Sony ECM MC907 Stereo Mic HV20 Ready!

[zephyrnoid]

I do love it and it's hands down the best value 90º/120º powered (1XAA) mic for the HV20. The Shotgun I have is better for what I'm doing now. I'm offering this venerable mic only to HV20Forum members with my own DIY adapted cold shoe mount - because I need space in the camera bag more than anything else. Just to sweeten the pot, shipping to CONUS is included. European customers please add $9.00 for PM-International.
Package includes: The mic w/ cable & 3.5mm (1/8mini) gold plated plug, my adapted articulating Mic Mount, foam windscreen covered with my fabulous "Gattino Muerte" fur (Not Shown), user manual . Now all you penny-pinching sceptics have a chance to own the poor mans Stereo Mic.
Asking: $65.00
PayPal to > VivieYen@MRIS.com.
First Paid Gets the Mic.
Thanks!

[Goose]

Is this the same mic as the ECM-MS908C?

Cheers

[zephyrnoid]

Yes. The ECM-MS907 & ECM-MS908C are identical. the 'C' just denotes "Camcorder mount". As you can tell, I turned the ECM-MS907 into a ECM-MS908 Super camcorder mountable!

Is this the same mic as the ECM-MS908C?

Cheers

[Goose]

Im tempted but I have read a couple of reviews that say the mic has a problem with handling noise:

"The mic elements are not well insulated from the mic body, so you hear (loudly) every touch of the mic. Put it in the mic holder attached to the hot shoe and you hear every touch of the camcorder, as well as the buzz of the zoom lens (the extension arm helps a little if the mic is oriented behind the camera; worse if the mic is placed forward or to the side, has to do with the vibrational "lever arm")."

[zephyrnoid]

Mostly True, but irrelevant as this is an issue with any mic not in a blimp that's then covered in fur and mounted on a rubber-band shock-mount. Seriously...
1) The mic elements are not well insulated from the mic body, so you hear (loudly) every touch of the mic.
Absolutely true, but same is true of my $400 ME66, all my Lavs, and the fabulous Samson H2. Solution. Wear neoprene gloves when hand-holding the mic for interviews.
2)Put it in the mic holder attached to the hot shoe and you hear every touch of the camcorder, as well as the buzz of the zoom lens
First part is absolutely FALSE! let's be sure that " sharp & sudden hits on the camcorder with a bundle of keys" are differentiated from "simply working the controls with bare hands". It will NOT pick up the sound of the videographer simply operating the camera. After all, if you can HEAR the sound that you're making when working the camera, then it stands to reason that any good mic will PICK up those sounds too!
Second part is is partly true. It picks up some buzz from the zoom, but less that the Rode Stereo mic !
3) the extension arm helps a little if the mic is oriented behind the camera; worse if the mic is placed forward or to the side, has to do with the vibrational "lever arm")
I've used it just fine EXACTLY as depicted in my picture with some noise, not from the lens so much as from lack of filtration in the camera pre-amp, But I do indeed prefer it on a bracket about 6" above and yes, behind the lens (which my bracket allows)

Like I said, show me a BETTER value for under $90, not a better Mic at $200.

Im tempted but I have read a couple of reviews that say the mic has a problem with handling noise:

"The mic elements are not well insulated from the mic body, so you hear (loudly) every touch of the mic. Put it in the mic holder attached to the hot shoe and you hear every touch of the camcorder, as well as the buzz of the zoom lens (the extension arm helps a little if the mic is oriented behind the camera; worse if the mic is placed forward or to the side, has to do with the vibrational "lever arm")."

[zephyrnoid]

I just upped the price as there seems to be a run on these on E-bay. You guys been buying them all up behind my back ? LOL !

[zephyrnoid]

I changed the mount a bit and shot some new pictures- coming soon.
Someone please take this before it goes to Evil-Bay

[Goose]

pm on its way

[zephyrnoid]

I just taped takes of me doing a quick monologue line with these mics at comparable settings and typical positioning on the HV20. I'm kinda tired so I'll edit and post them sometime Sunday PM (tomorrow)
The Parameters
- Camera 8' away from subject on tripod
- Typical small appartment living room acoustics. Plasterboard walls, wall to wall carpeting, a sliding glass balcony door, etc.
- All ambient sounds reduced to almost nothing
1) Built in Mic with ATT On
2) Sony ECM MS-907 (no screen) mounted on HV20 at it's hotshoe using my DIY mount. HV20 ATT Off & Level set manually to peak at 12 and plugged directly into the HV20's Mic>IN
3) Sennheiser ME66/K6 mounted in K-Tek Shockmount and positioned on a Bracket-1 cold shoe slightly off to the right of camera center. XLR>Beachtek Channel 1. Ch1 pot adjusted in sync with HV20 Manual Level to peak at 12. HV20 ATT>OFF
4) Sennheiser EW100 Wireless Receiver plugged into Beachtek Channel 2 (3.5mm mini >IN) . Transmitter on subject, transmitting audio from ME2 Lavalier Microphone pinned to suject's shirt at solar plexus.
5) Sony ECM-44B powered wired Lavalier pinned to suject's shirt at solar plexus and feeding into Beachtek Channel 1. Beachtek level & HV20 Level balanced for optimum audio peaking at 12 with minimized noise
6) Samson Zoom H2 - AGC2> Speech, 44.1kHz/16Bit,Level 127,90º front ONLY, Low Gain. Mounted in the same position as the Shotgun was- off the camera and to the right slightly atop the Bracket-1. Line OUT> HV20 Mic IN. HV20 ATT ON & HV20 Levels adjusted for peak at 12
7) Samson Zoom H2 - AGC2> Speech, 44.1kHz/16Bit,Level 127,90º front ONLY, Low Gain. Mounted in the same position as the Shotgun was- off the camera and to the right slightly atop the Bracket-1. Line OUT> HV20 Mic IN. HV20 ATT OFF & HV20 Levels adjusted for peak at 12
NOTE: In cases where the Beachteck was used, channel 2 was always set to max levels even when no mic was connected into that channel. Channel 1 Pot was adjusted in sync with HV20 Levels.

I will post clips tomorrow, but here is my brief analysis:
-All 7 tests sound quite different- demonstrating that indeed, the character of recorded audio and attendant noise varies widely between microphone types and settings (You all knew that already)
- The noisiest audio predictably came from the built-in HV20 microphones. It picks up all camera noise, handling noise and nasty echoes from around the room. It's better than nothing to be sure, but not the best way to portray a monologue.
- The Sony ECM MS-907 was a huge improvement is capturing a directional monologue with significantly less ambient noise and very little camera noise at all. I'm guessing that mounted in a shock-mount in place of the shotgun is would have been an even better performer.
- The Sennheiser ME66/K6 was much more directional yet and though noise was much minimized, it had an unpleasant 'hollow' tone to it. Be aware that shotguns are not really meant to be used this way, They are supposed to be directed around 4' away from the audio source. At 8' from camera position, it was picking up a bunch of reverberation off the rooms surfaces. I like this mic best outdoors on a camera or on a boom indoors.
- The Sennheiser EW100 Wireless Lav has the cleanest, warmest and most believable audio of all. No camera noise and virtually no ambient noise or hiss from anything.
- Sony ECM 44B. This was just to compare to the wireless Sennheiser. I was pretty impressed with how well the Sony ECM 44 compared to the Wireless Sennheiser. Again, no camera noise, and a somewhat more muffled audio than the 'brighter' ME2 that ships standard with the EW100. This is a great back-up to the wireless mic and if subject mobility is not an issue, it or any comparable or better wired and POWERED lav are a guaranteed quality of sound in situations where RF intereference may ever be an issue.
- The big surprise was the Samson Zoom H2. I'm sure I could have taped many takes with this product set to different settings and rigged in various ways- but I decided to just try it as a mic/pre-amp passing audio from the line>OUT to the HV20's Mic >IN via a 3.5mm Male to 3.5mm Male cable.
WOW! That built-in pre-amp is a marvel for sure! really boosts the mic up there! The best results I got from this trial were> HV20 ATT= OFF, H2 at 90º ONLY , AGC2-Speech, Levels at 100 and Low Gain Setting. I then set the HV20 Level to peak at 12. Oddly enough, the audio at this configuration was very, very similar to that from the Sony ECM MS-907. Then again, they are both Stereo Mics with 90º pattern pickup and both are powered. The BIG difference of course is the H2's versatility in mode settings, Gain and Levels controls- not to mention pick-up patterns.

I'm sorry that I could not include a Rode Mic in this roundup. Rode are hard to reach people and no one wanted to donate a test mic for this trial.
In the future I will do more with all these options and I will pick up an ME64 capsule to supplement my ME66 for indoors use on camera. The ME64 has better back rejection and a narrower pattern. That's a feature that I may prefer as I like shotguns for 'solo' audio on the run.

[zephyrnoid]

Fast & Dirty - External Mic Comparos. Not sure how to post them on this forum directly.
Canon HV20 W/Internal Mic
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4zplfrMZxbA
Canon HV20 + Sony ECM-MS907
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WDwB-7wEFD8
HV20 + Sennheiser ME66/K6Sennheiser ME66 via Beachtek Mixer
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AO2gND6q7no
HV20 + Sennheiser EW100 Lavalier via Beachtek Mixer Channel
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_bFX8G6CtoY
HV20 + Sony ECM44B Powered & Wired Lav via Beachtek Mixer
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dCu_XnhdZjc
HV20 + Samson Zoom H2 Via 3.5mm HV20 Mic-In
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_YWOqa3lLV8

[zephyrnoid]

Gone to E-bay. Sorry

[Goose]

oops forgot about this - sorry mate

[zephyrnoid]

No problem! Cheers!

oops forgot about this - sorry mate