boundary mics

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powerdog

Veteran
Just got a new project that will include shooting in small lecture halls, and I think a boundary mic for the students + wireless lav on the teacher would be ideal.

Is Crown really just the biggest name, or is it the way to go? I've seen other brands like AT out there, but not sure which to consider.
 
There are two types (maybe more?) PZM and I believe PPM. PZM is a Crown invention and I don't think anyone else can sell them. The Radio Shack ones were made by Crown. The others use a different technology to do basically the same thing. PZM's work great if you can stick them on a big flat surface, like a wall. They do pretty well on stage floors and podiums also. If your trying to pick up the general ambiance they should work well if your trying to pick up thee questions then you have probably not the best choice. They are very omni, well actually they have no pickup behind the plate and a bit limited in the direction of the cable but sill a very wide pattern .

I haven't used the PPM's that much and I don't own any but my limited experience with them was pretty much the same as the PZM.
 
audio technica make pretty nice pzms ,cardioid or omny types , the omny sounds better but it different pattern ,the sanken cub-1 is a nice cardiod pzm .
ll of them can work directly with wireless transmitters .
the schoeps blm 3 is the most quet pzm with omny pattern - but thats about 2 grand incl the preamp- so its not exactly what are you looking for
 
Is it important how close the mounting surface is to the sound source, because these rooms are shaped like small movie theaters. I could stick the mic on a side wall or on the floor...it would probably average about 20 ft away from the subject.

With floor mounting, I also wonder how sensitive they are to footsteps, tapping, etc.
 
for 20 feet , look for other solution , wierless mic that go around the room or muliply mics - from 20 feet the pzm will sounds like sh.it
 
What's the max distance for good PZM recording? I'm a one-man band...so whatever I use, I have to set up and juggle everything else too.
 
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