Best mic 500$ and under

Vic,

Is it common place (or better yet, a good idea) to use a boom stand to mount a mike overhead of talent when not having an extra hand to hold a boom? I am looking at shooting some interviews by myself and figured I would mount either an Oktava or my AKG C1000S on a light/mic stand with a telescoping boom to help position overhead.

Also, do you think the AKG C1000S compares favorably with the Oktava? Could I get away with postponing my purchase of an Oktava and just use my AKG right now?

Thanks for any input.
 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iojQIPatNjE

Watch the video and look at the interviewee's seating. My mic was hanged overhead from a mic stand.

1166342285.jpg


To your question, yes you can place mics overhead.
 
No Problem. If that doesnt fill your bowl, try looking at the pictures in my previous post of the comparison of At4073a and Oktava. The project is Blood Stolen. You can see a bunch of pictures of me placing mic stands up everywhere and in certain places to capture the sound necessary. Almost all the cables used were from Matt. Two thumbs up for him! :beer:
 
Alan H. Chang said:
Okay, here are the comparisons between the Audio Technica 4073a Shotgun microphone and the Oktava MK012 Hypercardiod microphone. All results were recorded at the same room, same time, same bit depth, same frequency, about the same distance. All files were rendered down to MP3 for the sake of WAV file size.

*Please respect the actors/actresses lines and comments in the files you are about to listen.
Right-click and Save As.



Birth Scene
Sage Femme Midwifery Service
http://www.tonyurgo.com/bloodstolen4.html

Take 7
AT4073a http://cookie.lmdatabase.com/BloodStolen/Birth/T7-Plant-5.mp3
Oktava MK012a Hypercardiod http://cookie.lmdatabase.com/BloodStolen/Birth/T7-Boom-6.mp3

Take 8
AT4073a http://cookie.lmdatabase.com/BloodStolen/Birth/T8-Plant-5.mp3
Oktava MK012a Hypercardiod http://cookie.lmdatabase.com/BloodStolen/Birth/T8-Boom-6.mp3

Take 9
AT4073a http://cookie.lmdatabase.com/BloodStolen/Birth/T9-Plant-5.mp3
Oktava MK012a Hypercardiod http://cookie.lmdatabase.com/BloodStolen/Birth/T9-Boom-6.mp3



Sex Scene
Earl Street, Hunter's Point
http://www.tonyurgo.com/bloodstolen3.html

Take 24
AT4073a http://cookie.lmdatabase.com/BloodStolen/Sex/T24-AT4073a_2-6.mp3
Oktava MK012a Hypercardiod http://cookie.lmdatabase.com/BloodStolen/Sex/T24-Boom-7.mp3

Take 26
AT4073a http://cookie.lmdatabase.com/BloodStolen/Sex/T26-AT4073a_2-6.mp3
Oktava MK012a Hypercardiod http://cookie.lmdatabase.com/BloodStolen/Sex/T26-Boom-7.mp3

Take 30
AT4073a http://cookie.lmdatabase.com/BloodStolen/Sex/T30-AT4073a_2-6.mp3
Oktava MK012a Hypercardiod http://cookie.lmdatabase.com/BloodStolen/Sex/T30-Boom-7.mp3

Take 31
AT4073a http://cookie.lmdatabase.com/BloodStolen/Sex/T31-AT4073a_2-6.mp3
Oktava MK012a Hypercardiod http://cookie.lmdatabase.com/BloodStolen/Sex/T31-Boom-7.mp3


Have fun!
Click to expand...



wow man, now that was some SERIOUS help. Thank you a thousand times, that was ... couldnt get any bettter than that really.

question for you? Do you find that the Oktava has a higher signal to noise ratio? It just sounded a bit like to oktava had a bit more of a buzz to it than the audio technica which had a softer sound but a bit bass heavy.
 
so now, purely based on quality and performance, which one would come in first place as a hypercardioid?

the oktava? or the AT4053a
 
John Froton said:
Vic,

Is it common place (or better yet, a good idea) to use a boom stand to mount a mike overhead of talent when not having an extra hand to hold a boom? I am looking at shooting some interviews by myself and figured I would mount either an Oktava or my AKG C1000S on a light/mic stand with a telescoping boom to help position overhead.

Also, do you think the AKG C1000S compares favorably with the Oktava? Could I get away with postponing my purchase of an Oktava and just use my AKG right now?

Thanks for any input.
Click to expand...

John,
Hmmmm, see that's the thing--- I've never worked with the Oktava, so I can't say, but I know that users on this board seem to go for the Oktava over the C1000S.

I bought the C1000S 'sight-unheard' to take with me on a shoot inside a Navy destoyer. The walls and ceilings are steel, and the floors are industrial tile, so I knew a shotgun was NOT going to cut it. The AKG performed very well for me, but maybe the Oktava would have been even better.

If I had to do it over again, I would probably go with the Oktava based simply on the rave reviews I've heard about the piece. PLUS---- those clips listed above sound really good man, that's some good proof-in-the-pudding.

The AT 4053a I have never heard, but that's the mic I was going to get before my Navy shoot, but I didn't have time or funds to get it at the time.

If I were you, I'd call some pro audio shops in the area and see if anyone has a 4053a you can plug in and listen to--- you'll be able to find that mic locally more easily than the Oktavea (I would assume). Then, if you decide you don't like it or want to save the money, go for the Oktava.

AND DON'T FORGET--- both the Oktava and the 4053a have interchangeable capsules, so later on you can buy omni, cardioid, heads to modify the pick-up pattern. You cannot do this with the C1000S.

In terms of the Boom stand, I always, always, always use that style boom set-up for interviews. Get that bad boy as close as you you can over their head. I usually drop the mic down into the shot, and then raise it back up until the camera man tells me it's just out of frame. If I'm shooting by myself, I do the same thing, but I turn the field monitor toward myself and manually raise the boom up until I can see that it is out of frame.

If I'm running the boom/mixer on a run-and-gun shoot where we don't have time/space to set up the boom stand, I usually hold the boom pole UNDER the talent at about chest level. You can see an example of this on my recent interview with P-Diddy on yfly.com. I was asking him the interview questions and booming from below with a Sennheiser MKH-60.... Not my preffered mic choice for the occasion, but it's what I was given.

-Vic Rattlehead
 
John Froton said:
Vic,

Is it common place (or better yet, a good idea) to use a boom stand to mount a mike overhead of talent when not having an extra hand to hold a boom? I am looking at shooting some interviews by myself and figured I would mount either an Oktava or my AKG C1000S on a light/mic stand with a telescoping boom to help position overhead.

Also, do you think the AKG C1000S compares favorably with the Oktava? Could I get away with postponing my purchase of an Oktava and just use my AKG right now?

Thanks for any input.
Click to expand...


Hey John,
In the event that you do want to at least test drive an AKG C100s, I called Guitar Center in Columbus for you, and they do have a C1000s in stock for $219.99, but they said you could get it cheaper if you bring in a lower price qoute from the Guitar Center web-site. As I suspected, they do not carry the Oktava or the 4053a, but they did say they could order the 4053a for you.

I'm sure they'd let you play with the C1000s in the store if you wanted to.
 
Thanks for the help Vic,

I already have an AKG C1000S :) So I was wondering if I would need to spend the money on the Oktava to get better sound.

I am glad to hear that mic stands work well where there is no one to hold a boom.
 
i was in the same situation few month back. The highly popular Mk012 or the AT4053a ?

Well, with the MK012 you have to spend for the expensive BBG (over $100) and the wind jammer. I bought AT pop screen filter (~ $35 from full compass).

So instead i bought the AT4053a and the
way cheaper AT windscreen. Ty Ford also recommended the AT4053a which is a step up above Mk012.

but yes, the AT4053a is like MK012, they are very sensitive and need to be protected meticulously.
 
I have no experience with AT4053a, no comment. AKG C1000 no comment.

AKG C451b, NT5, MXL 991 yes comment. I still like how the Oktava sounds compared to these three mics. The MXL 991 is probably the lowest of all, needs more warm and it's too brittle. NT5's are great for stereo recording as well for voice recording. NT5 are more forgiving compared to Oktava. AKG C451b are wonderful on pianos as well for voice recording. The AKG C451b are my go to mic if I need to record sound effects. The Oktava are my first choice for indoor location sound. If shots get wider, I will pick the others.
 
what do you have to buy along with the octava? im not sure i understand...

ill be getting a shock mount, and a boom pole, but what else is needed to run this sucker? and how much more does one need to spend than just the mic price?
 
PaPa said:
what do you have to buy along with the octava? im not sure i understand...

ill be getting a shock mount, and a boom pole, but what else is needed to run this sucker? and how much more does one need to spend than just the mic price?
Click to expand...
i thought i could get away with just buying the small foam and the extra thick foam but when i tested it outside that thick foam had the same effect as the small foam, lol. in moderate wind that mic picks up EVERYTHING and i could not hear anything my test subject was saying because the wind peaked the audio so much.

i ordered the BBG and windjammer last week so i can use my ocktava outside. if your just using it for indoors i havent had any problems with just using the foam and the shock mount though.
 
i wont be using the oktava outside if i get it

its juts a quesiton of, to shoot with it indoors, what is required besides spending the 170 on the mic with the hypercardioid end?
 
You need the cheap thick foam windscreen and a decent shockmount. The Oktava picks up a ton of handling noise.
 
I do believe that the suspensions from Sound Room are great for the low budget. Audio gurus here have sworn that these will help isolate all that shaking and movement when screwed onto your boom. The design is marvelous.
 
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