what confuses me is

HerzogisGod

HerzogisGod

Well-known member
reviewers talk about the audio technica 4073a as an interior mic. I thought shotguns were mostly for exterior?

when would I want to use this mic (which i own and never use indoors) on an interior dialog scene?

very confusing
 
Use what sounds good... ignore some of the rules... and take the extra time on set (before shooting) to figure out which mic you have will do the best job.

I never had much luck with a 4073a indoors, but then again, it depends on the interior. Big, well-damped rooms are manageable with many shotguns... if there's echo, forget the shotgun. For me, the biggest problem with a 4073a indoors was it's high sensitivity... because it hears PAST your talent... all the way to any echo the room may have.

I worked on a gig in STL... it was called Still Waters... and they used a 4073a almost exclusively for the interiors... but the interiors were huge.

You should link any reviews that refer to a 4073a as an interior mic... if somebody makes a generalization like that I'd be suspect of their judgement. The most I'd say is that a 4073a will do SOME interiors (probably few)... but generally speaking... the 4073a is best for EXTERIORS.
 
You can always modify the sound dynamics of the room and reduce echo by hanging some sound blankets.
 
Problems in a room have to be pretty minor before sound blankets do much... or you must have a sh8t-load of 'em to make a significant difference.
 
In my experience, the 4073 sounds a bit thin for my taste. I always recommend using it in muffled or sound controlled interiors or on exteriors. Honestly, I think the AT-875r sounds better at about half of the price. Everyone should have a couple of mics to work with so that you have choices too. No single mic ever sounds great everywhere and if you have two to four mics in your kit, one of them will sound killer in that setup.

Dan
 
Agreed, it is a bit thin sounding but as Matt alluded; outdoors that thing is freakin sensitive. AND it also has a great bass response which is important for my stuff--(cannons baby!). I do event type stuff and that mic will get great ambient detail from a considerable distance. Sometimes too much. I did an exterior interview shot once with the mic in tight on a boom facing downward and the rolloff switched in----and I still picked up highway noise from over a mile away!!! A great example of this mic's sensitivity in in Dans Review. Thank You Dan!
btw---For anyone who hasn't yet done so----Check out the Stickie.
That review is the reason I will eventually upgrade to a CS3. When that happens, I'll probably still keep my 4073.
 
Generally speaking the 4073a is awesome outdoors... no doubt... the main issue of it's suitability indoors is from it's super-high sensitivity.

The 4073a is a good example of my point AGAINST ultra-sensitive mics for modern video gear... ESPECIALLY for location sound work... more often then not you want the smallest possible bubble of pick-up... which is why lavs are used so often... SO... to get that small bubble, you do NOT want overly high sensitivity. The 4073a is a great mic... no doubt, but if YOU hear something you don't want on tape, the 4073a is probably going to hear it also... even if it's off-axis the 4073a will often times find the sound after it somehow bounced into the axis.

I've said it a dozen times before... the sensitivity of the mic balanced with the gain of the pre-amp may equal the same total db going to tape... but the pre-amp controls the volume of the bubble while the mic itself controls the size and shape of that bubble.

The 4073a is SO ultra-sensitive that it hears things a long ways away... such as voice-reverb across the room... or the highway... or whatever. I like extra-sensitivity if the location is really controlled and "dead"... otherwise I'd rather get my levels up AFTER the mic.
 
Matt... Ignoring any street price difference, if given a choice between the 4073a and the NTG-3 for exterior dialog, which would you choose?
 
Right now I'm definitely digging the NTG-3 over the 4073a... because it offers more control... which means that in most cases the actual sound that hits the tape will be cleaner.

I had a 4073a for a while and I enjoyed it, but I was always frustrated by getting more sound then I wanted. The sensitivity is so high that you hear everything out front... I mean everything! This is why I always stress that if you get a 4073a that you should be prepared to get another mic (I used to automatically say Oktava, but the price is up so much that the choice is getting less definite)...

When I got a 416 I found that wow, yeah... SOME shotguns CAN work well in SOME interiors (which I never experienced in the 4073a).

So... if you can only get ONE mic... then the NTG-3 beats the 4073a... if you're going to have two or more mics then it may be a matter of opinion... but no matter what I think the NTG-3 offers the most control.
 
Oh, okay. I had heard on another board that the NTG-3 was grounds for causing boom operator abuse because it was so heavy. If it is that close to the 416, that's not that heavy.

Thanks,

Dan
 
While I certainly wouldn't call the NTG-3 light (the 4073a and CS3e are significantly lighter)... I'd have to say that if the NTG-3 is too heavy for a boom op then you may want to find a guy with arms bigger around then the pole :) ... or do those guys consider an MKH-60 to be too heavy for booming also? (There's no doubt I'd like the NTG-3 to weigh less, but considering the handling noise and performance... I'll manage an extra 1.5oz.)

MKH-416 165g (5.82oz)
NTG-3 163 (5.75oz)
MKH-60 160g (5.64oz)
 
It was a well known and respected sound pro who posted that comment on another board.

Dan
 
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