Sound Questions

[Decius]

Hey there... Got a couple of very simple questions...

1. I was recommended the Sennheiser Evolution E845S as a sound solution for shooting. Does anyone have any comments on these? Is there a better replacement? What is a generally accepted external mic used for professional film shoots?

2. Do people generally attach the input to the characters or do they use a boom pole?

3. Do most receivers fit unto the DVX? Where are the receivers usually placed?

4. Are all mics able to be attached to a boom pole? How does that technically work? Is it screwed in?

5. Are all mics with XLR output able to be attached to a transmitter?

The type of shooting will be dramatic, hence no interviews and it will be movie-like. The purpose of the mic is to capture dialogue as clearly and without obstruction.

Thanks for the info in advance.

[Barry_Green]

???

That's a handheld mic, completely unsuitable for shooting dramatic work. And if you're shooting movie-like, you definitely don't want to muck around with wireless transmitters and receivers. Just get a good shotgun mic, a high-quality boom pole and some hihg-quality XLR cables, a set of top-notch headphones (like Sony MDR-7506) and a talented boom pole operator.

[Decius]

Right, what shotgun mic would you recommend and how does that attach to a boom pole?

[Barry_Green]

Mic selection is a very personal thing -- depends on what your priorities are.

An excellent introduction article into shotguns is here:
http://www.locationsound.com/proaudio/ls/tips/techtips8_6.html

Here's another good one:
http://equipmentemporium.com/selectin.htm

And here's one on proper boompole technique:
http://equipmentemporium.com/introto.htm

The short answer is, if you're on a budget, an AT835B at about $239 is a great deal for the price. It's no Schoeps, but it's also only $239. AT equipment is usually quite good for the price. The 4071 and 4073 are excellent shotguns. As is the Sennheiser. And the Schoeps.

[Decius]

what exact models are you recommending then?

My priorities are targeted directional dialogue and/or recording specific sounds. I want as little echo or ambient sound as possible.

[Elvis]

Do you have the DVX100 or the 100a? 8)

[SirAllen]

Don't get him started LOL!

[Elvis]

O.K. O.K.! I just wondered! For real! 8)

[Barry_Green]

Not to be evasive, but again, it all depends on what you're doing and how you like it to sound.

Directional, for example, can mean a few different things. Directional from how far away? You can get a super-tight-pattern shotgun that will only pick up sound in a very narrow angle of pickup, for shooting across the street or so (you'll get lousy sound quality because you're so far away from the source, but at least it'll have minimal ambience or background noise) or you could put a lavaliere on your talent -- even an omnidirectional lavaliere will reject a lot of background noise simply because the signal-to-noise ratio will be so much higher, because the mic is so close to them.

I tend to go for omni lavalieres (like the Tram TR50) because with a cardioid or hypercardiod lav, if the speaker turns their head off-axis, the sound quality becomes noticeably distorted. For a fixed interview, perhaps you could count on your speakers not turning their heads, so you could use a hypercardiod and get better ambience-rejection.

For recording "specific sounds", again, it depends on what the specific sounds are. For explosions, you're going to need a dynamic mic. For bird calls, a dynamic is probably a lousy choice, you'd probably want a condenser. It depends. I know that's a horrible answer, but it's the only answer: it all depends.

You really have to spend some time educating yourself on how the different mic's work in different situations. There are great articles and tutorials over at http://www.equipmentemporium.com and http://www.locationsound.com.

[Neil Rowe]

..barry is again ever so right.

hers one of my little tricks i use for dialog audio. i have the boom set up, with the shotgun, and then have each of the people in the converastion wear a lav mic as well. (usually 2 pople) then i run the boomed mic into one dvx input, and the lave mic into the other. when i do my shots, i record the person that cam is focusing on through the shotgun, and the lav, and then i just swith channels on the reciever to pick up the other lave mic when doing reverse angles of the other person dialoging. so that i get the shotgun sound+ the lave sound of *who the cam is looking at. that way i can mix between the two if one seems to be a bit off, and it makes a really nice dynamic voice as well in the end..(of course this pends your mixing abilities. *, and you may not find this useful at all pending what your doing, but its always worked pretty well for me , since the lav (omni directional) is sure to be at a constant level the whole time.

[Elvis]

So loser does that mean you have the two lavs going to a mixer with a line out to the DVX or do you change XLR cables for the lavs? 8)

[Neil Rowe]

just have one muti channel reciever going directly into dvx xlr,(the shotgun is in the other xlr) and some mutichannel lavs.. you just have each lav on a differnt channel, and switch the reciever to the channel of the lav you want to record at any given time. of course i have more than one reciver, but you only need to use one when doing this particualr thingy jiggy.

[Elvis]

Are we talking wireless lavs? 8)

[Neil Rowe]

yes

[Elvis]

What system do you use that has a two channel receiver? 8)