Best Mic for Pocket Digital Recorder?

[Chris T]

I'm a composer working mainly in Film/TV. My main rig is Digital Performer on a new Mac Pro with Apollo Quad etc.

For my more experimental music, I sometimes do 'field recordings'. These range from environmental sounds to close-micing human voice or any other sound (nature / industrial).

I bought a Yamaha C24 Pocketrack recorder several years ago. I knew that the preamps in it were not the best amongst Digi recorders, but I liked it because it was by far the smallest and therefore the one I was most likely to carry around with me everywhere (which is do).

However, recently I've been wanting to do more close-mic work with voices and delicate sounds. I realized that the unit does not give out 48V Phantom Power, so using my Royer or AKG mics with it would necessitate me also haling out my Grace 101 Preamp (and going line-in). While it's not a big deal, this is no longer truly 'mobile'.

With this is mind, can anyone recommend the best battery-powered (mono or stereo) mic for use with this Digi Recorder (either directly or with a better, mobile preamp also)? Something that's significantly better than the built-in mic, but also something that's very mobile.

Thanks!