best portable sturdy mic stands

D

Deer Film

Well-known member
Hi
I have to go film a school play, so I need about 2 mic stands to capture the audio of about 14 kids. Something sturdy if someone bumps it or they need to be moved. I also want to use it for conference meeting as other uses.

here are some choices I looked at. What do you recommend?
http://www.fullcompass.com/product/391818.html
[h=1]Vu MSI200-10B
Mic Stand, Low Profile Round Base.[/h]

http://www.fullcompass.com/product/409942.html
[h=1]Vu MST-BOOM
Boom Arm, Telescoping[/h]
 
Th round base stand looks very similar to UK products imported from China - but it's VERY expensive. Here I can pick up something very similar much more cheaply.
http://cpc.farnell.com/gyc/ms66/ms66-round-base-microphone-stand/dp/ST00348
The cast base makes them pretty stable with a mic on top, but the boom arm (which seems pretty good value) can very easily overturn it with only a modest mic on the end - the CoG is very close to the ground making them a bit unstable with boom arms. Probably little point recommending our european brand K&M which are by far the most popular pro mic stand - but if you can live with the three legs, these stands are by far the most stable. They also store well, round base ones don't. round base ones with a cutout for stacking are better. It's a shame you live where you do - I have a pile of boom arms in the store!
 
I tend to use low level tri leg stands for this type of application with a longer boom arm as it gives a more stable base with a low centre of gravity it also means there is less stand in frame and a boom at an angle looks nicer on screen.

These are similar to the ones I have but my booms are K&M chrome coloured and have a very slim extension adjustment:
http://pages.ebay.com/link/?nav=item.view&id=321078263462

I agree with Paul that round bases are not really suitable for use with larger boom arms!
 
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Hi
Around kids I would sand bag what ever stand you choose. Also tape the cables. These two things are more important than the stand you choose. Having said that I find the three legged stands better for transporting and than separate sand bags when needed. The round mic stand bases are "always" heavy, even when you are carrying them and wishing they weren't. How, and how far, are you transporting these stands. Also most schools have mic stands. No cost, no transporting and maybe even less liability. Good luck with your recording. I know we're supposed to roll our eyes at school plays - but I have been to some that were great, way better than some downtown pro plays.
 
Hi, and thanks
I guess I am not worried about transporting. I have a truck and I never have to carry things to far. You all made me think of how professional it will look if it is in the shot. So is my choice of stand not that good? I usually do corporate and educational seminars so if I use mic stands, I want them to look nice in the shot as well as sturdy and usable when I use it for my big money shots.
I would think a 3 leg tripod type mic stand would be easier to trip over tip over.
I never did a school play, and the town I live in asked me to do it. And I looked at their video from last year, and it was very poor job. The sound capture is going to take some imagination to make it clean and sound good. For some odd reason, doing this school play is more of a challenge then a corporate video. Or maybe I just want it to do a great job.
 
You've no idea how difficult it is to record good live sound in a play that doesn't have radio mics as part of the deal. The cast will (if they are skilled) be projecting, which often sounds very odd at a distance with a mic. The most common theatre style mic is a boundary mic - probably a pcc, to reduce audience sound, on the stage floor. The trouble is width. One in the centre really covers no more than maybe ten feet or so width wise and around the same depth wise. For wider performing areas, just add more mics - but be aware that you then start to suffer form an odd filtering effect - which can give the audio a phasey tone.

If the performers have personal mics then it can be lots better - but then you have the problem of recording multiple sources.

The previous person didn't make it sound clean and good. It's going to take some doing!

Re: the mc stand bases - the 3 leg versions are much more stable because the floor area coverage is greater. It's very easy to spot this, because singers who need to rock a mic stand around - think Elvis style - always use a round stand. In fact, if you don;t have one of these for this type of performer, they just can't use 3 leg bases because they're too stable!
 
Deer Film said:
Hi
I have to go film a school play, so I need about 2 mic stands to capture the audio of about 14 kids. Something sturdy if someone bumps it or they need to be moved. I also want to use it for conference meeting as other uses.

here are some choices I looked at. What do you recommend?
http://www.fullcompass.com/product/391818.html
Vu MSI200-10B
Mic Stand, Low Profile Round Base.



http://www.fullcompass.com/product/409942.html
Vu MST-BOOM
Boom Arm, Telescoping
Click to expand...


First - you can't really use a boom arm on a round base stand without adding lots of weights to the base - it's very unsteady.

Personally, I will only use K&M stands (Pro series) and nothing else. The ones I use are the K&M 200.
 
Assuming you're in USA, check out Radioshack. I bought their round base Mic stand a few years ago and have been happy with it. I got the boom arm too. I think they also had a tripod type stand. The advantage was that it was in stock in many of my local stores so I could see and lift it up before buying
 
The stand you linked to is a copy of the K&Ms - some identical bits, a few design changes - but the cast hub at the bottom and metal hardware to tighten the boom look ok. The thing with real K&M for us over here is that we can get every bit as a spare. I've got some that are over 15 years old, beaten up, even a bit rusty - BUT still as good as new. The copies I've got tend to develop loose legs (or amazingly stiff ones) over the years, but for the price - I can live with this. I think I currently have about 25 or so, split about 50% with K&M - and they're all ok. If I damage any - which happens when they get dropped into orchestra pits, or have scenery fall on them, is that I fix K&M and scrap the copies. One further positive for the K&M is the clutch mechanism rarely jams. Some cheap stands need more than a turn on the collar to release or tighten. The better design K&M means that you simply release the pressure and you can lift the tube. Some need two or three hand turns worth to release.
 
like Paul I have a mix of K&M and the e-bay cheapies, I also have some very old AKG stands that date back to the 70's and they all work OK.

As stated before I would go for the low level with longer boom for visual reasons but as I have both types I can chose whatever suits the job in hand!
 
paulears said:
The stand you linked to is a copy of the K&Ms - some identical bits, a few design changes - but the cast hub at the bottom and metal hardware to tighten the boom look ok. The thing with real K&M for us over here is that we can get every bit as a spare. I've got some that are over 15 years old, beaten up, even a bit rusty - BUT still as good as new. The copies I've got tend to develop loose legs (or amazingly stiff ones) over the years, but for the price - I can live with this. I think I currently have about 25 or so, split about 50% with K&M - and they're all ok. If I damage any - which happens when they get dropped into orchestra pits, or have scenery fall on them, is that I fix K&M and scrap the copies. One further positive for the K&M is the clutch mechanism rarely jams. Some cheap stands need more than a turn on the collar to release or tighten. The better design K&M means that you simply release the pressure and you can lift the tube. Some need two or three hand turns worth to release.
Click to expand...

I agree with all of this. :thumbsup:

But my *newest* stands are over 15 years old and my oldest I bought second-hand about 35 years ago - all are K&M and all are still going strong.

I have seen cheap stands that broke on the first outing and had to be thrown away - I have seen others where the clutch on the boom arm was not strong enough to hold a normal LDC mic. without drooping. So, getting a good K&M stand is actually the cheapest option in the long run. :thumbsup:
 
GaryNattrass said:
like Paul I have a mix of K&M and the e-bay cheapies, I also have some very old AKG stands that date back to the 70's and they all work OK.

As stated before I would go for the low level with longer boom for visual reasons but as I have both types I can chose whatever suits the job in hand!
Click to expand...

The AKG stands (and the Beyer and Sennheiser stands) from the 70s/80s/90s are all made by K&M and I consider them the same thing.

It was only later that AKG, Beyer and Sennheiser also started doing cheaper stands - the cheap ones I would not tough with a bargepole (as they say).
 
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