Which of these mics sound better?

M

mattman1

Member
I've been using a seinnheiser k6 as a boom mic and that's been satisfactory but I'm shooting indoors and I'm getting a lot of echo. Someone reccmoneded I get a hypercardoid mic, as it would be better for a lot of indoor shoots.


I purchased the audio-technica u873r because I couldn't afford anything better. I know it's a handheld mic but I heard it reccomended a bunch of places to use as a cheap boom. Unfortunately, it seems very quiet so I had to turn up the gain on my zoom h4 to compensate.


I'm not sure if the result sounds any better than the K6. It definitely has a different sound. The k6 sounds thinner, while the u873r sounds muddier but fuller.


I did a very unscientific test, where I mounted the mics about two feet away from my mouth in the apartment I'll be shooting in. I know two feet is generally too far but I only have my friends as boom operators. They can barely hold the mic still so I'm just trying to be realistic here. I then just read from the mic's product manual. Which of these sound better?

https://www.dropbox.com/s/822g4mjnm8e6tlm/k6.wav

https://www.dropbox.com/s/1oz2zmrmo1wtuwx/u873r.wav



I know neither sound good but if you had to work with one of these source files, which would you prefer?


I can't afford a better mic so it's either I keep the u873r or return it and shoot with k6 I already have.
 
Personally I would get rid of both and buy an AT 875R !

I have five of these and they are a perfect general purpose small shotgun that doesn' t have the problems of a hyper or a phase cancellation shotgun tube!

Plenty of gain and very forgiving for newbie boom op' s, I have had inexperienced kids use them with great results and if you search you tube for my company you can hear them in action raw and on final dubbed films!

http://m.youtube.com/#/watch?v=_C5zy1l4c_U

All the sound on that student film was done with one 875R on a boom operated by the kidsvia a sennheiser skp 500 radio mic, oh and last shot had a radio lav on the girl!
 
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r.e. the U873r:

It's a really great mic, especially considering the price point. It's also kind of silly that it's marketed by AT as a handheld mic, in my opinion, just because condensers like this don't hold up over time to breath-caused condensation. I have a few and I use them on live choirs and for live and recorded instruments, and I have used it on a boom as well.

It does have a lower output than other mics (part of it being intended as a handheld) so it needs to be passed through a good pre-amp that offers plenty of clean gain. The pre-amps in the H4 are not that. The MixPre-D works very well with the U873r.

The pre-amps in most of these handheld recorders are not very good. Some are better than others, but most are pretty poor. The RODE NTG-1 and 2 have the same issue, with their lower output levels not matching well with the lack of clean gain in the recorders.
 
Here's a ZIP file containing your audio files that I processed as I would normally do for this type of audio: Processed Audio : Volume, EQ, Compression, Noise-Reduction

Looking at your files, the audio was recorded at least 10 dB TOO low, but I doubt the Zoom H4n pre-amps would have been any help here. I prefer the sound from the AT U873R mic, but it's also very "hissy" sounding. If you had a high quality mixer like the SD MixPre ( or something similar ) mentioned by Alex H, I suspect the AT U873R would have completely killed the K6.

If you are looking for a good low-cost indoor mic, you should try and get a hold of the now discontinued AT3031 cardioid mic, which can be bought used for about $100. ( I own two of these, along with an AT 4053b mic )
 
I suspected that was the issue. I guess the problem is that if I can't afford a more expensive mic that the u873r, I certainly can't afford a MixPre-D - as much as I'd like one. I really want to up my sound game (if only incrementally). But I'm not using this for paid work, just fun youtube videos. So I can't justify spending more than $300 or so. The K6 was given to me. It's like $600 so I was going to keep using it until I found something less echoey.
 
@TheDingo. Thanks. I do like the sound of the U8373R but you're right- there's a ton of hiss. I could up bumped up the Zoom's preamp even more - but there was just an insane amount of noise. I'll look for AT3031. Is that something that could be used without a preamp (just the zoom)? I originally wanted a AT 4053b but it's just too far out of my price range.
 
mattman1 said:
I'll look for the AT3031. Is that something that could be used without a preamp (just the zoom)?
Click to expand...

Yes. Right off the bat you will notice that it's a louder mic than U8373R, with very nice sound quality for the price. ( it's used both by musicians and by wild-life nature folks because it sounds very good and has very low self-noise )

The AT3031 originally sold for around $250, but Audio Technica killed it off so they could push their more expensive ( and better sounding ) AT4021 mic that currently sells for $350.
 
mattman1 said:
What is difference between at AT875R and a K6? Aren't they both shotgun mics?
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They are but the K6 uses phase cancellation tubes and the 875R is a pressure gradient mic so is a more general purpose mic, I see it as a halfway between a hyper and a shotgun so it is a great general purpose mic with plenty of gain. Personally I don't like the K6 as it is similar to the rode NTG 1&2, they are electret mics and have that fizzy sound when you add phase cancellation tubes onto them.

The 873r is not designed as a general purpose mic so will have limitations attaining to it's hand held use and will suffer reverse proximity effects when used at a distance as it has been designed to be used close up to the sound source.
 
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Unless I have missed something - what have you got on the end of the K6 (which is NOT a mic, but the powering and pre-amp section - a range of mics plugs onto the end).

I'm guessing an ME66? - which is just a little narrower.

I'm one of the small number of people who don't subscribe to hypers indoors as an absolute rule - the only reason I believe the rule started to be quoted as total fact was that a wider hyper doesn't need quite so accurate aiming as a short shotgun, and missing people's mouths means the mic hears the reflections not the direct source. So for beginners, it's a sensible guideline, but it's never caused me any issues when a boom gets aimed properly.

I'm also a believer in the fact that mics don't sound better than each other, just different. If the difference means it's more appropriate to the sound source you're capturing then it's a good choice. If you put an Audio Technica 4033 on an person who has poorly fitting dentures, or gaps in their teeth, the sound is quite harsh and the 'sss' sounds very prominent. If you stick a Neumann U87 on the same person they sound much better - but if the person tends to mumble, with little lip movement, the U87 is not a sensible choice - the 4033 being easier to understand. Neither is a bad mic, they're just different. This is why only having one microphone is a bad idea - two complimentary ones can be much more useful. A short shotgun and perhaps a simple cardioid could be much handier than a hyper? Depends on what you are doing.

I misplaced my little shotgun that came with one camera, and the only one in my mic box that fitted was a condenser cardioid. I've never taken it off since using it once 'as any mic is better than no mic!' - because the wider pattern actually works for me. Well worth an experiment if room sound is important.
 
@TheDingo if I can't find an AT3031, would you reccomend the AT4021.

@paulears you're right, it's an ME66. Sorry, I got my terminology mixed up. Seeing as I already have an ME66, what would you recommend as a mic to complement that one? That Neumann you mentioned is waaaay out of my price range.
 
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