Dedicated Hyper vs Short Shotgun

D

dresam

Member
My apologies if this is a redundant/stupid question. I've really tried to do my research, but I've hit a wall.

For those with experience with these mics, would I theoretically put myself in a better position to build a 'creative' kit if I bought a Blueline CK3 (hyper for indoors dialogue, possible interviews) to use in conjunction with my ME66 (outdoors shotgun), or if I sold my ME66 and bought a Sanken CS-3e to use exclusively, for the time being, as an all around. To sum it up, two specialized mics or one highly regarded somewhat all arounder.

I know this isn't the best solution, but I've really become interested in audio, really inspired by collecting sound and playing with it, and I feel like this is the next step I have to take for the time being, with maybe more expanding down the road. I should also add that I have an SD302, a field recorder, wireless lav, and other various instrument mics.

Basically, I'm a short-film-maker, making shorts that won't make money and probably won't find an audience... but, reading audio books over the past year has really changed the way I write and think about narrative. I have a bad back, so pursuing audio as a career, unfortunately isn't possible, but pursuing it as a passion seems within reach.

Thanks, I truly appreciate the advice.
 
I say go for the quality single microphone (Sanken CS3-e) over multiple
lower budget mics.

I have the CS3e and you'll find it will pretty much work in every situation at a high quality level.

The ONLY issue with this microphone is it has a higher self noise compared to
other high end mics. This will ONLY come into play on extremely quiet sets where the mic
is far away AND the person is very quiet.

My opinion.
 
I guess the only worry I have about the noise (which is because of the 3 elements, correct?) is that I like going out and getting sounds, but I've gotten much better in Pro Tools and Logic and in mixing principles in general, so I'm sure I could do something with it there.

Thanks for help. Very much appreciated.
 
Well my recommendations are for dialog recording.
I would not choose the CS3 as my primary nature recording mic.
Self noise is too high for the subtle stuff out there.

I'd reach for a schoeps, mkh 60 or 50..etc
 
Right. Sorry, yeah, I realize that this mic isn't a do-all. Dialogue is the most critical for my purposes, anything else would just be occasional wild track. Maybe when I get more comfortable, I can really start to think about specialty mics. My only concern was to be without a hyper, but hopefully the CS3 can hold its own amongst walls.

I'm in NYC, so lots of indoors, small spaces... outdoors, noisy spaces... complete amateur holding said mic... I know I sound pretty ridiculous, but thanks for your patience.

Sorry, one more question to prove my ignorance: Speaking of the Schoeps, would a combo of an ME66 and a CMC641 be a ridiculous pairing for the time being? I can't help but remember when I was first buying lenses that people told me to buy one really good prime, learn it, and build from there... sorry, guys, I've got A LOT to learn.
 
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Definitely ditch the ME66. You can do much better.

The CS-3e is an excellent choice. You can't go wrong.

I too am a NYC based "short film going nowhere" type with a 302 and a couple of mics. When I picked out mics, I decided to go for two Audio Technica 4053 hypers, and a single 4073 shotgun. I got all three for the price of less than a single Scheops and just a little bit more than a CS-3e.

Did I make the right decision? I think so. I can do stereo ambient recording with the two 4053's if I need to. I've got a really good hyper for indoor dialog (and an identical back-up mic for redundancy). I'm really happy with the sound of these mics, and they match up very well sonically.

But that said, if I had just bought one CS-3e or one Schoeps, I don't think I'd be regretting it.

But, I did manage to accidentally stick my 4053 into a moving ceiling fan once or twice - so yeah - that would have sucked much more if it had been a nicer mic.

It's up to you to figure out the best way to move forward. You've figured out the good stuff to get, now you just gotta pick. I don't think you'll be hurting too bad just having a CS-3e for interiors. I think that would do just fine. It's not ideal, but you'll be much better off than using that noisy ME66.
 
Thanks for the help, guys.

I've decided to go with the CS-3e with a Rode Blimp.

Maybe down the road I can branch out with more specialized mics, but for now, hopefully I can really learn a lot with the Sanken. Just out of curiousity, if I wanted to buy a mic for location ambience and sfx, in the moment stuff, where would you point me? I'm really trying focus on making that a bigger part of scenes, and for now the CS3e will have to do.

Thanks again, yall.
 
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