Looking to buy my first Audio field mixer:

ggrantly said:
Szimmer,

As much as I am a fan and advocate of using a mixer when possible, I would sort out your mic situation first; try something besides the lavs to see if your audio improves. That was the point of the thread right?

Suggestion: rent a couple of different mics, work on technique, and see what that does for you. You can read the stickies to start and figure what might work for your shooting needs. There are some good comparison articles available.

For around the same price as a 302, you could get a decent shotgun with blimp, a decent hyper, and a pole. Though a mixer is part of any serious kit, adding a few mics and getting away from the lavs except when you need them is probably a better first step.

Grant
Click to expand...

I agree with this as well, because a great mixer isn't going to do anything if your mic is not good. I think the idea of renting OR even going somewhere that you can try them out and test them.

Also, MAKE SURE that in these tests, you also perform your current setup so you have some way to compare. You may ultimately want a mixer for the extra audio freedom it can give control wise, but you gotta make sure the audio coming in off the mic is awesome first.

Or, if you have to order online. Read through the stickies to get more information on what is there and possibly order from somewhere you can return if necessary. For instance, I had a salesman at Sweetwater who always told me (Look, if you don't think I am right about what you need, send it back, no problem) And sure enough, he was right EVERY time he made that claim (though not always right 100% of the time)

:)
 
Thank you!

Thank you!

This has been a very helpful thread in many ways. Thanks!

I am now evaluating two plugins (Sound Forge Pro 10.0 and iZotope RX) to fix some of my audio (hiss and background noise). Thanks to Steve, he showed that it is EASY to get rid of hiss! :)

Also, I am now checking out Pro Tools LE systems from Avid which might more sense. I have MC 5 so I am a big fan of Avid products.

With an Mbox 2, Pro Tools software and possibly a plugin to clean up any issues might make the most sense. And if there is any money left, I will get a better microphone for the narration.

At least this is a start.

I appreciate all the good information from everyone. The video on mixers was excellent too.

Simon
 
ggrantly said:
For around the same price as a 302, you could get a decent shotgun with blimp, a decent hyper, and a pole. Though a mixer is part of any serious kit, adding a few mics and getting away from the lavs except when you need them is probably a better first step.

Grant
Click to expand...

Could you recommend a good shotgugun with blimp, hyper and pole?

Thanks,

Simon
 
Assuming you wanted to stay in the price range of a SD302.

$269 Rode NTG-2 Shotgun
$299 Rode Blimp
$170 K-Tek KE89CC Pole
$469 Rode 4053b
$ 54 AT8415 Shock mt
$135 Rycote baby ball gag for 4053b

I ran over a little bit at $1400 (BH photo pricing), but this is a very nice mic pair with good suspension and wind protection. I didn't include cables, assuming you have some. If you wanted to save a bit, instead of the 4053b look at the Oktava Mk012 w/ hyper cap. There are some alternatives for wind protection, it just won't be quite as effective.

If you wanted to step up, get the NTG-3 shotgun instead of the NTG-2

Check out the kit prices from BH photo and Guy Cochrans DVStore. Guy is a DVXuser sponsor and had a video post earlier in this thread. The one thing about kit deals is to not get stuck with bundled stuff you don't need, so watch for that. If you called guy, he would probably do a kit including just what you want.

Other members might have some alternative suggestions, but this is pretty solid, middle of the road stuff from good manufacturers.

Grant
 
 
Hello,

Good lists. I will definitely check them all out.

As I started looking at various mics for narration, Steve House mentioned a few good mics like the Electro Voice RE20, Podcaster and Procaster. RE20 and Procaster are xlr mics while the Podcaster is a usb connection.

I am "assuming" the xlr connection will have better sound compared to a usb connection?

Especially if your soundcards are generic like mine, I can't imagine the usb connection would make more sense. Or am I wrong??

Having said that, the RE20 or Procaster look like great mics for narration. In my case I would hook it directly to my Panasonic hmc-150. I won't go back to the question whether I need a mixer now or not, but what about a preamp?

thanks,

Simon
 
szimmer said:
...
Especially if your soundcards are generic like mine, I can't imagine the usb connection would make more sense. Or am I wrong??

Having said that, the RE20 or Procaster look like great mics for narration. In my case I would hook it directly to my Panasonic hmc-150. I won't go back to the question whether I need a mixer now or not, but what about a preamp?

thanks,

Simon
Click to expand...

A mixer would act as a preamp as well. You need to be able to control levels better than just sending the mic straight to the camera, IMHO. A mixer like the SD 302 would do you double duty, first as a mixer when recording in the field and then as a preamp when recording narration direct to the computer back in the studio.

A USB mic completely by-passes the computer's soundcard so issues with the quality of the card become moot. The mic level preamps on a generic soundcard will be pretty sucky. Feeding it line level from a mixer might give much better results, then again it might not. Depends on just how many corners the card's designers cut to save money. Gotta face facts, a generic soundcard is simply not designed with an eye to professional level audio performence. Replacing the soundcard with a proper audio recording interface is the best way to go.

Can't comment on the overall results you can expect to get with a direct USB mic versus the old fashioned way as I haven't used any. I would expect the Podcaster to be decent as Rode in general markets quality products. As for the Samon you mentioned in your email your email that you used for the sample recording ... well, it's a Samson product.
 
Last edited:
I bought ...

I bought ...

Hello,

After getting tons of great advice, I finally decided to buy:

Sound Device mixpre
Procaster Rhode mic
Sound Forge Pro 10 Software

Yes, I am sure I will regret not getting the 302 but the mixpre allows me to get a new mic for narration and I was REALLY impressed with the trial version of Sound Forge Pro 10.

It is a start, at some point I will need to get a boom mic but for now I am happy.

Thank you to everyone for their excellent advice.

Simon
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top