MKE600 or NTG2?

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nikonme

Member
I'm very much a novice so go easy on me :happy:

This is for DSLR video (Nikon D7100). Also got a Juicedlink preamp and looking to hook up one mic for now. This is for outdoor recording, birds mostly plus some ambient sounds. Subject distance will be an issue, won't be perfect on my budget I know. But considering either the Sennheiser MKE600 or Rode NTG2, I can't really find any decent comparisons or opinions either way on these. Both have good things written about them in general, and the NTG2 is rather cheaper, especially when considering shock mount and deadcat.

For now I just want to experiment with using it in the flash hotshoe until I know what I'm doing. I know these are both relatively long mics. The Rode + deadcat apparently drops a little at the front using the suitable Rode shock mount but is usable. But I'm not sure which mount I would need for the Sennheiser. Their own brand shock mounts seem excessively overpriced.

Is the MKE600 worth the extra $$ or should I just go with the NTG2 for now? Really having trouble deciding.

Thanks in advance... :)
 
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nikonme said:
This is for DSLR video (Nikon D7100). Also got a Juicedlink preamp and looking to hook up one mic for now. This is for outdoor recording, birds mostly plus some ambient sounds. [..] For now I just want to experiment with using it in the flash hotshoe until I know what I'm doing.
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According to what you described here, we have a similar setup. First thing first, if you plan to use the mic "on-camera", you won't get spectacular results. The mic will do a difference, but the position of the mic will highly affect the quality of the sound. Better to invest 30-40$ in a mic stand and set it apart, then combine the sound in post when doing the edit.
The JuicedLink + NTG2 (which I have: CX211 and NTG2) is plenty enough to get more than decent sound. More than that (my advice), you should be doing it professionally for a living.
My personal thoughts.
 
nikonme said:
I'm very much a novice so go easy on me :happy:

This is for DSLR video (Nikon D7100). Also got a Juicedlink preamp and looking to hook up one mic for now. This is for outdoor recording, birds mostly plus some ambient sounds. Subject distance will be an issue, won't be perfect on my budget I know. But considering either the Sennheiser MKE600 or Rode NTG2, I can't really find any decent comparisons or opinions either way on these. Both have good things written about them in general, and the NTG2 is rather cheaper, especially when considering shock mount and deadcat.

For now I just want to experiment with using it in the flash hotshoe until I know what I'm doing. I know these are both relatively long mics. The Rode + deadcat apparently drops a little at the front using the suitable Rode shock mount but is usable. But I'm not sure which mount I would need for the Sennheiser. Their own brand shock mounts seem excessively overpriced.

Is the MKE600 worth the extra $$ or should I just go with the NTG2 for now? Really having trouble deciding.

Thanks in advance... :)
Click to expand...

Personally, I would go for the MKE 600 and use it with a Rycote Universal Camera Kit - This is great for on-camera use and, by adding a pistol grip, also great for off-camera use.

The suspension is the best in the business (despite being inexpensive) and the MiniScreen with Windjammer gives excellent wind protection (Rycote ponce told me, 5dB better than a Softie).
 
I've been given a good price on the NTG2 plus shockmount/deadcat. I would love the MKE600 based on comments here... but that, plus the Rycote kit mentioned above (which does look brilliant, RRP $200 here in Australia) plus anything else I'd need would almost double the price over the NTG2 here. I know we are still talking small dollars here but I'm just getting started and pushing budget already... my heart wants the Sennheiser, my head (bank account) says NTG2 :undecided

drapeama - for sure, I need to get it off camera. What sort of mic stand would work outside though? I'm thinking of getting creative.. attaching to a tree, using a gorillapod or even a second tripod or something. There's no easy answer I don't think.

edit.. NTG2 it is (for now). It is being personally delivered to me today by someone from Rode. Impressed with service so far...
 
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Good choice. Register it at Rode for your free 10yr warranty. If you run your NTG-2 on battery and then change over to 48V, don't forget to take the battery out.

There are cases of ppl forgetting the battery, it goes flat and leaks ... that's not covered by the warranty.

Cheers.
 
drapeama said:
I've read about that a couple times. How good/bad you would say it would compare to other shockmount like the RØDE one?
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The Rycote is much better than the original Røde one.

However, Røde realised this and have now signed a deal with Rycote for them to supply OEM "Lyres" for new Røde mounts.

I would still say that the Rycote is better, as the Røde mounts were rather heavy - but, if the Røde mount has Rycote's patented "Lyres", then the shock prevention should be about equal (though a lot of the isolation comes from how you isolate the cable - hence Rycote's ConnBox and S-series special XLR tail).
 
I have the tascam dr-60d and mke600 attached to my canon 70d when out and about as a one man crew (attached the tascam below the dslr and the mke600 above using the shoe mount) audio recorded is good when then talent is about 3-5feet away Ina noisy room. It's really very directional but it will pick up any background noise if something is right behind the talent. However, for our in studio and outdoor use, we have been using the mke600 and forgotten the at8035.
 
I'm very happy with the low noise of the Juicedlink and the NTG2 so far. Very newbie question here (somewhat unrelated to topic).... if I'm recording mono with one mic to just the left channel, what is the best/most ideal way to get the audio into both channels during post? Simply duplicate the left channel into the right? I'm using Cyberlink Audiodirector at the moment.
 
nikonme said:
I'm very happy with the low noise of the Juicedlink and the NTG2 so far. Very newbie question here (somewhat unrelated to topic).... if I'm recording mono with one mic to just the left channel, what is the best/most ideal way to get the audio into both channels during post?
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1) I like it too. It's quite impressive how clean the preamp is. It's a nice combo. I don't regret having bought two at the time when I got some deals on it (130$ and 140$ if I remember well).

2) If you process your audio through the JuicedLink, there should be (it's on my CX211) a switch to allow the selection of the channel:
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From there, if you're using only one channel, let it to center, it will record equally on both Left and Right channels on the DSLR/portable recorder: "Fake" stereo.
 
nikonme said:
if I'm recording mono with one mic to just the left channel, what is the best/most ideal way to get the audio into both channels during post?
Click to expand...

I do this by exporting the audio from my video editor as a WAV file that I then work on it in my audio editor. Since I am always going to post process my audio ( to apply EQ / Compression / noise-reduction / adjust levels / etc... ), it's a very simple thing in most audio editors to convert a stereo track into a mono track.
 
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