Need advice on good cardiod/hyper cardioid mic for indoor use

[FilmBoy77]

can anyone recommend a good cardioid or hyper cardioid mic for indoor productions for around $500? i'm needing something for my indoor short films which i'm noticing is normally 2 or 3 people max speaking at a time.

i've been using the octava for several years and looking for something that may not be so sensitive and with better pickup range.

i've been listening to the audia-technica 4053b on audio tests i've found on youtube and vimeo and notice it seems to get compared to the rode ntg3 a lot. which would you recommend for a $500 budget?

also seems like a lot of the tests i see the person is speaking almost directly into the mic which normally makes any mic sound good. if anybody has any links to their footage using either of those mics in a normal production or test situation that'd be great.

 

[ggrantly]

The AT4053b is a step up from the Oktava. I made that switch about 6 mos ago. The low end on the AT is simply superior to the Oktava. And as you have heard, it is less sensitive to handling. The AT isn't as good as really high end mics, but a great upgrade value at $500.

Important Note: Range doesn't increase with mic value (mostly) but sound quality does (should).

Comparisons to a NTG3 are pretty silly since it is a shotgun. Though, the NTG3 is more useful inside than most shotguns.

Grant

 

[Steve House]

can anyone recommend a good cardioid or hyper cardioid mic for indoor productions for around $500? i'm needing something for my indoor short films which i'm noticing is normally 2 or 3 people max speaking at a time.

i've been using the octava for several years and looking for something that may not be so sensitive and with better pickup range.

'Sensitivity' and 'pickup range' are essentially the same thing in your context ... a less sensitive mic needs to be closer to the source than a more sensitive mic. So it would simply be impossible for a less sensitive mic than the Oktava to have a better pickup range.

i've been listening to the audia-technica 4053b on audio tests i've found on youtube and vimeo and notice it seems to get compared to the rode ntg3 a lot. which would you recommend for a $500 budget?

The NTG-3 is a shotgun so it and the 4053b are alternatives.

also seems like a lot of the tests i see the person is speaking almost directly into the mic which normally makes any mic sound good. if anybody has any links to their footage using either of those mics in a normal production or test situation that'd be great.

That's because that's the way mics need to be used for optimal results. Even shotguns need to be no more than about 24 to 30 inches from the speaker's mouth and aimed directly at it for best results. Other types such as hypers need to be closer. Whether you're talking about the 4053b or your Oktava, for best results it needs to be about 18 to 20 inches from the mouth and aimed directly at the mouth of the person speaking at the moment. It needs to be held on a boom operated by someone who knows what they're doing and if you're recording multi-character dialog with a single mic, the boom operator has to swing the mic from person to person as the lines flow. A mic like the NTG-3 will work slightly farther away, 24-30 inches, but that working distance comes with the price of being even more critical in its aiming - not a flaw of the mic, simply a characteristic of all mics dictated by the physics of sound.