Battery / Phantom powered shotgun mics needed.....

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OzGizmo

Well-known member
I'm on the hunt for some Battery / Phantom powered shotgun mics for broadcast, mainly for 'spot' Fx like court or crowd mics.
I already have acess to 416's, 8060's and NTG3's already but i'm after ones powered with a AA battery.... They reason why is at times they will be connected to radio mic Tx packs, (belt or plug on) without phantom power.

I have a Rode NTG2 but it has a very low output level which at times is annoying, so the only mics I can think of at the moment is a Senni MKE600 or the new Rode NTG4+ (but I want a 'changeable' battery rather than a 'rechargeable' one)

Also after a couple of long shotgun mics with similar needs.

So anyone with other thoughts?
 
I have the Senn MKE600, but I've really been liking using my AT-8035 which is operated with an AA battery, and it's a very affordable mic. It's not super long - 14.5", but has good side rejection.
 
The AT897 is another battery powered shotgun. Side by side, I think it is slightly hotter than the NTG2. I also prefer the sound.

You might also consider a stand alone mic preamp that supplies phantom. You could then stick with the higher quality shotguns you are using.

Grant
 
ggrantly said:
You might also consider a stand alone mic preamp that supplies phantom. You could then stick with the higher quality shotguns you are using.
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And/or with a preamp at the mic location, you could send the audio signal a far distances at line-level which would increase its resistance to noise and interference.

Just curious what advantage there is in a narrow "shotgun mic" for picking up sources like sports audience noise?
 
I don't need the extra stuff for stand alone power supplies or preamps, the set up time is tight enough.... More to set up = more to pack up (and we don't need that)
The reason for a long shotgun is to mount of the end of a 2m boom pole to get in the time out huddles in basketball / netball to hear the coaches / players instructions and at that time the PA and crowd is just SO loud, we have tried 416's but they aren't tight enough.
 
The same basic problems apply to long shotgun mics, if you can't get close to the sound source your still SOL. I've had three long shotgun mics; initially an AT-815a, which I eventually gave away, a Sennheiser MKH-816 (sold for taking up storage space) and an AT4071, which I recall using once or twice in the last five years. (taking up space as well)
 
OzGizmo said:
I don't need the extra stuff for stand alone power supplies or preamps, the set up time is tight enough.... More to set up = more to pack up (and we don't need that)
The reason for a long shotgun is to mount of the end of a 2m boom pole to get in the time out huddles in basketball / netball to hear the coaches / players instructions and at that time the PA and crowd is just SO loud, we have tried 416's but they aren't tight enough.
Click to expand...

So maybe i'm not getting the setup. If you have a boom-op with a bag, pole, etc, why can't you power your mic from a mixer which would be entirely superior than direct to cam; better preamps, better control, limiters, line-in, etc.

I don't think there are any battery powered long shotguns and especially not anything high quality. After using the mics in your initial post, you are probably not going to be very happy with any of the medium quality battery powered models. One other suggestion is to go with a phantom powered wireless butt-plug unit like a Sennheiser SKP-300. Baddabing no wires! Baddabing wireless issues! But if you don't want a small preamp, this would give you all the better mics you mentioned as an option and in a run and gun situation, eliminate all trip hazards since you could mount the receiver on cam.

Grant
 
"I don't think there are any battery powered long shotguns and especially not anything high quality"
- I would concur. The low cost AT-815 ($250 in it's day) was AA battery powered.
The caveat with a butt-plug boom mic transmitter is, a second receiver is needed or a wireless return from the PSM.
 
Let me explain the setup... This is 'LIVE to air' outside broadcast of a basket ball / net ball game. In the time outs and 1/4 and 3/4 time breaks a boompole is allowed into the huddle to get 'coach & player' comments (just a Rf lav mic on the coach isn't good enough as you don' get the player comments).....
The radio mic recievers are a venue style rack, yes Lectro and Sennheiser do plug on Tx units with phantom power but some of the trucks that are used don't have those radio mic systems, some only have hand held mics and belt pack Tx units (that don't deliver phantom)
So battery powered mics are a must, camera mounted mics are already in use but are on the outside of a huddle about 3m from the people speaking and as we all know this is of little use especially in a stadium with music pumping and the crowd screaming.
The boom op has about 30 seconds TOTAL to run across the court with the pole about 2m long slip in inbetween the players get the conversation then get out...... Yes i have an old Audio Technica mic and was just wondering if the technology had advanced in that sort of mic as it has in other mics.

And remember this is 'LIVE to air'

And before anyone asks ...No the op is NOT monitoring the mic, they have a UHF 2way radio headset on getting cues from the truck of when to get in and out of the huddle. And thats why we use an experienced boom op.
 
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One other option is to get a battery powered Phantom power supply. There is no setup, but it would be one more thing in the chain. But from your description sometimes you wouldn't need it.
 
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