buy rode ntg-2 + nt3 or just get rode ntg-3

M

Marduk

Well-known member
guys quick question, would it be smart to get a ntg-2 for outdoors and an nt3 for indoors over a ntg-3 or should i get the ntg-3 and then in a couple of months also get the nt3? would i be ok to record with the ntg-3 indoors for now until i get the nt3? i will be recording moslty concerts, parties, and special events in the next couple of months. i do have some outdoor shots that i need to shoot.

btw i also just ordered a zoom h4n if that helps you guys out.


Thanks
Ninos
 
Marduk said:
guys quick question, would it be smart to get a ntg-2 for outdoors and an nt3 for indoors over a ntg-3 or should i get the ntg-3 and then in a couple of months also get the nt3? would i be ok to record with the ntg-3 indoors for now until i get the nt3? i will be recording moslty concerts, parties, and special events in the next couple of months. i do have some outdoor shots that i need to shoot.

btw i also just ordered a zoom h4n if that helps you guys out.


Thanks
Ninos
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NT3 is large and heavy, IMHO not really suitable for indoor boom use unless you have a gorilla for a boom operator. Check out the AKG Blueline SE300/CK93 combo, the AT 4053b, or the Oktava M012 for hypers that are a bit more manageable.
 
thanks for the reply Steve.

so do you not recommend using a shotgun for indoors. what are your thoughts on the ntg-3 for both outdoors and indoors. would i get buy using only that for now and skip the ntg-2 + nt3.

Ninos
 
Marduk said:
so do you not recommend using a shotgun for indoors. what are your thoughts on the ntg-3 for both outdoors and indoors. would i get buy using only that for now and skip the ntg-2 + nt3.
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Shotguns are generally not suitable for indoor use at all. Shotguns have a response that is too sensitive to the reflections of interior spaces, which will leave you with a hollow, cave-like sound. For indoors, the first choice is a hypercardioid small-diaphragm condenser, such as the Oktava MK012 or the AT4053b or the AKG CK93. They are small, and the hypercardioid pattern is better for rejecting the reflections indoors.

The NT3 is a bit large, as Steve said, for holding on the end of a boom. It is a small-diaphragm condenser made for studio recording. It wasn't really designed for film/TV application. Weight is amplified at the end of the pole, so every ounce counts.
 
thanks c2v

i'll look into those mics that you and steve suggested. its probably going to be between the 4053b and the se300b/ck93, the oktava looks like its harder to come by. what are you guys thoughts on using hyper for outdoors?
 
Marduk said:
thanks c2v

i'll look into those mics that you and steve suggested. its probably going to be between the 4053b and the se300b/ck93, the oktava looks like its harder to come by. what are you guys thoughts on using hyper for outdoors?
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You can certainly use the hyper outdoors with decent wind protection. Its normal working distance is a bit closer than a short shotgun so keep that in mind, the 'gun gives you slightly more stand-off distance for wide shots.
 
Steve House said:
You can certainly use the hyper outdoors with decent wind protection. Its normal working distance is a bit closer than a short shotgun so keep that in mind, the 'gun gives you slightly more stand-off distance for wide shots.
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Hypers can also be useful outdoors in very reflective environments, like playgrounds or basketball courts... but only if your framing allows for the needed working distance.
 
how close are we talking about. can i get a full shot of a couple and have the mic out of the frame and get good audio or do i have to get in closer with like a medium or close up? im using an adapter on the camera and i only have 3 lenses at the moment. a 28, 50, and 85. i was trying to get on to dvestore and dvcreators last night but their site was down. I want to get some samples of the 4053b, interested in that one. i did hear the the nt3 compared to the other shotguns like the 4073 and it could be my amateur ears but to me the nt3 sounded just as good as the 4073. and i did not like the sound coming from the ntg2. but it could also be that they were all shot indoors and thats why the nt3 performed well but i believe it was a studio designed for sound.
 
Marduk said:
i did hear the the nt3 compared to the other shotguns like the 4073 and it could be my amateur ears but to me the nt3 sounded just as good as the 4073. and i did not like the sound coming from the ntg2. but it could also be that they were all shot indoors and thats why the nt3 performed well but i believe it was a studio designed for sound.
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Wait... are you talking about the NT3, or the NTG-3? There's a huge difference between the two, and it seems that you're using the model numbers interchangeably. Comparing the NT3 to the AT4073 is like comparing apples and carrots.

The NTG-3 performs, and sounds, much better than the 4073 in my opinion.
 
sorry if i confused you, i was talking about getting either the NTG-2 and the NT3 vs just getting a NTG-3. that way i have an outdoor and an indoor because i can get both the NTG-2 and NT3 for about the same price as the NTG-3. but i was thinking instead of buying a couple of ok mics, i should spend the money on one now like the NTG-3 and then a couple of months from now get a hyper like the 4053b. but my last post i was actually talking about the NT3, in this shoot out to me i kind of like the sound of it better then the 4073a
http://www.dvcreators.net/shotgun-shootout/#
 
Marduk said:
sorry if i confused you, i was talking about getting either the NTG-2 and the NT3 vs just getting a NTG-3. that way i have an outdoor and an indoor because i can get both the NTG-2 and NT3 for about the same price as the NTG-3. but i was thinking instead of buying a couple of ok mics, i should spend the money on one now like the NTG-3 and then a couple of months from now get a hyper like the 4053b. but my last post i was actually talking about the NT3, in this shoot out to me i kind of like the sound of it better then the 4073a
http://www.dvcreators.net/shotgun-shootout/#
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As said before, the NT3 is a big and heavy mic, fine in a studio on a mic stand for a static seated interview but not so fine in a rapidly moving situation such as ENG, doco, or dramatic productions where it's going to be mounted on the end of a fishpole being man-handled by someone charged with keeping it aimed at a moving subject while simultansouly keeping it out of frame. The NT3 is a good mic for its designed purpose but booming on a location shoot ain't what it's built for.

Comparing the NT3 to the AT4073a is comparing apples and oranges. The NT3 is a semi-large, 3/4", diaphram studio hypercardioid intended mainly for musical instruments and vocals while the 4073a is a medium length location shotgun intended mainly for dialog. Two very different mics designed for two very different purposes. There's also a big price difference - B&H quote $639 for the 4073 and $269 for the NT3 ($699 for the NTG-3, Rode's pro shotgun)
 
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thanks steve

yeah i was just trying to back up what you guys were saying about using shotguns indoor. i've read a bunch of c2v's other posts on here and a bucnh of your posts on dvinfo, which both of you guys' posts are very informative, and you talked about how you would never use a shotgun indoors and if you take a $1000 shotgun mic and use it wrong indoors a 300 dollar hyper would sound alot better or something to those words. so i was basically asking is that why the nt3 sounds a lot better to me then the 4073a, because its a hyper and the 4073a is a shotgun and they're being tested indoors? is that how big of a difference it will make when i use like the ntg-3 indoors it will sound like crap. since your first post i started looking into the mics that you and c2v recommended. so far all the tests i've been listening to I've been liking what I've been hearing from rode and sennheiser and some AT. is there a mic thats better then the 4053b like how the ntg-3 (which is compared more to the 416) is better then the 4073a with out going over a grand?
 
Marduk said:
thanks steve

... i've been listining to i've been likeing what ive been hearing from rode and sennheiser and some AT. is there a mic thats better then the 4053b like how the ntg-3 (which is compared more to the 416) is better then the 4073a with out going over a grand?
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Haven't A/B 'd many of them so I can't say ... and staying under a kilobuck for a quality hyper is hard to do. Lot's of folks like the sound of AKG's small diaphram hypers - the SE300/CK93 combo runs $478 at B&H. Other hypers with strong reputations are the AKG C480/CK63 Ultra Low Noise combo, Neumann KM185, Sennheiser MKH50 and MKH8050, and of course the Schoeps CMC641 but with all these you're getting up into the stratosphere pricewise, all of them are over a grand and reaching upwards of 2k for the Schoeps. There just aren't very many that meet your criteria -
 
thanks for all the help steve

yeah i saw some of those prices, but hey you spend 4 grand on a camera to get pro video, you need to spend just as much to get pro sound right. i'll look more into the mics you recommended and then decide from there or flip a coin.

Ninos
 
Marduk said:
thanks for all the help steve

yeah i saw some of those prices, but hey you spend 4 grand on a camera to get pro video, you need to spend just as much to get pro sound right. i'll look more into the mics you recommended and then decide from there or flip a coin.

Ninos
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Yep, in fact it's not uncommon for the audio gear on a set to have cost more than the camera gear.
 
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