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#1
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New (to me) microphone!
I have just been loaned an AKG D900 microphone, and I'm wondering about
folks' thoughts on it. I know it's a dynamic shotgun-type microphone, but beyond that, I'm a little boggled. I mean, it's bigger than some of my mic stands! What is this thing likely to be useful for, besides a stand-in for a light saber? What did folks use it for? Thanks, Dave O'H |
#2
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New (to me) microphone!
Dave O'Heare dave.oheareATgmail.com wrote:
I have just been loaned an AKG D900 microphone, and I'm wondering about folks' thoughts on it. I know it's a dynamic shotgun-type microphone, but beyond that, I'm a little boggled. I mean, it's bigger than some of my mic stands! What is this thing likely to be useful for, besides a stand-in for a light saber? What did folks use it for? They were mostly used for film and video work in the field, on long booms. Since they won't do anything about room reflections they aren't really a good choice in a TV studio, but some of them turned up there as well. They're pretty nasty off-axis, even by shotgun standards, and shotgun standards are pretty bad. --scott -- "C'est un Nagra. C'est suisse, et tres, tres precis." |
#3
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New (to me) microphone!
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#4
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New (to me) microphone!
Dave O'Heare dave.oheareATgmail.com wrote about the AKG D900:
It is really kind of peculiar sounding off-axis. And in the small studio where I initially tried it, it was essentially unusable. Yeah, they're not for that. A lot of people have this idea that a shotgun is super directional, but in fact it's a trick, and it's a trick that only removes specular sounds off-axis. Sounds coming from a lot of directions at once, like room ambience, get reproduced.... but because they're all off-axis, they get reproduced in a horrible and unpleasant way. It might have been kind of interesting on a film shoot I did recently, but I can't imagine trying to manhandle this thing, on a long boom, while wearing snowshoes :-/ You need a Starbird, and three operators for it! --scott -- "C'est un Nagra. C'est suisse, et tres, tres precis." |
#5
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New (to me) microphone!
On Mon, 20 Feb 2012 11:13:01 -0800, Scott Dorsey wrote
(in article ): A lot of people have this idea that a shotgun is super directional, but in fact it's a trick, and it's a trick that only removes specular sounds off-axis. Sounds coming from a lot of directions at once, like room ambience, get reproduced.... but because they're all off-axis, they get reproduced in a horrible and unpleasant way. ------------------------------snip------------------------------ I blame the 1981 Brian De Palma movie BLOW OUT for perpetuating the myth that a shotgun microphone works like a flashlight: a super-narrow "beam" of sound pickup that excludes everything else, like a laser beam. It doesn't work nearly that way. And, as Scott says here, in certain situations, shotgun microphones sound very bad with off-axis reflections and ambience. --MFW |
#6
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New (to me) microphone!
On 2/24/2012 12:06 AM, Marc Wielage wrote:
On Mon, 20 Feb 2012 11:13:01 -0800, Scott Dorsey wrote (in article ): A lot of people have this idea that a shotgun is super directional, but in fact it's a trick, and it's a trick that only removes specular sounds off-axis. Sounds coming from a lot of directions at once, like room ambience, get reproduced.... but because they're all off-axis, they get reproduced in a horrible and unpleasant way. ------------------------------snip------------------------------ I blame the 1981 Brian De Palma movie BLOW OUT for perpetuating the myth that a shotgun microphone works like a flashlight: a super-narrow "beam" of sound pickup that excludes everything else, like a laser beam. It doesn't work nearly that way. And, as Scott says here, in certain situations, shotgun microphones sound very bad with off-axis reflections and ambience. What are the best uses for a shotgun? I was surprised to watch a video recently that said that shotguns were not good for indoor applications because of off-axis reflections. The video recommended an Audio Technica AT4053B and demonstrated how much better it performed inside. I have an MKH416 and a 4053, but I have not yet done a comparison. |
#7
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New (to me) microphone!
I blame the 1981 Brian De Palma movie BLOW OUT for perpetuating the myth that
a shotgun microphone works like a flashlight: a super-narrow "beam" of sound pickup that excludes everything else, like a laser beam. I am that guy! I've always wanted a shotgun mic because of that movie. Still, if I did want to go outside and catch the hooting of that owl in the tree, wouldn't a shotgun mic be my best bet? Thanks, Toby |
#8
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New (to me) microphone!
On Feb 24, 12:09*pm, Tobiah wrote:
I blame the 1981 Brian De Palma movie BLOW OUT for perpetuating the myth that a shotgun microphone works like a flashlight: *a super-narrow "beam" of sound pickup that excludes everything else, like a laser beam. I am that guy! *I've always wanted a shotgun mic because of that movie. Still, if I did want to go outside and catch the hooting of that owl in the tree, wouldn't a shotgun mic be my best bet? Thanks, Toby Well, if you can figure out a way to clip it on, I think a lavalier would work best fo that ;-) -CS |
#9
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New (to me) microphone!
Cyberserf wrote:
On Feb 24, 12:09 pm, Tobiah wrote: I blame the 1981 Brian De Palma movie BLOW OUT for perpetuating the myth that a shotgun microphone works like a flashlight: a super-narrow "beam" of sound pickup that excludes everything else, like a laser beam. I am that guy! I've always wanted a shotgun mic because of that movie. Still, if I did want to go outside and catch the hooting of that owl in the tree, wouldn't a shotgun mic be my best bet? Thanks, Toby Well, if you can figure out a way to clip it on, I think a lavalier would work best fo that ;-) Or, if the owl is there on a regular basis, any small, inconspicuous microphone planted in the right place will beat both the shotgun and a parabolic for quality. Just make sure it doesn't smell of human, or you may scare the owl away. -- Tciao for Now! John. |
#10
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New (to me) microphone!
mcp6453 wrote:
What are the best uses for a shotgun? I was surprised to watch a video recently that said that shotguns were not good for indoor applications because of off-axis reflections. The video recommended an Audio Technica AT4053B and demonstrated how much better it performed inside. I have an MKH416 and a 4053, but I have not yet done a comparison. Use it outdoors, and you'll find the ability to pull a vocal out of the noise is often better than with a hypercardioid. It's very good at dealing with individual coherent noise sources like airplanes overhead and cars driving by. It's a matter of using the right tool for the job. --scott -- "C'est un Nagra. C'est suisse, et tres, tres precis." |
#11
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New (to me) microphone!
John Williamson wrote:
Or, if the owl is there on a regular basis, any small, inconspicuous microphone planted in the right place will beat both the shotgun and a parabolic for quality. Just make sure it doesn't smell of human, or you may scare the owl away. I don't know about your owls but around here we have screech owls that are loud enough to rattle the windows. It's hard not to record them. --scott -- "C'est un Nagra. C'est suisse, et tres, tres precis." |
#12
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New (to me) microphone!
Scott Dorsey wrote:
John Williamson wrote: Or, if the owl is there on a regular basis, any small, inconspicuous microphone planted in the right place will beat both the shotgun and a parabolic for quality. Just make sure it doesn't smell of human, or you may scare the owl away. I don't know about your owls but around here we have screech owls that are loud enough to rattle the windows. It's hard not to record them. Some samples. (Not mine) http://www.barnowl.co.uk/page34.asp The Tawny Owl adult call 1 is about as loud as a quiet conversation. There are very few places in the UK where you can use a distant microphone to record birdsong. There are just too many of us in too small a space, making too much noise. There is virtually nowhere in England that you can't hear traffic noise or a generator, even in the middle of the night. For an insight into the problems with background noise we have here, read the stories behind the Springwatch and Autumnwatch series on the BBC. -- Tciao for Now! John. |
#13
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New (to me) microphone!
On Fri, 24 Feb 2012 04:18:33 -0800, mcp6453 wrote
(in article ): What are the best uses for a shotgun? ------------------------------snip------------------------------ Very useful for pulling dialog out of a noisy location. A lot depends on placement and position. Some basics at these links: http://www.bhphotovideo.com/find/new...un_jan2007.jsp http://www.kenstone.net/fcp_homepage...tgun_mics.html I like the Sennheiser MKH60 and MKH70 for exteriors, and (as others have noted) a hypercardioid is generally better for interiors. The Schoeps CMC641 is in a class by itself. --MFW |
#14
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New (to me) microphone!
Ty Ford wrote:
But, yes a shotgun would be more directional. The Sennheiser MKH60 has a pretty quiet selfnoise, but it has small diaphragms I don't think it's as quiet as the BP4025 The MKH20 is 6 dB quieter than the theoretically quietest conventional 2" capsule. The MKH60 electronics are the same and I am not sure that the interference tube assembly really changes anything. So if the BP4025 _is_ actually quieter, they are doing some noise shaping trickery (like the MKH60 does). --scott -- "C'est un Nagra. C'est suisse, et tres, tres precis." |
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