Dirt Cheap Shotgun Mic
Does anybody know of a really really cheap shotgun mic thats decent or at least not terrible in terms of audio quality? I've been looking around eBay and Amazon, and there are a few mics to chose from under $50. I want to try using it with a boom stick, and this will be my first time, so I don't want to spend a large amount of money. Any suggestions?
Audio Technica ATR55 retails widely for $50, you may be able to find a place that ships free.
Yea, I'm thinking of getting that one. How does it compare with the ATR25?
The ATR25 is simply too short to be very useful as a boom mounted shotgun mic.
The longer the mic is, the more directional is it, this is important, especially if you are shooting a wider shot, so the boom can be out of the shot, but the mic will still pick up the dialog.
These mics aren't really ideally suited to boom use though. Ideally you would want to use a mic with an XLR connection, as it is a balanced signal that is sent through the cable, vs these which are unbalanced. The benefit to a balanced signal is that it will reject a lot of electronic interference that can otherwise be picked up. The last thing you want is your boom to act as a radio antenna..
I'm not sure where you're located in MN, but there are some good rental options available here that might be worthwhile for you to utilize until you make a decision what to purchase.
The perfect set up would be a beachtek adapter, or other XLR adapter, for your camera, and a good high quality shotgun mic. Sennheiser ME66 or 618 are kind of the "industry standard" though there are other decent more affordable options (those mics are $300 or more, though worth every cent)
To be honest, the title of this thread scares me... Audio is a very important part of your final product, and if you buy a dirt cheap mic, you're going to end up more often than not with dirt cheap sounding audio..
The equation really doesn't make sense, if you spent several hundred dollars on a camera that will take great images, why would you couple it with a $50 microphone? Especially when audio accounts for as much as 70% of the viewing experience of the final piece... that's a question I've been trying to figure out for a while.
tcindie: What do you use for a mic?Originally Posted by tcindie
The ATR25 is simply too short to be very useful as a boom mounted shotgun mic.
The longer the mic is, the more directional is it, this is important, especially if you are shooting a wider shot, so the boom can be out of the shot, but the mic will still pick up the dialog.
These mics aren't really ideally suited to boom use though. Ideally you would want to use a mic with an XLR connection, as it is a balanced signal that is sent through the cable, vs these which are unbalanced. The benefit to a balanced signal is that it will reject a lot of electronic interference that can otherwise be picked up. The last thing you want is your boom to act as a radio antenna..
I'm not sure where you're located in MN, but there are some good rental options available here that might be worthwhile for you to utilize until you make a decision what to purchase.
The perfect set up would be a beachtek adapter, or other XLR adapter, for your camera, and a good high quality shotgun mic. Sennheiser ME66 or 618 are kind of the "industry standard" though there are other decent more affordable options (those mics are $300 or more, though worth every cent)
To be honest, the title of this thread scares me... Audio is a very important part of your final product, and if you buy a dirt cheap mic, you're going to end up more often than not with dirt cheap sounding audio..
The equation really doesn't make sense, if you spent several hundred dollars on a camera that will take great images, why would you couple it with a $50 microphone? Especially when audio accounts for as much as 70% of the viewing experience of the final piece... that's a question I've been trying to figure out for a while.
I don't own a mic.. I usually rent a sennheiser me66 with boom & blimp from Cinequipt for my shoots, mainly because they tend to be pretty few & far between these days.. on the last shoot (the 48hr project) one of the crew brought a mic he had borrowed from a cable access station.. it was a bit shoddy, likely had been beaten to hell by all the cable access users, not even sure what brand it was.
Cinequipt is usually my "go-to" rental house, prices are decent, and they're easy to deal with -- weekend rentals are at a single day rate too.
Which film did you work on for the 48hr?I don't own a mic.. I usually rent a sennheiser me66 with boom & blimp from Cinequipt for my shoots, mainly because they tend to be pretty few & far between these days.. on the last shoot (the 48hr project) one of the crew brought a mic he had borrowed from a cable access station.. it was a bit shoddy, likely had been beaten to hell by all the cable access users, not even sure what brand it was.
Cinequipt is usually my "go-to" rental house, prices are decent, and they're easy to deal with -- weekend rentals are at a single day rate too.
You must have missed my post in the footage section..
Road Kill
ATR55 is a shotgun, ATR25 is not.
It is not a shotgun, it is a stereo mic which looks like a shotgun. I agree, the shape of this mic does not make sense. It could be thicker and shorter instead. Works well at about 3 feet, no farther.
On another hand, I've read a review on the Amazon about the ATR25 written by a person who use it almost exclusively as a boom mic and is happy with it. This glorious review was one of the reasons I bought this mic.
This video was recorded with ATR25. Sounds ok to me. You can see the mic sticking from the bottom right.
I wish I could afford a nicer mic, but as an unemployed high school student, I don't have much cash. I have heard of Cinequipt, but it's still a bit pricy for me. I heard there's a cheaper option, but I forget the name of the place. I think it's non-profit and mostly for film students.
Azden ECZ-990
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/produc...d_Shotgun.html
I have the ATR55. It doesn't sound even close to a pro mic, but it is a HUGE improvement over the built in mic. It definitely has some limitations, though. It doesn't come with a shock mount, so you will need to keep it off the HV-20's shoe mount and/or add something like the Rode SM3.
How well does this perform? Is there a night and day difference between this and one that is three times the cost?
I ordered this Mic a week ago to use for a road trip... all audio will be recorded by someone in a vehicle or up close. I received the mic yesterday evening and only had one chance to test it.
First impression: "softer" sound than the built-in mic on top of my HV30. It seems that this mic is a bit more sensitive and susceptible to distortion when used in a louder environment. I only tried this with AGC on the camera turned off. I've seen a lot of reviews saying it's "crap" and "worse than the built-in mic." I don't believe that this is true. I've yet to try this out with the gain control turned on, but only my true tests will tell if I may need to return this and upgrade it.
My tests showed (without AGC) that if someone were too close to the mic and levels were too high, I heard slight distortion--but that has nothing to do with sound quality.
I may post some samples to my Vimeo when I get time.
You're probably thinking of IFP.. I don't know their exact pricing difference, but they do have decent rental prices on a fair amount of gear. I'm quite certain that the stuff at cinequipt is better maintained, but that's a tradeoff to be expected at discounted rates I suppose. In order to make use of IFP's rental gear you have to become a member, which if I remember correctly is roughly $80/year.
Another option would be your local cable access station, they generally have some stuff available for rental, either at a very low rate, or free... again membership is generally required, but I would guess it would be free or very cheap.
hey is the Azden ECZ-990 a stereo or mono mic?
thanks
technically speaking, ALL mics are mono, whether or not they "are stereo" depends on if the mono signal is positioned into the two stereo tracks, or in some cases the microphone has two elements, each panned left and right --- this is really a poor way to achieve a stereo signal because they would be right next to each other, and essentially provide the same sound a single element would.
To answer your question though... nobody seems to provide the information whether the 2.5mm jack is a stereo or mono jack, including the manufacturer's website. So, while the mic itself IS mono, the jack may or may not be a stereo jack.
As I previously mentioned in this thread, if you are looking to get a mic to use with a boom, your best best is to get one with an XLR cable, as it will provide you the best quality signal over the length of the cord -- that would also require something along the lines of a Beachtek adapter. If, however, your plan is to use the hot shoe mount with this mic, it would work just fine with the HV20... it's going to give you much better audio than the built in mic, as it will be directional, and the primary pickup area would be straight in front of the camera, but it is most definitely NOT the best choice to use as a boom mic.
That said, Azden does make some decent XLR shotgun mics that would be a good affordable choice probably about equal in quality with an Audio Technica.
Not completely true, there are stereo mics with bi-directional pickup patterns which definitely provide a true stereo result in the exact same way that your ears work.
But I think the main point you're making is accurate. As far as shotgun mics are concerned, there's no real reason to even look for a stereo mic. Use a normal mono microphone with a single element and put the audio on both tracks if it doesn't automatically do so. That's all you need.
Additionally, I'm sure that the Azden ECZ-990 is NOT a stereo mic. Not only do stereo mics make it known that they're stereo mics, but it has a super cardiod pickup pattern which, as tcindie described, would make stereo separation impossible anyway.
Probably a little late for my 2 cents, but if you're still checking the thread, here it goes:
The Audio Technica ATR55 is a pretty good mic for the money. I've found that using it as a boom or mounting it at least 10 inches away from the camera (with a set of pvc piping clamped to the tripod) gives a lot better results than mounting it on the camera. Mounting on the camera pics up way too much motor noise for my taste.
I also picked up a mono to stereo 1/8" adapter from cablestogo.com so I wouldn't have to duplicate the mono track in post. This doesn't produce stereo sound of course, but it saves time in editing.
I'm actually about to step up a level for my main mic but fully intend on keeping the ATR55 in my gear bag as secondary mic.
Thanks, I think I'll pick one up.
So called 'binaural' microphones do this: if you don't mind dropping four Gs and drawing odd stares from passers-by, here's one which can be camera mounted.
LOL That's the most ridiculous microphone I've ever seen
Agreed. However, the Japanese are some of the most intelligent and artistic thinkers. The principle of the "eared" microphone is an old one: omnidirectional elements spaced on opposite sides of a sphere. In versions where the separator is an oval or ball the size (or larger) of a human head, the capture and the stereo effect can be astonishingly natural.LOL That's the most ridiculous microphone I've ever seen
The wider the separation, the wider or even more exaggerated can be the stereo effect.
A boundary effect accrues too: the plane surface helps the capsules capture a deeper and more resonant bass.
Years ago I used to participate in professional recording sessions of live, classical music.
For orchestra, that head-shaped mic gave our best and purest, simplest results.
But for solo piano on stage, I myself always preferred the luscious sound of wide-spaced omni mics, set not far in front of the piano.
That setup, in a resonant auditorium, captures a wet, rich sound most near to the live event.
Mics and miking make a fascinating, though sometimes expensive hobby!
Sometime when you want to see what ear lobes do, cup your hands to hear sounds better.
That's what that weird Japanese mic is doing, in it's way...but gee, who has a head that narrow... besides me? Ha ha.
One can easily make a fantastic stereo mic on the cheap, for live acoustic recordings with spacial-placement acuity that will make you gasp, particularly if you wear headphones for the playback: A large styrofoam ball, hollow it out as needed to accept two omnidirectional mics.
The result can and will be sounds, that on playback, can be identified as UP or DOWN or BEHIND you, not just "left or right".
In fact, if your loudspeakers are good and correctly placed in a large room,
there are times when you'd swear the sounds are coming from way behind YOU,
or from the ceiling, or from as far behind the speakers as the rear wall.
The rear wall always limits the apparent depth of the sound stage on playback.
Much fun to be had in finessing sound recording and playback.
It's always a slight departure (at least) from the real event, but with art, the sound
can be better, more exciting than life, and this without cranking up the volume.
I'm glad to see this post. We just bought an HV30 to tape our wedding in a few weeks. The money is pretty tight since we'll be paying for most of it ourselves - while it's "only" another $150, it's really money I'd rather not have to spend. A co-worker sent me that site link, and I was thinking about checking them out.I don't own a mic.. I usually rent a sennheiser me66 with boom & blimp from Cinequipt for my shoots
[snip]
Cinequipt is usually my "go-to" rental house, prices are decent, and they're easy to deal with -- weekend rentals are at a single day rate too.
We're getting married on a boat on Lake Minnetonka - so it won't be a huge area, and the camera won't be all that far away, but I'd still like to ensure decent sound (hopefully without a big investment).
It seems like the ME66 from cinequipt might be a great option?!
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