Best mic for noisy situations

P

Peter Reynolds

Well-known member
Hi there.

I'm looking for either a hand mic, or a shotgun with a pistol grip.

The key here is that I do a lot of interviews in noisy situations (outdoor crowds, bars, conventions), and I want mic that will get me the cleanest audio for my interviews (which are usually done on the spot).

Any recommendations? For shotguns w/pistol grip, I've used both a Sennheiser ME66 and MKH 416. The quality is great, but I still get a lot of background noise.

Any ideas you have would be appreciated.

Cheers,

Peter
 
Me Myself & I said:
Hi there.

I'm looking for either a hand mic, or a shotgun with a pistol grip.

The key here is that I do a lot of interviews in noisy situations (outdoor crowds, bars, conventions), and I want mic that will get me the cleanest audio for my interviews (which are usually done on the spot).

Any recommendations? For shotguns w/pistol grip, I've used both a Sennheiser ME66 and MKH 416. The quality is great, but I still get a lot of background noise.

Any ideas you have would be appreciated.

Cheers,

Peter
Click to expand...

Hi Peter:

One of the main reasons you are encountering a lot of BG sound is that you are hand miking. That's why we have boompoles and a boompole operator. Look at the physics of the situation, you are point a narrow acceptance mic at a target but there is nothing to stop the sound pickup right at your subject. As you will notice, there is no "distance control" on a mic, sound behaves much like light, it scatters and spreads everywhere and drops off in varying levels.

The reason pros use boompoles and boom ops, what do you have beyond the subject? Ground. Usually ground is pretty absorbent in comparison to having a group of people behind your desired voice.

Probably not want you want to hear but you can't refute the laws of physics and sound. There is no magic microphone that will selectively cut out the voices and ambient behind your desired talent. If you had time, you could put a wireless lavalier on your talent instead of hand miking but that is probably not possible. But I would suggest investing in a boompole and a boom op.

Best,

Dan
 
Last edited:
if you dont mind see the mic in frame , cardioid dynamic or condencer as shure 81 or similar for hanheld use
if you need go out of frame the sanken cs-3 shotgun has the best side rejection for low fq
 
Standard setup

Standard setup

Hey there.

Thanks for all the input. Good advice all around.

Shoots are for news and or documentaries.

A two-person crew (camera & interviewer) is standard. It would be great to have a sound man/boom op, but it's rare to have the budget for it.

So again, if the interviewer is holding the mic (just out of frame preferably), what would you recommend? Any Sennheiser or other hand mics worth talking about, or should I just go for a shotgun with pistol grip?

Perhaps the MK416 or Sanken CS-3E

Looking forward to your response.

Peter
 
sanken sounds better , better low fq side regection , no proximity effect .
low fq roll of on the mic if you go staright to camera, wider pattern as neuman 81
sounds more neuman 81 :-)

mkh is cheaper, heawi proximity effect ,sound cange drasticaly from 1 feet to 2 feet
extra sharp pattern , every headturn may take you out , no roll off in low fq ,
better rf regection , usially live for ever .

hand mics would work inside the frame or tight head and shoulders and even then i would sudgest you go for cardioid condencer so you can hold it abit lower
for open shot -waist and up shot gun is about the best solution
 
Last edited:
why not a super or hyper cardiod? Plenty of them out there in handheld format (Shure, Audix, etc.). On the cheaper side the Audix OM-2 comes to mind, Nuemann KMS105 on the higher end.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top