Audio Technica 875B??
 

hi...

does anyone familiar with this audio technica AT875R microphone?
I dun seems to be able to find much review or specs on this mic. All I know is that it's a condenser line+gradient microphone.. I'm more interested in the AT897 but I cannot find it here in singapore... anyway, will this AT875R mic work well for those on-the-street interview and small room indoors? Currently I'm have a senn wireless lav and beachtec dxa-8 mount on the camera.. The wireless lav work great on these intwerviews but sometimes it's not possible to mic up everyone...

I think you must mean the AT815b. It's a line+gradient shotgun mic. It would work on the streets if it's pointed correctly, as it is a long shotgun and very directional.
The AT835b is a shorter version. The AT897 is a newer better version. See if you can hunt one of those down.

In a small room, these shotguns don't work as well because the reflections from walls are picked up with an odd sound quality.
If the walls are not hard and reflective, and the subject is talking quietly, then a shotgun can work. It usually must be pointed actively to pick up a group of people though.

Another mic you may want to consider is the AT873r. It would work very well for both settings. It wouldn't have as much rejection outdoors, but pointing it or picking up 2 or 3 people with it would be easier than a shotgun.
It will also work well indoors in small rooms, although a lav on each subject will almost always sound better. Small room interviews, acoustically speaking, are a pain that most mics don't handle well.

Jay-can that 873r be camera mounted? It looks like a hand held. I noticed the problem you mentioned using a shotgun in a small room with bright acoustics. What would you suggest for indoor use ( camera mounted)? What about the oktava?
Bruce yarock

Small room indoors, low price? Try AKG c300B with a ck93 capsule, AT 3031, oktava MC012.

To Jay... it is a AT875R. Probably a diff version number for asia market.. I'm not too sure, just a guess. Best to get an answer from Audio technica itself. The description is the usual for a similiar shotgun type mic. It does need a phantom power. It's pretty short, just 175mm long.

So far I'm pretty satisfied with the mic... I've done some recording with it indoor and outdoor. Definately need a shock mount when mounting on the camera. I can't really comment on how well it does when compare to another mic as it was a rush job. Hook up the mic, put the headphone... check sound level and it's a go.

Sound rejection from rear is good but from the side is it bit questionable... I try to get a at835b or a senn me66 to do a comparision...

To Bruce- Yes you can mount both the Oktava and the AT873r, as well as the mics Bryan mentioned, on a camera with a standard shockmount. The Oktava is by far the smallest of these mics and isn't quite as easy to mount or wind protect. It does sound very good for the money though. For that matter, I think the AT873r does too but it has a little higher level of self-noise than the other mics.
As always, mounting any mic on the camera is a poor choice except for run and gun when you don't have any choice. If the room acoustics are bad, then it really is critical to get the mic closer to the subject.
To Dean- I'm not familiar with that mic. The ME66 doesn't do all that well inside either, unless the person is very soft-spoken.
The 4073a does pretty well, but it's more expensive. The other hypercardioid and cardioid mics talked about in this thread are usually better indoors than comparably priced shotguns.

The 875 is on the rycote database and seems to be a low cost very short shotgun. the specs aren't up to the same level as the 897 or the 815/835. While a full spec is available for the others the 875R is given about the same level of spec as the azden.
Rycote microphone database