Sennheiser ME66 mic

The Cash

The Cash

Active member
I was wondering if anyone recommends the Sennheiser ME66 to go along with the DVX. I heard it's great professional mike used in broadcast and even films but I would like to hear your opinions, or maybe some other mic would be better for the same price. I'm planning to use it on a boom pole but has anyone tried it as on camera mic?

Thanx
 
Audio Technica AT-4073a... that's the one you want... much much better for just a little more money. Do a search... this has been discussed in excrutiating detail.
 
Thanx, Mattin. I'll do the search. Do you suggest it on a boom pole and as on camera mic as well?
 
Shotguns have to be absolutely at the closest possible range to the talent. Mounting on the camera is not an option for good sound from any mic. Unless you have your camera down their throat.
 
If you are doing a one man show, then you need to mount onto camera. If you have another person helping you, let him boom.

If you will be doing a shot where the person you are shooting is going to be at a still position, then you can mount the shotgun onto a mic stand at a fixed position.

I would go for the AT4073a, that's what I use as well. Also we have a comparison between the ME66 and the AT4073a. I think Location Sound has the AT4073a for $499.99.
 
Thanx guys. I was thinking of having a one boom pole mic for voice recording and the other one fixed on camera for wider ambient shooting. That works best for me.
 
cam mounted mics suck unless you're alone and have zero set up time. those are the only excuses, and even then, dont go crying when you dont like the audio :)
 
Basic answers:

I agree with Matt - this has been discussed ad-nauseum.

ME66=crap - not even good enough for students. ;-) (Sorry Yankee)

(and overpriced crap at that).

Go with a 4073a or look for a used Sennheiser 416 (I picked up a 416 for $500 on eBay).

Phil
 
Put me66 in a post and you guarantee I will chime in with: :thumbdown (no matter how redundant my post is)

Talk about camera mounted mics and good audio and I get ugly :furious3:

Everytime you record audio with a camera mounted mic this kitten is thrown in a pirahna filled lake
kitten.jpg


How could you live with yourself?
 
When have I ever suggested the ME66? I have always posted that I prefer the NTG1 to it :)

The only thing the ME series has going for it is it is modular.

-Jeremy
 
Weird. The cash i stand corrected. I remember reading somewhere in this forum that the ME-66 is highly recommended.

And rats, I wonder how many kittens I've killed... Must be quite a number as i dont have any mic other than the DVX one. 16 year old on a budget. sigh.
 
Me too. I wonder how many kitties…

Anyway, I'm not 16 (actually I've been a indie filmmaker now for 19 years) but I'm also on a small budget.
After shooting 175 hours for a feature length doc using mostly the me66 mounted on a DVX (don't cringe wabbit I have no choice at the time) I have to say it's possible to work with the me66 and, according to my Oscar nominated Sound Designer, acchive very reasonable results.

That said, after extensive research, a new camera (HVX) and a slightly lager budget I purchased a AT-4073a and I'm very impressed by its performance and value. No mistake here.

Last week I also had the opportunity to use the Schoeps CMIT and I realized that the $1,000+ price over the AT is worth every cent. Incredible performance in a fairly loud ambient and a very smooth and natural sound. BTW the mic was camera mounted on a SDX900.

Of course you should, as much as possible, place the mic properly…

One more thing: the Schoeps is very light, feather-like light...
 
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Thanx for the info, Alexdias. Schoeps Cmit, you say? I'll look in to it. So it does well mounted on the camera? For those one man jobs?
 
The Cash said:
Thanx for the info, Alexdias. Schoeps Cmit, you say? I'll look in to it. So it does well mounted on the camera? For those one man jobs?
Click to expand...

and still the kittens die, needlessly.

please don't start putting the CMIT on top of cameras. that is an extremely high end mic, and of course it will perform better than an ME66, but it would be like if you were homeless and you got cable tv for your cardboard box; whilst its nice to have cable tv, you really should be investing in the priorities, like getting a bed for the night. and that bed for the night, if you can afford a CMIT, would be an sound-person. (even a sound-person using the ME66 would be better!)

ok defferring slightly from the consensus, because as a sound guy i totally agree that mics on cam = bad. but we all know it happens, so what can be done to control the outlaws.
I saw an isreali documentary called "5 days" (you seen it oleg?) and when I told the director I was a sound man he said he had 416's on top of all his cams! and the results weren't bad, considering. I noticed that when indoors and shooting somebody low, looking up at them, the sound was much better cos the subjects body would be blocking most reflections. and even an echoey government building with people far away from cam was still fine and clear enough for his purposes, none of the dialogue was lost on anyone, and its very clear that the guy was lucky to be given access to these places at all, let alone, with a soundman. It totally depends on circumstance. that was fine for him because he's still able to document his story with minimum hassle, but he'll never record good audio, he doesn't want to record good audio, and IMO he shouldn't record good audio. The drawbacks of recording well, far outweight the benefits of maintaining a low profile, its just that, in an audio forum, we are out the job making reccommendation like this (HAHA).. i'm just kidding of course... -> my feeling is that actually, people put microphones on top of cameras when they don't need to! some indie filmmakers do it because they think its good placement or that its the norm, and thats why we're here, to point out that if your making fiction, and mostly when you're not, try always to not be lazy with mic placement and your results will be more usable, even if your content sucks.


ramblarama.
 
Scooby Sound, I understand perfectly what you're saying. I'm just wondering can this mic be useful for documentary shooting when I work alone and don't have sound operator with me. That's all I wanted to know.
 
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