Mic for outside ambience

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boarderjosh10

Active member
I would like an opinion for the best microphone for capturing the sounds of the outdoors, nature sounds etc. I live in a woodsy are and would like to film some of the wildlife around me, including all the little crickets and bugs and the wind and leaves and such.

Thank you
 
you need to get a mic that has very very low self noise (and good wind protection).

I am not sure what to suggest.

Are you looking for a mid-side stereo setup?
 
well i am not really sure what I am looking for since I am just getting into it. I guess I would like it to be stereo if thats what you are asking.

So I would need a microphone and then also a windscreen of some sort. I have seen and used the foam kind and I have looked at the ones that look like animal fur. Which would be better?
 
Ullanta and Mike are both right on the money: the wind protection you use will have a significant impact on the quality of your tracks. Rycote modular suspensions with windshields and windjammers are certainly not the cheapest on the market, but they're still one of the most effective products out there. The foam windscreens (even the huge "extreme" models) that come with mics are designed for use in-studio or on-stage; even in a gentle breeze they're pretty much useless. A device such as a Rycote windshield (or BBG, or any of a number of similar producs) is absolutely essential for outdoor recording. The furry cover (eg. a Rycote windjammer) provides increased protection from wind buffetting, with only a tiny trade-off in you're high's. Rycote also makes fabric "high-wind covers" that are less effective (and more transparent) than their furry counterparts, though more effective and than the windshield alone. If things are really windy, you can always use both the HWC and windjammer, anthough you'll take a bit of a hit on your top-end.

If you're recording stereo, an M-S kit will save you a fair bit of money since both mics can fit within a single windshield. I'm quite happy with my Sennheiser MKH416/MKH30 pair, especially when it comes to natural atmos recording. The `416 gives you a very intimate centre image, which is very handy when it comes to specific effects. The down side is that the stereo image can be a bit unpredictable at close ranges, when a Mid mic with a wider pattern (eg. MKH50) may be preferable. Of course, that's part of the beauty of this setup: you can swap out the mid mic for pretty much any of the other MKH-series mics (including a second MKH30 for a Blumlein pair) and still have a compelling stereo image. I haven't had much luck using an MKH816 as a mid mic, but the increased side-rejection of that particular mic makes it an excellent choice if you're recording specific wildlife from a discreet distance.

The MKH-series mics are great mics in the field, in part because of their very low self-noise. Also, they tend to be very resistant to humidity and other adverse environmental conditions.

The MKH418s has the convenience of essentially adding a side-capsule to the body of a `416, and terminating in a 5-pin XLR. It's solid mic for the price, essentially halving the weight of an M-S kit while fitting comfortably inside a `416-sized Rycote. However, I'm not a big fan of the lower-quality back-electret mic used as a side element. Also, you must power both mics, even if you're only using the mid channel (ie. as though it were a `416).

A lightweight video tripod with a thread adapter makes a good alternative to a standard mic stand. They're lighter, more stable, quicker to set up and adjust, and often include a quick-release mounting plate.
 
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A cheaper alternative to the Rycote is the K-Tek zeppelin. It's about half the price of the Rycote and is rather effective. The biggest difference is that you pretty much always need the fur on the K-Tek which, as stated already, attenuates the highs a bit.
 
Thanks friends, I am recording into my DVX oleg, and hopefully in stereo, if not I will settle for mono. It looks like a MS kit is probably the way to go. Thank you TVsound for that llnk, especially since all those little parts are available at Radioshack, and I work for the Shack :-)

Thanks again...and keep those ideas coming!
 
what about just using to oktava mk-012's in the x-y configuration and then he could either build his own wind protection around it or just get the outer windshield from a small/medium sized blimp?

i haven't done any x-y or m-s stuff but i have been meaning to read up on that and play with it.

correct me if i am wrong but with x-y you can use two identical hypercarioids? and with m+s you need to have two different patterns? i believe one of them had to be a figure 8?

if true then the x-y would be a little bit easier because two mk-012's with whatever capsule(s) he needs is a lot cheaper than something like two cmc6/mk41's.

i haven't seen very many mic's wiith a figure 8 pattery other than the neumann or schoeps.

matthew
 
I don't think Rycote makes a windscreen large enough for an X-Y pair of Oktava MK-012's. Any time that I've recorded X-Y in the field, I've used a pair of zepplins on a 90-degree or 45-degree bracket. As you can imagine, they get awfully heavy.

Neumann, Schoeps, and Sennheiser all make great figure-8 mics. Unfortunately, there aren't that many small-diaphragm condensors on the market with figure-8 patterns that are well-suited to location audio. More often, figure-8 patterns are found on large-diaphragm condensors, often on models with variable pickup patterns.
 
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