Opinion of this Mic Kit

T

timmorgan

Member
I am considering buying this mic kit: AT Boom mic Kit
Any favorable or disfavorable opinions on any of the items herein? I know the AT4037a has gotten generally favorable reviews. Would you suggest I spend the extra $ for the graphite boom pole with internal wiring? Also I am looking at this field mixer:
Rolls
There is also the possibility of purchasing a used SHURE FP33 Field Mixer. Which of these two would you lean toward? Thanks.
 
that is way too much.

you could do better buying a used sennheiser 416 and a new or even used shockmount.

do you have another mic?

if not then the used semi-antique mixer wouldn't do you much good.

it would be better to have a really good mic, even a used one, because then you can plug it directly into the camera and start using and learning now.

then add the mixer later.

i did a LOT of projects before i ever got a mixer. i started with the sennheiser me-66 and then moved up to the 416.

plus what are your projects? are they indoors mostly?

then get an oktava mk-012 for under $200 and buy a good basic boom pole.

the ktek poles are nice but pricey. my first boom pole was a gitzo. it was carbon fiber and it was under $200

so these are all solutions that have more long term viability.

matthew
 
Thanks Matthew for your advice. I do have another mic, an AT lapel mic. I don't know the model #. Are you not a fan of the AT4037a?
I'm thinking of the portable mixer because the boom op could also use it as an inline monitor while he works. We'll probably be doing a healthy mix of indoor/outdoor shoots so I was also looking at a supersmall countryman lapel mic.
I do agree with you on the boom pole price. My brother is the boom op and he doesn't need one of those pansy lightweight contraptions. ;)
This is kind of my thinking for an OTS dialog scene. The large lapel mic on the foreground subject, the small bud countryman on the main player and also the boom mic for healthy measure. I would then mix the boom and large lapel into channel one and leave the small lapel on channel two. Let me know what you think!
 
uh, theres nothing wrong with the 4073a, its a great mic. the 416 is better though.

and usually would mix the lavs together, and keep the boom seperate.

pansy lightweight contraptions save you spinal trauma. :)
 
i guess a big part of my always favoring the 416 over the 4073a is that its always an investment to get a 416 even if its used because you can easily resell it later.

but i just don't think the same would be true of the 4073a.

even an me-66 is really easy to sell when you outgrow it which is one of the reasons i think it remains so popular.

matthew
 
no, 4073a seems to be fetching quite high prices on the second hand ebay market. i actually think it might be too early to tell yet, those mics dont surface second hand very much, so we'll see.

the fact that a piece of crud like the me66 fetches decent resale prices only says two things:

1) the vast majority of people are idiots.
2) location audio gear in general actually has quite stable resale prices across the board.

I really think the only as yet unknown quality of the 4073 is its durability - something the 416 SURELY must kill it on.

we just bought 5 4073's for students at the film school i lecture at sometimes to play with. students kill everthing, so ask me in 3 months what the AT's look like, and I guess we'll know.
 
The 4073 is a very well respected mic. When looking at price points most agree it is the best value. A used 416 is also a good buy for about the same cash. It really comes down to what each person likes. If you don't know both mics then you might buy the one that you like less. So get to know the gear before you spend your money.

In the end they are both good enough and great values.

Good luck
 
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