CS3, CS5 and Schoeps MK41/cmc6

M

matthewd5

Veteran
i made the trek down to gotham sound today and they indulged my research into my next mic or two's purchase.

i really wanted to listen to the schoeps mk41 with the cmc6 preamp.

it sounded really nice and i'm sure i'll upgrade to that in the future but i have to say that listening to that mic really made me appreciate my pair of oktava mk-12's a lot more!

i'm starting an idie feature on 7/24 and i know there are a bunch of scenes where i will almost certainly need to run two mic's on a boom indoors because of the number of actors.

with two oktava mk-12's it will be pretty easy. i will almost certainly put my sanken cub-01 mic on a cofee table or some other centraly located surface in addition to the two boom mics.

but if i had the scheops mk-41 etc. i would need two of those in this case.

also, i was looking forward to trying out the cs-3 as a replacement for my sennheiser 416...

i wasn't super impressed with the cs3.

the only problem with the 416 is that it is so pinpoint that it can be a bit more effort to get really good sound.

i had thought that the cs3 woud be less targeted but it seems a lot like the 416.

one surprise, i tried out the sanken cs-5 and that was great.

in the mono mode it sounded like the 416 but better, either more full or maybe smoother?

and it wasn't as pin pointy as the 416 or the cs3 seemed.

the neat thing was with the stereo on you got a nice wide signal which of course would need two tracks to record.

plus you can get some great ambient sounds or sound effects if you have big things like a car driving by or someone walking away from camera or across camera view.

so it seemed almost like 2 or 2.5 mic's in one.

a boom mic to replace the 416, a stereo mic and a mic to use for special effects to capture ambients etc.

has anyone else felt like this after listening to the cs3?

matthew
 
cs-5 doesnt act as good as cs-3 e on of axis rejection in mono mod .
you can actually disconect the right xlr from your mixer without chaqnge the seting on the mic
the mic would transit only the front M sound - thats exactly what the mono switch does on the mic it self .
the stereo mics have a little actual usage in dramatic film work .
i almost not using it to capture real time effects , if it sfx in some kind, i prefer work with microphones i can establish the stereo spread or run dyrectly ms without using the internal matrix and live the post to play with.
the 5 is mostly good to pick up nature sound or work in hurry, capturing stereo images in rush on documentary , it would never be my first choice for actual boom work .
about cs-3 and 416, i can only say that my last 2 416 dont see much air in the last 3 years and only go out if i work in the dead deaf desert or extremely humid situation sits.
quit problematic to people who was used to 416 to change their preference since the sound signature of that mic is very hard to beat . it take some time to understand that the sc-3 has no fat low end which so "grate" on the 416
caused by proximity effect and doesnt change it characteristics by moving the mic to grater distance what so nasty jumping with 416 .
some people who not use the cs-3 might think it sounds thinner then 416 but this is a common mistake by hearing the low of axis sounds blended together with the directional one . actually the cs-3 has much less tighter pick up and much more forgiving microphone then the sennheiser .

think more about figure of 8 as an add on microphone , better one that could be transferred to aditional directional mic for every day work , so schoeps with the 8 figure, neumann km 130 or mbho will bring you more benefit in every day work .
 
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nice post oleg, thanks....

im keen to go for the cs-3 sometime later this year. expensive though (well, by south african standards) -

Oleg - ps,off topic, the production ended up giving me ecm77's so, i didnt need the emws you offered me after all. thanks though. Tim
 
so oleg, how would you compare the cs-3e and the schoeps CMIT5U?

i am looking to add another mic to my collection of tools.

i am either going to get a cs-3e or a cmit5u to replace/accompany my 416 or get the schoeps mk41 etc. to for the most part replace the oktava mk012's

matthew
 
so to update, i did end up getting the cmc6/mk 41 schoeps.

i'm going to try and get more quality time to try out the cs-3e

i really wanted to hear the schoeps cmit5u but they are selling faster than the dealers can get them.

matthew
 
Congrats on the Schoeps...tell me you have never heard a sweeter sound. :) Did you get the Cut1 and/or swivel? I noticed a used Cut1 at Colossal Sound recently.

Cheers
 
thanks.

i figured it was better to just get the cmc6 and the mk41.

there isn't any package that included either the swivel or the cut1 so i figured i should just use the basic mic/capsule for a while and then try out the cut one and see if it really seems to be something that i'll use.

same goes for the swivel.

if i got the cut 1 and the swivel now how would i know if i would have missed it if i got it from the beginning?

plus both of these optional accessories are pretty damn pricey.

i'd probably be more likely to get the active cable first as i've used my sanken cub-01 boundary mic a bunch either in cars on the ceiling or on the table/desk as a backup mic to see which mic would get the dialog better.

you can get REALLY spoiled having 4 channels to record to.

i appreciate the 442 mixer more because i had the 302 first.

i mainly got the 744t because i got sick of doing sound on a movie with nothing to review to see how i did and to see what i could improve upon.

now i alway have a copy for myself.

i still miss that 302 that i sold when i bought the 442 and i'll probably buy another 302 in the next six months or so.

when i don't need 4 channels the size/weight of the 302 is a LOT more doable out of a bag.

i love the 442 but that sucker is heavy and fairly bulky.

i have a feeling that sound devices is going to be coming out with a new mixer of some sort.

it seems that after they went through all that work to come out with two more affordable recorders that maybe they would next work on additions/changes to their mixer lineup?

i still wish the damn 442 would let me send all four channels to the recorder without me having to worry about the faders as the direct outs are pre fader, so if i have to use the fade to bring up a level that will be great for the camera fed sound but the stuff recorded on 4 tracks on the 744t would be off level wise.

matthew
 
Yup, the sound devices mixers are incredible, but there ARE improvements that could be made. I would LOVE a little more gain in hand on them for quieter output mics. I sometimes find I have to push my gain a little higher than I would like. I agree with you that it would be nice to be able to decide whether to send direct outs pre or post fader via the setup menu. There are also some other features I'd like to see, but thats all for another thread. :)
 
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