as they walk down the street.

Example of what I had, not the exact same:

 

Lately the condenser microphone has been flaky. It hasn't always been working, and I believe it is because the unit isn't supposed to be out in the elements. The microphone is behind the screen in the attic, but I'm afraid that the moisture has gotten to it.

 

So, I decided that now was a good time to think about an upgrade. I picked up a 10watt passive speaker pa horn. Those $10 all weather plastic coned shaped speakers. I was planning on using it as the microphone. I'm not hearing anything other than background noise. I can't even pickup the wind blowing past the screen, something the condenser mike had no problems with.

 

My questions are: Has anyone used one of these cone speakers on their CCTV setup, and do they work as a microphone? If so, how many watts was the speaker capable with the one you used? The speaker I have is an 8ohm version. If I hold the speaker and talk directly into it, I can barely hear myself. Something is telling me I probably need to amplify the incoming sound in order for it to work properly. Maybe I should just get one that has a build in amp and run it off my CCTV 12v panel?

 

Please keep in mind, this is a question on the speaker/mic itself. Not how to setup the DVR to include audio on the encoder. I have that enabled for the proper camera. Like I said, the old condenser microphone would work whenever it decided too after a few months of perfect service.

 

Thanks all for the help.

[coolie11 0]

You are right, you will need and amplifier in order to use the horn as a mic.

Those Mini Omni-directional Microphones are Pre-amplified.