shotgun recommendation for very noisy environments

D

dv416

Well-known member
i have an me-66 that i love and use most of the time, but i find that it is probably not the best option in noisy environments, or if interview subjects have to scream. the mic clips pretty darn easily if you ask me. way sooner than my other lav or handheld mics.

wondering if you guys have any recommendations for a cardoid or super cardoid type, on-camera mic that won't distort in noisy environments? just want to see what my options are.

thanks!
 
In a noisy environment you want the narrow pattern of a shotgun, not a wide pattern such as a cardioid. Reduced sensitivity to noise hitting the mic from off-axis is why 'guns were invented.
 
But if you are camera mounting, it won't matter what mic your are using, you are still going to pick up a lot of noise. If you want to do everything you can to help eliminate that, you need to use a directional mic and you need to boom the shot properly.
 
when i say noise, i do not mean "background noise" or signal to noise ratio, i literally mean the audio clips. its too loud for the mic. period. i'm just looking for a super cardoid, that will not distort like the me66 does.
 
The me-66 is rated for over 120db, which is very typical for a condenser mic. What are you trying to record?

dv416 said:
when i say noise, i do not mean "background noise" or signal to noise ratio, i literally mean the audio clips. its too loud for the mic. period. i'm just looking for a super cardoid, that will not distort like the me66 does.
Click to expand...
 
maybe condenser is the wrong mic for this sort of environment then.

think loud nightclub environments, shouting over music type of thing. ideally i can use my lav and get distortion free audio, but thats not always possible. generally speaking, whats the db ceiling for dynamic mics? is there such thing as a dynamic shotgun mic?
 
There is an MXL that claims to be a "dynamic shotgun" (don't know anything about it, but any shotgun or super/hyper I've ever seen have been condensers).

As mentioned, you probably want to boom (and then just reduce your input so that it's not clipping), or, simply give your interview subject a hand-held dynamic.

I've only had a shotgun distort in extreme "loud rock band" conditions...

GJ
 
those are basically the conditions i am talking about. loud PA system, talent screaming over music, etc.
the mic is rigged on the camera too, so the sound travels from the subject straight into the mic. probably exaggerating the problem.

depending on how close you are to talent, the me66 clips pretty easily on-camera. every used a shotgun as a handheld interview mic? same thing. its the wrong mic for the job. i'm just trying to figure out an alternative.

after some research the rode ntg-2 apparently has a 139 db ceiling. thats exponentially louder than 125, which is the me66. that may be a better option.
 
dv416 said:
those are basically the conditions i am talking about. loud PA system, talent screaming over music, etc.
the mic is rigged on the camera too, so the sound travels from the subject straight into the mic. probably exaggerating the problem.

depending on how close you are to talent, the me66 clips pretty easily on-camera. every used a shotgun as a handheld interview mic? same thing. its the wrong mic for the job. i'm just trying to figure out an alternative.

after some research the rode ntg-2 apparently has a 139 db ceiling. thats exponentially louder than 125, which is the me66. that may be a better option.
Click to expand...

Actually, the ME66 is not clipping at all - it is almost certainly a camera problem.

Many cameras have the level control after the first amplification stage - this means that you can be overloading the first stage abd driving it into distortion nd the camera gives no way of adjusting this.

The cure is to put a pad of, say, about -10dB in the line before the signal gets to the camera,so you are reducing the signal below the level where it would cause problems to the first stage.

I hope this helps.
 
great, thanks for your reply. john. i'll look into it. though i have had this problem with the me66 on my zoom recorder as well. could it be overloading the zoom in this way too?

thing is, the same sound that clips on the camera mounted me-66 does not clip on the internal camera mic track. both were set to -60db on the shoot day. (could be the problem, huh? the me66 should probly be set to -50, so i have read).

which begs the question, can anyone explain the -50 and -60db settings thing on the DVX? i know -60 is more sensitive, but logically, i would think that -60 db would be quieter than -50 db. logic be damned, the opposite is true.
 
Last edited:
dv416 said:
great, thanks for your reply. john. i'll look into it. though i have had this problem with the me66 on my zoom recorder as well. could it be overloading the zoom in this way too?

thing is, the same sound that clips on the camera mounted me-66 does not clip on the internal camera mic track. both were set to -60db on the shoot day. (could be the problem, huh? the me66 should probly be set to -50, so i have read).

which begs the question, can anyone explain the -50 and -60db settings thing on the DVX? i know -60 is more sensitive, but logically, i would think that -60 db would be quieter than -50 db. logic be damned, the opposite is true.
Click to expand...

The K6 does have a good output level (more than a lot of other mics) and there were (are) special versions available for cameras that distort too easily.

The camera's own mic. would be of much lower quality and have a lower output.

But the distortion would be in the camera and not in the mic. itself.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top