Sony ECM-673, ECM-674, ECM-678 shotguns?

factor

factor

Member
I'm getting ready to buy a Tascam HD-P2 flash recorder for effects gathering and I want a nice shotgun to go with it.

I was planning on getting an ECM-673 because I've enjoyed some older model Sony shotguns and I liked the small size and $275 price tag, but (as much as it pains me to admit this, as an audio geek) I did not realize that electret-based shotguns are considered the lower rung of shotgun mics. Or to put it a better way, I didn't know there was a fundamental difference between the operating principle of a $199 shotgun and a Senn 416. I thought they were all electret. Oops.

I've read some pretty spectacular stuff about the AT-4073a on here and elsewhere (Equipment Emporium loves it too), and I figure I may as well go for that one. I'm planning on this recording package costing me about $1700, so I guess it's no problem to bump my budget up by a measly buck and a half in order to get the "best bang for the buck in shotgun mics," or whatever it was called around here a few years ago.

But I'm still very curious about those Sony models. They're almost never mentioned anywhere. Can't find any user reviews or shootout clips or anything. Does anybody have experience with any of those three models?
 
hey mate i have a ecm 678 at work and i think it is ok... i would seriously consider a 416 instead. but if budgets cant let this happen then the sony mic wil be fine.
 
Yeah, but what I'm really curious about is how well the 673 and 674 compare to other mics in their range, such as the AT897 and the Rode NTG-1/2.

I just find it very strange that nobody mentions these Sony mics at all, anywhere. I mean, you'd think I would be able to find one critical opinion of the ECM-673 somewhere in the vastness of the internet. But there's not a word.
 
factor said:
Yeah, but what I'm really curious about is how well the 673 and 674 compare to other mics in their range, such as the AT897 and the Rode NTG-1/2.

I just find it very strange that nobody mentions these Sony mics at all, anywhere. I mean, you'd think I would be able to find one critical opinion of the ECM-673 somewhere in the vastness of the internet. But there's not a word.
Click to expand...

Sony shotgun microphones don't seem to have a good reputation in this forum.
However, they have been used in production environments for years with good results. To name one, "Iraq in Fragments", the winner of several awards at the 2006 edition of the Sundance Film Festival, was entirely shot with a Sony short shotgun 1-542-296- electret condenser microphone mounted on the camera (Besides interviews where they used a tram lavalier). That 's a short shotgun model supplied with many ENG Sony cameras and supposedly similar to the ECM-670. I got two of those off ebay for $25 each to be used as backup mics and I must admit they sound much better than I would have expected. Although just not comparable with a Senn 416 or an AT4073a, they're excellent workhorses and do pretty well for documentaries, eng and general purposes. I haven't tried the Rodes but those Sonys come quite close to the AT897 in many situations. I wouldn't make them my main mic of course, but since you can get them used for so cheap, they're probably the best bang for the bucks for whose on a budget.

Lutnik
 
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