sennheiser?

A

aaron_wade

Well-known member
ok i have about $500 (and some change) to spend on a mic. i will be using this mic to shoot interviews/and throw it on a boom pole for shorts and commercials. can you point me in a direction to what i need to consider.

thanks.
 
Them guys go for a lot more than 500 and change, don't they ? For those on a budget (aren't we all ?), the AT897 for me is the best choice, and at some $ 300, it leaves quite a bit of cash to buy a shock-absorbing mount and a Rycote (almost mandatory when outdoors).

I've been using it for a year and a half and I have no major complaints about it. It's obviously not the bestest shotgun around, but it does the job well unless you start thinking about the $ 800-1000 bracket.

Good luck !
 
If you're talking about just a microphone, the AT4073a as Dave said is the best sounding and performing microphone within your budget range. You will still need to purchase cables, boom pole, shockmount, and wind protection, as all are mandatory for practical uses, but in my opinion I wouldn't consider the 897 in the same ball park, let alone the same league as teh 4073a.

Go read through my Audio Tutorial Thread as I break down the >$1000 microphones, that should help you find what you are looking for.
 
There's lots of good info in that thread... in fact it could save you between $50 and $100 to read that thread (just on this one mic alone). That mic IS in your budget if you know who to call.

The new guys would benefit a lot long term to read about some other experiences from other guys who bought the mics that the new guys are asking about. I've got one of those threads, but I'd rather not plug it specifically... so please don't... but check out Yankee's and Jon Oskar's thread on this stuff.

You can learn a lot... it's free to read... it won't take that long... and it could save you hundreds of $.

If that's not enough reasons to do a little reading then I don't know what is.
 
Maybe we can get the forum powers that be to "sticky" Yankee's tutorial thread (and maybe even change the title to: Read this thread before proceeding!

Phil
 
I know I get sick of quoting identical information over and over... especially when it comes to great prices on stuff. I don't want to sit here and plug a store over and over (especially if they don't specifically support the forum). Some days I feel like if a new person is advised to read a thread and refuses to take the 10 (or even 30 minutes) to read it... and then spends an extra hundred bucks on something because they missed out on advice about technique, and the lowest price, then it's their own fault.

I've had people upset with me after following a little bit of my advice, when clearly they hadn't read something I asked them to read because the problem wouldn't have come up. I honestly think my own "big thread" on this stuff is getting a little dated... and I like Yankee and Jon Oskar's newer "big threads"... and I'm telling you new guys that you can save yourself a LOT of little production (and pricing) headaches if you spend the 20 minutes or whatever it takes to read through those threads.
 
Matt is selling himself short. The 'Everything I know about Mics so far' thread, is full of incredible knowledge that will help anyone looking for ideal sound. That thread actually chronicles the progression of someone looking for good sound. There are tons of great follow up notes within that thread and in my opinion is one of the most solid pieces of information available within this channel.

The Tutorial thread, well, it's a solid thread that has some good advice, but at the end of the day, for the regulars who post and read through the audio section on a daily basis it gets very old hearing the same questions asked again and again. The location sound thread is also a good thread to read as is the no more BS thread, although, as everyone will confess, that one got a bit out of hand.

At the end of the day, everything you need to know about sound has already been discussed and nothing new is going to be talked about unless something new comes out. It has ALL already been talked about. Do a search and you will find everything (for example, about six months ago I was reading the archives, came across Matt's Everything I Know thread, and replied to it. Originally that thread had like 10 replies, now it is in the 90's. Moral - good threads and ideas are timeless).

Everything is there for the searching, but as we all know, it doesn't matter even if you link someone to the exact spot where there question was answered, people are always going to think their situation and needs are specific and unique.

So whatever, we'll have this same conversation next week in another thread.
 
Listen to these guys. They know their Shizznit. I make all my mic purchases based on their suggestions. ReSpek.
 
I second and third the "sticky" request. Those three threads were and continue to be of immense help to me. I so appreciate them making their hard work and expertise available for us.

This forum is great, man. Great folks, tight community, solid information, humility, and politeness. (Jared, You da man.)
 
I think a problem is that the threads are a bit unstructured and hard to read. It would be great to get a sample clip of a 416, an AT4073a, an AT897, the ME66, the Oktava M012, the Rode NTG-2, and maybe even some Shoeps and similar mics right next to each other. Maybe even an indoor AND outdoor sample with the mics.

As a rule, the more you spend the better it gets, with the exception of the AT4073a and the ME66 which are close in price, but dramatic in difference.

Naturally, the Oktava cant be compared to a shotgun, but I gotta say, this forum is completely united on interiors! Ive never read someone recommend ANYTHING other than the M012 for interiors.

So thats my two cents. Maybe Ill make a little table and hope some new users read it. Then the more experienced users can watch more TV. Or something like that. :)

tim
 
All the threads will get unstructured because any member can ask or post anything they want and create a meandering explanation of each aspect of the thread.

Jon Oskar's thread was intended to be super-concise and efficient, but it just takes one post to pull it slightly OT. Really what we'd need is some kind of closed sticky or something crazy like that... maybe an article posted elsewhere on the site. Or how about somebody with good writing skills trying to condense it all down and put it in blog form on their site? (maybe I'll try to do it... we ALL could because I think other people could do a better job with this, but maybe that is the answer)

With the Oktava I always feel the need to remind people that it's a value issue... not an ultimate quality issue. I have an AKG ULS hyper (ck63) which is around 4x the price (from RVA Canada) and I think it's a better sounding hyper for dialog, and the Schoeps, which is about 9x the price is better still. So the main point about why I plug the Oktava so relentlessly is because it's such a good sounding mic at the price. I think it sounds better then any shotgun up to the 4073a... and equal or better to ANY shotgun used indoors. The Oktava is a good enough mic for a professional to use and get very good results, and that's why it's so much fun directing low-budget users to that mic. Most people don't think they can get such a full and detailed sound for so cheap.
 
I guess theres ALWAYS something better, I have used the Schoeps extensively, and think its great. But I really like how united people are about the M012.

Ive put up my Top 5 Guns post - let me know what you think is wrong or should change.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top