SHOOTOUT of the MINI SHOTS!

Chadfish

Chadfish

Veteran
Here's a little shootout I did between 4 miniature shotguns. The Sennheiser MKE400, Rode VideoMic Pro, the Que Audio Micro Shotgun, and the Rode VideoMic. Who sounds best? Who has the best side rejection? Listen and you decide.


{{{{{{EDIT}}}}}} Here are some additional tests I did today using my Sony D-50. I recorded the Que, MKE400, and the VMP straight in, then the next file is with 2 kinds of JuicedLink preamps, then final file is with the Sound Devices MixPre - all going into the D-50 recorder. With and without low cut and/or boosts. About 11 minutes of total stuff. Interesting to hear how much the noise level changes throughout.

At the top of this page "Mini Shotgun Tests" http://precisionintermedia.com/chadswebstuff/
 
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Wow. What a big difference between them all. Great shootout! Your labeling when you are switching between mics real fast is different from what you say. DOH!
 
Yes I just noticed I missed one. I'll change it. Like a bad boyfriend would say: Listen to what I say, not what you see!
 
You sure there wasn't something wonky in the XLR adapter? The Sennehiser sounded much better (though not the best of the bunch) when it was direct to the camera, but sounded almost phase-cancelled when interfaced to the computer.
 
Hmmm. To me it just sounded thin no matter how I used it. I had the XLR adapter in there good. I actually had to do this test twice because the Que's batteries were drained the first time, but it was giving signal, though much lower. So the 2nd time around I was very methodical with everything.
 
just got my videomic pro a few days ago. way more portable than my old videomic, and sounds the same from what I can tell. too bad I've only got my 7D with stupid auto-gain to run it into...
 
I didn't even really have to listen as far as the white noise tests because the difference in the basic sound quality of the mics was so stark. The two Rodes were very similar, although the Pro sounded a little more "robust" and maybe less noisy to me. The other two were just plain awful -- the Sennheiser worst of all. Makes me kind of embarrassed to say I own an awful lot of their gear. In any broad product line, some models will be better than others, but if your company has a reputation for high quality, there is a level beneath which you should not go just to meet the competition or fill in the blank spots in the catalog. The MKE400 crosses that line for me, and casts the whole company's standards in doubt. Double yuck. (I kept thinking "tin can and a string" when I listened to it!)

I think I could get decent, if not stunning, recordings out of the Rodes if that was all I had or could afford, and I'll definitely be recommending them to students and other people where it makes sense.

- Greg
 
Yeah Greg - I expected more out of that Sennheiser too. I have their e906 guitar cab mic and that is a nice product. I am not a fan of the ME66 though. I think they were going for small size with the MKE400, to the detriment of sound quality. Hard to say. But if it doesn't sound good in a treated studio, it won't sound good in the world IMO. I wanted that mic to do well too, because I love it's size. To put that baby on a Panasonic GH2 would be just about the cutest little ol' thing I could think of! That being said the VMP isn't that big really. It sits well on a DSLR.
 
Chadfish said:
But if it doesn't sound good in a treated studio, it won't sound good in the world IMO.
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Not true at all really, I'm afraid - a mic. really designed for outdoor use may not sound so good indoors.

For instance, the MKH 416 is much better outdoors and many people don't like it at all indoors.

A frequency response tailored for picking up sound in an outdoor situation may just not sound right in an indoor treated studio.

If you are testing for sound quality on microphones designed for outdoor use, then the test should really be done outdoors.
 
John the reason shotguns don't do well indoors is because reflections cause phase issues. My studio is treated, and that reflection issue is not a factor, especially with these mics. I think these wee mics are a lot more forgiving than grown-up shotguns. How does the presence peak (for example) at 10,000khz of the frequency response on the VMP relate to outdoor use vs indoor?

Dave, that's this awesome new product called "Norbert"! It has 19 shoe mounts and 21 threaded holes to mount a virtually endless amount of accessories around your DSLR. That's Norbert by K-teck! Check your local retailers!
 
I don't mean to thread-jack Chad's awesome post, but I just finished my shootout of the VideoMic Pro and the MKE 400 - except my test includes outdoor shots. Here it is:

http://www.sam-mallery.com/archives/1322

My findings were different than Chad's. I found the sound quality for dialog to be somewhat equal between the two mics. I know that people often find the MKE 400 to be thinner, but for whatever reason, that wasn't an issue in my test. I didn't do any EQ'ing in post, just a little adjusting of the levels in Final Cut.

Greg Smith said:
the Sennheiser worst of all. Makes me kind of embarrassed to say I own an awful lot of their gear. In any broad product line, some models will be better than others, but if your company has a reputation for high quality, there is a level beneath which you should not go just to meet the competition or fill in the blank spots in the catalog. The MKE400 crosses that line for me, and casts the whole company's standards in doubt. Double yuck. (I kept thinking "tin can and a string" when I listened to it!)
Click to expand...

If it's any consolation, I thought the MKE 400 sounded decent, and its build quality was superior.

Awesome work once again Chad!
 
I still wish someone would do a shootout and include the Ambient TinyMike.

Having handled it and know its pedigree I am sure it would give all the other minis a run for the money.

I just wish someone would do it.
 
No worries Sam! We may as well bunch as many tests of these mics as possible into one thread to make it easier for people searching to get a lot of info at one location. Feel free to jack my same thread at DVinfo too. I just watched yours, and my thoughts were that it happened a bit too fast. I couldn't read the text info before the segment was over. And the 7D was making both mics sound noisy. I would like to hear the Gh2 with both of these mics indoors. Outside the wind noise was constant. If you have more footage of the gal talking outside without wind rumble, I'd be interested in hearing that too.

Hey John, why don't you do a little demo of the TinyMike? I think the problem is that nobody has one. If Tiny Mic will send me one I'll do something with it if you think it's a nice mic. Or I'll do a short & to the point shootout without all the fanfare, just to show what's up with that mic. Do you know anyone from the company you could introduce me to? Otherwise, just pull out your Nagra VI and grab a camera! Let's hear it! Post it here. I welcome any and all mini-shots to this thread.
 
Chadfish said:
Hey John, why don't you do a little demo of the TinyMike? I think the problem is that nobody has one. If Tiny Mic will send me one I'll do something with it if you think it's a nice mic. Or I'll do a short & to the point shootout without all the fanfare, just to show what's up with that mic. Do you know anyone from the company you could introduce me to? Otherwise, just pull out your Nagra VI and grab a camera! Let's hear it! Post it here. I welcome any and all mini-shots to this thread.
Click to expand...

My main contact with Ambient has moved on to other things, unfortunately.

But I was talking to them at ProSound+Light in Frankfurt and actually holding the TinyMike I was more impressed than I thought I would be.

But I am the wrong person to test such a mic. as my main area is in music recording.

But I will see what I can do and if I can get them to loan you one for a est - as you have done the others it would probably be best if you did it.
 
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