Mic Questions Answered

[saneproductions]

i was reading some of your posts on the sound section.

Would you let me know if AKG is better than Octava?

And how do I know what size Zeppelin or BBG to buy? How do I measure the mic? is it from the beginning to the end of the body+capsule, and it's measured in Centimeters right? Then do I add some extra centimeters more to determine the correct size for the zeppelin or BBG?

And what shockmount is the best to get? Can I use the shockmount on my camera too and not just the boompole?

And I have an AKG shotgun mic, but how do I mount it to my DVX100 to look like those Rode shotguns? with proper wind protection. I mounted the shotgun as is with the tiny black foam it came with (nothing fancy), but the DVX100 mic holder doesn't really do it, cuz the shotgun mic isn't straight, it slightly goes down and you can see it in frame if you are zoomed out all the way.


Thanks,

******

Hi ******,

I would go for the AKG blueline with hyper cap (I think it is the ck93) over the oktava if you can swing the extra $100. It sounds better and has less handling and wind noise. The BBG for that (or the oktava) is 20mm, but you may not need it if you are using the blueline inside only and don't have hard boom swings. It is nice to have if you can afford it.

Shockmount on the boom pole I would suggest the k-tek kssm with soft bands. It is more money, but totally worth it.

On camera mount I suggest the rode SM-3. If you can't get both, just get the k-tek and get a shoe mount thread adapter to use the k-tek. It is nice to have an additional shockmount on hand though.

for wind protection on camera, rycote softie would be nice, but if you are really strapped, you can get a rode dead cat for $40 that slips over the stock foam. It will not protect against strong wind but unlike foam it works in light wind. For shooting outside you really need a zepplin (k-tek k-zepp or rycote s series) and mounting that on camera is not really an option.

 

[David Jimerson]

Also, you don't want to be mounting directly the camera anyway. Remember, you want to be getting the mic as close as possible to your sound source -- camera-mounted microphones are very poor for this job.