What lowbudget microphone(s) for interviews and voiceovers?

H

hellboy80

Well-known member
I'm shooting with HV20 for now, but I'm planning to buy a better camera (XHA1 or FX1 maybe) in the future.

I'm looking for microphone(s) for recording:
- voiceovers (recording will take place in my flat , I have no money for a studio)
- stationary interviews in exteriors and interiors (I have no soundman, so mic should be attached to stand or collar of a talent)

My (overall) approximate budget for mic(s) is 300 - 400$. What lowcost mic(s) could you recommend me for this situations? Thanks for any help!
 
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You're really asking about three different mics: VO, interior dialog, exterior dialog. There is no single mic that will do everything.

For on-cam interviews, you generally want a shotgun outdoors and a hypercardioid indoors. The shotgun is less likely to work for much inside, while there are situations outside where a hyper will outshine a shotgun.

Budget workhorse of a shotgun mic: Rode NTG-2.
Budget hypercardioid: Oktava MK012.

Voice over work is a little more flexible. I know VO recording engineers who use shotguns... one here in town swears by the NTG-2. But if you are in a flat with no sound treatment, you may not find a condenser of any sort to work for you. In that case, you want a dynamic. The go-to dynamic VO mic would be the ElectroVoice RE20, but there's your whole budget right there. You could also look at Heil PR30 or PR40, Electrovoice Raven (good response, but needs an external pop filter), or the Rode Procaster.

You can also look at creating some basic sound treatment in your flat, specifically for VO recording. There's a great, free gobo design here: http://www.soundcontrolroom.com/vocal_booth.htm

You can build that for about $100, and it's pretty effective. I built one and it works very well. Get a couple extra sheets of acoustic foam and treat a section of wall. Place the gobo up against that section to finish out the VO booth. That would also give you a little more flexibility in mic selection.
 
Thanks for elaborated explanation.
I probably buy that Rode Procaster for voiceovers (in my country I can buy it for $230.
As for that other mics (for exteriors and interiors iterviews) - I still dont know what to choose :) Or should I rather use lavalier mics? Maybe it will be cheaper solution for both of these situations?
 
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Lavs are great, but the you are constrained by the cable run, which means that your interview subject or actor doesn't have a very broad freedom of movement. You could go wireless, but that will add a pretty hefty cost. A mic on a boom is better.

You can start with an NTG-2... just don't expect miracles indoors.
 
Why is it that everyone wants to go cheap on the audio? You're willing to spend $4k or more on a camera but not even 10% of that on your audio? Crappy audio is the hallmark of amateur projects. Unless your dialog is clean and intelligible no one is going to care how pretty your pictures are. Instead of buying a new camera put all of that money into audio gear and invest some time and effort into learning how to use it properly.

Keep repeating to yourself - "Sound is half of the experience."
 
I know. You are right. I'm trying to keep my budget lowest as possible, but I dont want to buy a bad equipment. So what could be the cheapest usable wireless lav?
 
hellboy80 said:
I know. You are right. I'm trying to keep my budget lowest as possible, but I dont want to buy a bad equipment. So what could be the cheapest usable wireless lav?
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Sennheiser Evolution G2 100 series. That's $550 for one system, and the lav that comes with it isn't the greatest. You'll need another $200 - 300 for a better lav.

UncleBob makes a great point. The flip side of that is that you can get really usable stuff for a lot less nowadays than even 10 years ago... but there's still a line that must be drawn. And even at that, as I stated previously, you won't find one magic microphone that will do it all. It also still rings true in so many ways that you get what you pay for.
 
A long time I ago I read a post (I think it was Matt) that stated:
"my wired will always sound better than your wireless". I remember that because it makes sense---less processing in the chain.
If you do not absolutely need the freedom of a wireless setup, then why?. You can get great sound for less money. An AKG CK93 hyper will cost you about $380 and you can actually use it outside until you can afford a quality shotgun. I had a shoot next to a river that was plagued with boat and jet noise. Even while booming tight and timing the shots between the traffic, the tail of my AT4073 was getting way too much ambient. The AKG saved the day. I had read that it performs well outside, now I am convinced. Other hyper options in that price range are the Audix SCX1/HC or Audio Technica 4053a. Go for quality that gives you some flexibility.
 
Well, I have money for 1) Rode Procaster (for voiceovers) plus 2) Rode NTG-2 (for interviews) or something in that price range.
Oh, one more question - its possible to plug such microphones to 3,5mm input in my camera (Canon HV20)?
 
I think that the movie I hate the most is "The Blair Witch Project." It's not a bad movie, but the myths that it perpetrated did a disservice to indie film.

Yes, it was made on a small budget, but what almost all indie filmmakers fail to realize is that the distributor spent over one million dollars on audio post production. Almost all of the dialog was looped, and extensive Foley and Sound FX were done to make the film palatable to the general movie-going audience.

Just some food for thought...
 
hellboy80 said:
Well, I have money for 1) Rode Procaster (for voiceovers) plus 2) Rode NTG-2 (for interviews) or something in that price range.
Oh, one more question - its possible to plug such microphones to 3,5mm input in my camera (Canon HV20)?
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You need an XLR converter box. Your camera's 1/8" connection is wired for stereo, unbalanced audio. XLR mics are single-channel, balanced audio. Not only do you have to make those interconnect, your camera sends out a low-voltage power supply intended for cheap, consumer microphones. This power supply can create noise in other audio gear. The converter box does the impedance matching, and defeats the power supply. It also gives you better, tactile control over your signals.

http://www.dvcreators.net/beachtek-xlr-adapters/

http://www.dvcreators.net/juicedlink-xlr-adapters/
 
C2V said:
You need an XLR converter box. Your camera's 1/8" connection is wired for stereo, unbalanced audio. XLR mics are single-channel, balanced audio. Not only do you have to make those interconnect, your camera sends out a low-voltage power supply intended for cheap, consumer microphones. This power supply can create noise in other audio gear. The converter box does the impedance matching, and defeats the power supply. It also gives you better, tactile control over your signals.

http://www.dvcreators.net/beachtek-xlr-adapters/

http://www.dvcreators.net/juicedlink-xlr-adapters/
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Sorry, but that is wrong on both accounts. With the NTG2 and the HV20 you can use this cable: http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/589872-REG/Pearstone_8111240_LMT100_Low_to.html
And the HV20 mic-in does NOT put out any low voltage (other than some Sony´s for example).
 
So, okay -- are there any REALLY cheap (shotgun) mics (like 50-100 bucks, used maybe) that would be suitable for web-based video. I'm doing a little web thing and I need to grab an XLR (3 pin) mic for it. Thanks!!!
 
mbwkrause said:
Sorry, but that is wrong on both accounts. With the NTG2 and the HV20 you can use this cable: http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/589872-REG/Pearstone_8111240_LMT100_Low_to.html
And the HV20 mic-in does NOT put out any low voltage (other than some Sony´s for example).
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Rather than condemning me, you could politely disagree.

Yes, that adapter cable will work. But you lose the tactile level control which is, honestly, a very important feature. And those cables, while they do the impedance matching, are not always 100% on the mono-to-stereo conversion. Some folks come up with phasing issues when they use those. The box is the best solution... again, going with the cheap solution for audio is a bad idea. So the need for a box isn't "wrong," as you say. It's a difference of opinion, and a much better funcionality.

As for the HV20 not sending out power, that's a new one on me. I pulled up the user manual and it does not show a power supply. You learn something new every day.
 
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Chamber005 said:
So, okay -- are there any REALLY cheap (shotgun) mics (like 50-100 bucks, used maybe) that would be suitable for web-based video. I'm doing a little web thing and I need to grab an XLR (3 pin) mic for it. Thanks!!!
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Look back over this thread. In short, the answer is, "No."

Don't sell yourself short. Just because you are producing for straight-to-Web doesn't negate the importance for good sound. What kind of "little web thing" are you producing, and what are your audio needs?
 
hellboy80 said:
Really? I thought I have to spend another $180 for an adapter :) I'll maybe buy a camera with XLR inputs in the future (so this could be a temporary solution)
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Again, that cable may "do the job" to some extent, but it doesn't give you external level control like the boxes do. Plus, the boxes usually have much better pre-amps than any consumer camcorder. And there have been phase cancellation issues with the cables as well.
 
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