Tascam DR-100 and a Mic Test

T

t-hill

Member
I am still learning about the audio side, but I did a little test with the Tascam DR-100 and three mics that I've picked up over the past few months:

There are details about how we did the test on the Vimeo page and the Brands/Models of the mics are at the bottom. But watch the video before reading if you'd like to hear the mics without knowing what they are.


My thoughts on the Tascam are that it works great except the gain is a little weak. It is clean, though. Had it on high and set at 9 for most of the tests. I think 7 would be sufficient for a couple of the mics in most conditions. Battery life with phantom power is OK. We had eight takes of 2-6 minutes each (they were talkative) and 4 mic changes. To conserve the battery, we turned it off during mic changes and it had just dipped to two bars a couple minutes before we finished up.

I would appreciate any input that you have about these mics and, hopefully, others on the great, inexpensive mic hunt can get some use from this.
 
Oh, and the mics are:

Mic 1 - AT2035 ($90 or so on ebay)
Mic 2 - Violet Design Finger ($250, new, on ebay)
Mic 3 - CAD GXL1200 ($50, new, at B&H)
 
What do you need the Mics for? that says more about how to base an opinion.

None of these are Hyper or Super cardioid which is preferred for video to use indoors rather than a standard cardioid due to the cardioid's wider pick up pattern.

The AT is a side addressed version. also not great as far as form factor to be used on a boom.

If you're using them to record musical performances then they are probably better suited for that, however they will work for video, just be prepared for them to pick up a bit more than you want as far as sound near by.

A couple of decent "budget" mics I have messed with lately are the Audio Technica AT875R short shotgun (works realy nice outdoors) I believe they run around $200 and for grins I picked up a Sterling Audio ST31 hypercardioid for $99 just to mess with and besides it being heavy it seems to perform pretty nicely indoors.
 
Thanks for the response, recording whiz!

I'll be using them for shorts that I'll be submitting to film festivals and putting online. Being a one-man band, I was thinking that the cardioid pattern would be better for getting dialogue between 2 or 3 actors with one mic and good placement and also to allow for a little bit of movement. The Oktava with hyper capsule is pretty popular but I've seen/heard samples where there was a big difference just from the speaker turning his head. Of course, when I move up to bigger productions, I'll find a dedicated sound person. But right now, I know that I can count on me to show up to a non-paying gig.

I have a friend who has a Rode NTG-2 that I can borrow for outdoor shots, but I've heard good things about the AT875.

Speaking of heavy mics, I've used a Rode NT3 before, which I've seen referred to as a hyper but Rode calls it a cardioid. It was so heavy that I always made sure that I wrapped the cable a bit in case it slipped through the bands of the shockmount while boomed overhead. And if I used the tighter clip holder, it picked up vibrations very easily.

One sub $200 mic that intrigues me but that I haven't gotten my hands on yet is the CAD M179. It has switchable patterns from hyper to omni and is suppossedly very quiet.

As far as the ones I used for this test go, to my untrained ear they all sounded pretty natural without any EQing or anything else in post. The AT does have a different form factor than what you expect to see on a boom, but the thing I really liked is that it had virtually no self-noise. With the $200 price difference between the CAD and the Violet Design, I thought that they sounded very similar and the CAD outputs a much stronger signal. With the Tascam turned up to 10, the Violet peaked at -15 and was between -21 and 24 most of the time. I'm sure it would be better with a good dedicated pre-amp, but I'm glad it was borrowed.

Burned to DVD and played on a 5 year-old TV, the differences that I could hear were extremely minimal.
 
Understood, just know that with a wider pick up pattern, you will also be picking up more of the "room" , so you will have to be more diligent in quieting things down in order to get a quieter recording, as well as more sound absorption techniques in order to avoid that dreaded mic in a cave sound.
 
In addition to sound quality, form factor and weight are major concerns in mic choice for production sound. A side address mic like that CAD179 means you're more likely to end with the boom in the shot as you try to get close enough to the talent. Most mics that aren't designed with production use in mind are also extremely heavy to use on a boom. Every single ounce really does count when you're swinging a 10-20' boom overhead for 8-12 hours a day.

Something to remember when looking at the prices for sound gear, especially microphones, is that mics will last a hell of a lot longer than your camera. I've got mics in my kit that were made in the 1960s and '70s that still get regular use.

As for a cheap hyper to use with the borrowed NTG-2, you could look into the The Avantone CK-1. It's under $150 (last I saw) and includes hyper, cardioid, and omni capsules, there may be sound samples somewhere on this forum.
 
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