good cheap podcast microphone when you need to be 3-4 feet away?

PegLeg Media

PegLeg Media

Well-known member
I am starting a new segment on my youtube series that will be set up like the online show Good Mythical Morning. We will have 2 guys talking at a table and want a mic on the table like in the show good mythical morning.

I currently have a blue yeti and love it for voice overs but dont know how it will pick up 2 people from 3-4 feet away each. So my 2 options are to buy a 2nd microphone similar to the blue yeti (or another blue yeti) and we each have a microphone. Or buy a smaller mic that has a shockmount to go in the middle of the table. I kind of want to stay away from the yeti because i need a shockmount since we will be hitting the table and typing on the computer.

So are there any podcast type mics that are better from a 3-4 foot distance? All i can find review wise are people saying this only works good if youre right up close. I want to stay around $200 so i feel like maybe 2 mics might have to be the route we go.
 
Three to four feet from the sound source is seriously borderline for any mic at any price. I concur with David, lavs are the way to go.
 
A figure-eight pattern mic is good choice for two folks, though probably not available as a USB mic.. and three to four feet is excessive in any dialog mic configuration.
So I concur with David, two lavs, a two-channel preamp/USB box... and 'Bob's your Uncle'.
 
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well it would really probably be 2.5 maybe 3 feet but i guess the lavs might be the best solution. they just get such good audio on good mythical morning and i figured for the price of a 2nd lav and audio recorder i could get another condenser mic. Anyone know when juicedlink and its lil darling recorder is coming out or how much it will be?
 
I doubt very much that microphone you see on the table is actually picking up the audio you are hearing.
It looks like a "prop" like what you see on the desk of the talk-show hosts. None of them are practical.
And I mean "practical" both in the normal/audio sense, as well as in the movie-production meaning.
"Practical" means something you see on the set (like a lamp, etc.) that is ACTUALLY producing light for shooting, etc. (vs. a prop)

There was a sci-fi show called "Stargate Atlantis" (?) where the exploration team wore earset microphones for "communications".
I always wondered whether those were "practical" for capturing the dialog during production. Connected directly to the Lectrosonics beltpacks, etc.

So are there any podcast type mics that are better from a 3-4 foot distance?
Click to expand...
There are very few mics of ANY type that are "better" at 3-4 feet. Even if you had 10x the budget.
 
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Well first off after looking at the show, I'm kind of with Alex in that this isn't the kind of thing I would watch, I don't think they are using Lavs and it sounds pretty good.

Kind of depends on what you are aiming at and maybe the shows vary, I watched the on on extinct animals, but to me it sounded like what I would expect from the setup. It's a dampened room so it has a bit of the sound booth nature to it but I think that fits the look so...

However that mic is not three feet away, it's about one foot away. You can definitely hear the proximity change as they move away or closer to the mic so I would bet money that the mic isn't a prop.

If you want to do something like this you can, probably. But you also have to do the other things they are doing. The mic is up aways and shock mounted and quite close tho them (Just look at where it is compared to the laptop) and they don't move around much at all. It looks to be a Blue "The Mouse" mic (so $1,250) I also suspect it's going to a decent preamp. And they are in a room that has some dampening and is not a bouncy hard surfaced monster. They also have some mic technique.

Oh and the computer they have is a mac laptop and I suspet it's one of the SSD models so no fans and no hard-drive. Ie QUIET.
 
I looked at an episode in the more recent seasons and my guess would be that the mic on the table is used as a prop and they are actually getting boomed audio.
 
Yes, the desk mics on most talk shows, Like the Larry King RCA 77DX, Letterman, Leno, Fallon, ect., ect., are for the most part.. props. In the remote chance they are wired and do get used, they're in close proximity to the talent.
 
OK not to go too far off the deep end on this but a behind the scenes on this show might help.
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A couple of points. That mic is really close. You don't generally spend $1,200 on a mic, drill a hole through the table so you can stick it on a floor stand so it wont pick up table noise and cable it if it's a prop. Also they do a radio discussion pod cast and you can see some of that round table in the BG with all wired mics on extendo arms. They haven't cheaped out on anything I can see.

So it could be wireless, if so it has been rigged my a master and then they are doing volume moves and adding in some room bounce in post to simulate using the table mic. Or they are just using the really nice mic that they have gone to a lot of trouble to get isolated and close enough to do well.
And yes they are usually props, but I don't think this one is. And it doesn't sound like a lav, at least nothing I heard. I also don't think its boomed. There is another scene that shows farther back and it would be VERY dificult the way it's lit to not cast a shadow. And again the simplest answer is also the easiest and cheapest on. It's such a locked down shot I doubt they even use a cameraman.
 
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Forget about a USB mic. Use, instead, a USB adaptor like the CEntrance MicPort Pro or a USB sound card.

For what you want to do I would use a boundary mic. on the table - a simple, and very effective, method is to use a mini tie mic. fixed to the table with Blu Tack or a Rycite Stickie.
 
egproductions said:
I looked at an episode in the more recent seasons and my guess would be that the mic on the table is used as a prop and they are actually getting boomed audio.
Click to expand...

No they have had production notes with their equipment and people who helped out. They actually use that mic but its $1300 so pretty nice. They also work in a studio because they were a production company before getting a tv show and then enough money with youtube fame.
 
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