first time, going from ME66/k6 to good hyper

P

powerdog

Veteran
OK, I'm sold. Until now, just used my Senn shotgun for everything, although 90% of my shooting is interior locations. Invested in a T.H.E. hyper /BBG, and just finished recording myself with each, adjusting same distances from mics. For good measure, I had a window fan running in the background, but mics facing away from it.

What I find is that the hyper sounds a lot more "intimate" and is a lot more forgiving. Up close, there's almost a bit of lav quality to it. Also, I can move further away and still get decent sound. In fact, with the Senn a foot away from my mouth, I get sound that's about same quality as the hyper 4 feet away. (Not that I'd do this, but good to know in a pinch.) If the Senn is 4 feet away, footage is virtually useless -- sounds like it was recorded in a tomb.
 
I could easily become a fanatic about this new mic, but I'm seriously thinking: why shouldn't I just sell the old Senn? I can't imagine situations where the hyper +BBG wouldn't whip the hindquarters of a naked ME66/K6. Any reason not to sell?
 
Something is not quite kosher here. Shotguns should have the cleaner pickup at greater distances...even one as bad as the ME66.

Have you run these mics side by side in an A/B test? The hyper should have a smoother axis and a more pleasant sounding reverb but should also have less "reach"

Cheers
 
I duplicated mic position, my position, what I read aloud....and of course all the equip (except mic) was the same. When I moved 3 and then 4 ft away, I pointed the mic directly at me. The diff in quality wasn't subtle. Hyper was clearly better at all distances, 1- 4 ft away, although I wouldn't want to use it beyond 2 ft.
 
the me 66 sounds the worst in door as it pick up quit allot of of axis rejections
you will surprise how the sound would " improve" to make this test in no reverb situation - it still would sound s.h.i.t but without aditional s.h.i.t
 
I've had the same experience... to me the hypers (oktava and THE both) sound a lot more intimate even at longer distances. I find that the me66, while hot in it's pickup... completely loses even the tiniest bit of warmth that it has (which is already nearly zero) beyond even two feet away. While it still gets the upper-mids to sizzly treble in there just fine... so even though you need to use more gain on the hypers for an equal signal... it doesn't matter because there's no dial you can turn to make the me66 sound natural (and closer).

I'd encourage everybody who has a hyper such as Oktava or THE or whatever... and an me66... to try it for themselves... take turns putting each mic in a shockmount on camera... then get in front of the cam at measured distances... the me66 will require a lot less gain to get your meter into the red, but if you just add some gain to get the different mics at equal levels then the hyper will sound miles better and more real. In less critical situations I'll use a hyper on-cam (like a group where I don't want to be too selective of one person at a time).

I would almost never write a mic off completely... but do a bunch of testing for yourself and then decide if you still need the other mic. I know lots of people who have gone nuts on mics like I have, but they all still kept their me66 mics... all but me anyway... so I'd be sure you don't need it before you sell it... unless you can take the cash from selling it and turn it into a 4073a (which would probably only be an extra $200+ the sale of the me66 on ebay)... in that case I'd sell for sure.
 
Matt, the experiment and results you describe are pretty much what I experienced. I had to turn the DVX up one or two notches to equal the me66 levels.

I haven't gone outside with them, but I'd be amazed if the results weren't similar. And I'd be amazed if I ever encountered a real-life situation that made me think the ME66 would sound better.
 
Indoors or outdoors the ME66 should sound like crap cuz it is crap :) but it also will have a better signal to noise then the hyper...reverb or not. The reverb will make the ME66 sound like even worse then it's normal doo doo but again it should have a better s/n then the hyper.

Either way sell the 66 and get a better shotgun.

Cheers
 
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