Rode NTG3 + Rode Blimp vs Aputure Deity + Rycote Super Shield

C

craftyphotons

Active member
Hey again everyone! So with my wireless lav choice mostly settled I think, I'm turning back to the two options I've narrowed down for a shotgun. If it weren't for Guy's awesome package over at DVEStore I think my choice would be a little simpler :)

So the two options I've narrowed down here are:

- Rode NTG3 + Rode Blimp + K-Tek KE79CC
- Aputure Deity Location Kit + Rycote Super Shield + K-Tek KE79CC

I've heard/seen just a few direct comparisons of these two mics so far, and to my untrained ears they both sound great. Obviously the big consideration in favor of the NTG3 is that it's quite proven at this point, while the Deity was just released. And as I said before, if it weren't for the DVEStore package, the NTG3 option would be $200 more expensive and out of my budget.
 
What would the Deity+ Rode Blimp combo cost? And notice, a lot of places break the seal on the Rode Blimp and sell it as an open box item for about 1/2 price. Rode has a minimum price their dealers are allowed to sell it for new.

Me? I have one of those made in India blimps, $100 from eBay. Not impressive, but a lot better than the guys that say it is junk indicate. I also have a Movo WS180 fuzzy windsceen which seems to work almost as well, I deliberately selected one where the foam collar covered the roll off switch on my AT4073A as it was reported that wind getting into it there was a problem. The AT4073A is a very sensitive shotgun microphone.
 
The Aputure Deity is still largely an unknown - I sure hope it's all that it's supposed to be, the microphone space needs competition for sure - but as yet it has not been tested extensively in the field. Meanwhile, the NTG3 is a known quantity.

The other thing is the K-Tek KE79CC. I can understand if you are concerned about portability, it is something to look at. BUT do you have other boom poles? Because the K-Tek KE79CC is like six and a half feet. That is tiny. It's really not much reach. My first boom pole was the K-Tek KE-89CC, which is a foot longer, and very quickly, I found myself wishing it was a bit longer. I mean, if you are operating in very, very small spaces, or weight is at a huge premium, then the K-Tek KE79CC is fine, but I kind of don't think you can get away with this being your only boom pole if you want to have any kind of coverage as a boomer. Quite frankly, if I was looking to have only ONE boom pole, I'd pick one that's at least 10' long. I think it's fine to have a short super light one, but it shouldn't be your only one, IMHO. Longer poles are a bit more expensive and slightly heavier (unless you really spend money on a carbon one), but I honestly feel like you're shortchanging yourself with just that one tiny boom.
 
Agree on the boom length. I bought one from someone who worked in radio and was retiring and it's a bit over 6". It's OK for my FX work but it is really pushing the edge for production. 9'10 feet is a better length. Plus a lot of the poles now shrink up quite a bit. A guy I worked with had one that was a few feel longer than mine and packed down to about 1/2 the size of mine.

I think I paid $25 for it, I got a lot of stuff from this guy because he was just dumping it and everything was $15 - $20. I got a set of three matched Nakamichi mics with all the capsules including a long shot gun, I think for about $50. The mics are pretty good but they don't take phantom power.
 
The KE-79CC is good if you travel a lot. It is a 6 section pole and collapses down to 18 inches, but as stated, only goes to about 6 1/2 feet. It's a great pole for it's purpose, but I'd recommend having a second longer pole for general use. At least 10 to 12 feet. A good lower cost alternative is the KE-89CC or the KE-110CC. The KE-89CC is the most cost effective because it doesn't have as many sections as the other ones.
 
Thanks for all the feedback, everyone! For those who were curious, the NTG3 + Rode Blimp + K-Tek kit I've been eyeing is this one:

https://www.dvestore.com/dvcreator-location-sound-package-4-rode-ntg3/

Brand new that comes out to just about $20 less than the Deity Location Kit + Rycote Super Shield + KE-79CC combo. As far as the mic itself goes, I think I'm going to leave it up to the more experienced audio folks like yourselves to test out the Deity, and go with the NTG3 as I already have an Audix SCX1-HC for indoor work.

For the boompole, this would be my first and primary boompole, and it'll be fixed in a mini grip head/boompole holder 99% of the time, on a Manfrotto nano stand. I'll be using it in this fashion for corporate/doc interviews (oftentimes in small conference rooms). Occasional air travel and semi-frequent rail travel is a consideration here, and so it needs to fit inside of my 28" checked bag, which I thought the KE-79CC would satisfy nicely. Unfortunately there's only room in the budget for one boompole for starters!

Do you guys think the KE-79CC is still a flawed choice for me given my constraints? A KE-89CC would barely fit in my suitcase if I arranged it diagonally, so that's potentially an option. I'm playing around with an Avenger mini boom on a c-stand right now that I can extend to 6'7" to see what that length really looks like. I'd like to get something like a cabled KEG-100CC at some point, which would fit my space contraints too, but that's unfortunately way outside my budget at the moment. Another option would be completely foregoing the blimp for now because I don't really shoot outside, and spring for an NTG3 + KEG88CC which would give me 7'8" or maybe even the KEG-100CC.

Phew, typing all that up I might've just answered my own question (NTG3 + KEG-100C and punt on the blimp for now), but I'd love to hear some more feedback on that!
 
IF you are going to be shooting almost all inside, then absolutely, drop the blimp. IMHO, your last choice is the best: NTG3 + KEG-100CC. It's a pretty solid choice.

The only thing I'd say is that the KEG-100CC is still a pretty penny. You're getting less than 9' from it. Meanwhile, the use scenarios you identified seem mostly centered around a fixed location hanging off a stand (as you said "99%" of the time). To me, that situation says two things: first, the weight of the boom pole is not much of a consideration, as you will very rarely be holding it - that means you can go for the slightly heavier, but much cheaper aluminium option, rather than carbon. Second, as you won't be moving it around, it need not be top of the top of the top line in handling noise etc. Again, that says to me, you can go for a cheaper option. Therefore, it seems to me, you should be able to do better than getting less than 9' for a shedload of money. If you have the time, you might go looking for something that's longer and cheaper, even if heavier and not as premium (maybe look through B&H, and consider cheapo gear like Polsen, Auray etc.) Again, the choice you identified is fine, I'm just thinking more broadly.
 
OldCorpse said:
IF you are going to be shooting almost all inside, then absolutely, drop the blimp. IMHO, your last choice is the best: NTG3 + KEG-100CC. It's a pretty solid choice.

The only thing I'd say is that the KEG-100CC is still a pretty penny. You're getting less than 9' from it. Meanwhile, the use scenarios you identified seem mostly centered around a fixed location hanging off a stand (as you said "99%" of the time). To me, that situation says two things: first, the weight of the boom pole is not much of a consideration, as you will very rarely be holding it - that means you can go for the slightly heavier, but much cheaper aluminium option, rather than carbon. Second, as you won't be moving it around, it need not be top of the top of the top line in handling noise etc. Again, that says to me, you can go for a cheaper option. Therefore, it seems to me, you should be able to do better than getting less than 9' for a shedload of money. If you have the time, you might go looking for something that's longer and cheaper, even if heavier and not as premium (maybe look through B&H, and consider cheapo gear like Polsen, Auray etc.) Again, the choice you identified is fine, I'm just thinking more broadly.
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Good things to consider again! Weight is a consideration to the extent that I move around light with Manfrotto nano stands that have a spec'd maximum load of 3.3lb but the aluminum poles seem to fall within that just fine. Poking around for other brands just now on B&H revealed another good looking option: the Auray ABP-59B (2-9', 1.9lb, and XLR for $219), which on paper satisfies my size and weight constraints, and would actually allow me to get an MKH-416!
 
Right, all sorts of options - all depends on what you need and what you can get away with. I have a couple of LyxPro microphones, I wanted to check something so I looked up LyxPro on Amazon and I didn't realize that they make a $99 boom pole too - mind you, super basic, glorified painter's pole:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01N1TSC9A/
 
I think I found a good setup here now thanks to some of the feedback you guys gave me and looking at my audio budget. Got a great quote from TAI that basically brought down the price of the KEG88C (7'8" vs 6'7" on the KE79CC) to the same price as the KE79CC, so I think that's a good compromise considering my space constraints! If it turns out I'm frequently in need of a longer boompole I think I'll add a KE110CC to my kit. The quote that I got also includes an MKH416, Rode Blimp, and a Rycote pistol grip with a standard softie.

Just to add some context from the rest of my list to where this is fitting in, I already own an Audix SCX1-HC, and I'm planning on getting a G3/ME2 with a COS-11D, as well as the Sennheiser XLR adapter to wire the lav when appropriate. I'm also getting an Audio Technica AT857R that I plan to leave permanently in the clamp on the C100. And finally I'm throwing in a Tascam DR-40 for Foley, FX, etc. I feel like I'm in a pretty good place with all this, what do you guys think?
 
That's a very solid set up. I'm less qualified to speak to the wireless lav situation, so I'll defer on that, but I personally like to have some wired lav options too: the quality of sound and less interference is a nice thing to have for many circumstances, so it would be nice to have a small recorder you can wire up with a lav on your subjects. A popular option is the Zoom H1 which is kind of a bare minimum, big and poor form factor, and better options do exist from Tascam and JuicedLink, where you can have two track recording (one safety track at lower level) - the only issue is monitoring (unless you get one of the Tascams from outside the U.S.). I personally think it's a good option to have, especially when you are just using it for something like a static interview situation, where a wired lav can be a simpler solution than wireless. You already have the lav, so all you need is some good small form factor recorders.
 
OldCorpse said:
That's a very solid set up. I'm less qualified to speak to the wireless lav situation, so I'll defer on that, but I personally like to have some wired lav options too: the quality of sound and less interference is a nice thing to have for many circumstances, so it would be nice to have a small recorder you can wire up with a lav on your subjects. A popular option is the Zoom H1 which is kind of a bare minimum, big and poor form factor, and better options do exist from Tascam and JuicedLink, where you can have two track recording (one safety track at lower level) - the only issue is monitoring (unless you get one of the Tascams from outside the U.S.). I personally think it's a good option to have, especially when you are just using it for something like a static interview situation, where a wired lav can be a simpler solution than wireless. You already have the lav, so all you need is some good small form factor recorders.
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That's what I have the Sennheiser MZA 900 on the list for actually (thanks to an article I read recently from slavikb). In basically his words, mic them up with wireless for walk-and-talk, and as soon as they sit down swap the lav over to the MZA 900 and wire back to the camera/recorder. As far as using a recorder for the same general idea of dropping the wireless out of the equation, I've been fairly partial to Tascam so far and also have that DR-40 on the list, which is obviously a bit large to mic someone with. Perhaps I could squeeze in a DR-05 to the list as a final supplement, although I don't know if I'll be able to use the COS-11D with that?
 
OldCorpse said:
I was thinking more along the lines of the DR-10C (mind you, you have to buy these outside the U.S., like Britain etc.):

http://tascam.com/product/dr-10c/

or if you insist on buying in the U.S., there's the JuiceLinked option, Little DARlink (slightly different solution from the Tascam above):

http://juicedlink.com/collections/audio-recorders
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Aha! I'll need to compare these two, but came across this on B&H just now: https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1281085-REG/tascam_dr_10l_mini_portable_recorder.html

From a very brief search it seems like the DR-10L must be pretty much the same thing as the DR-10C, and it looks like it would work with the COS-11D as well.

I just did a little budget adjustment to potentially get a used C100 DPAF instead of brand new, which frees up another $500 in the budget, so I could certainly fit one of these in, and maybe a Tram TR50 too.
 
Actually, no, the 10C is very different from the 10L :) - read the specs and description on the Tascam website. The 10C is far more useful, but again, not available in the U.S. (you can buy it yourself or have someone buy it for you and bring it in).
 
craftyphotons;1986680562that basically brought down the price of the KEG88C (7'8" vs 6'7" on the KE79CC) to the same price as the KE79CC said:
Is that for a new or used boom pole (or b stock)? It shouldn't be possible to sell a KEG88CC boom pole for the price of a KE79CC if they are both new without losing money. You need to make sure because the Avalon poles are warrantied for a year and if it's used it could be out of warranty.
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