mic selection for ambience sound effects
 

I need a good mic for field recording sound effects. I do mostly motorcycle and car by.
I have a Rode NTG-3 that I use with my Roland R-44.
Can anyone recommend a good stereo image ambiance sound effect mic for under $500?
I'm considering the Rode NT4 but any suggestion or recommendation would be appreciated.

Re: mic selection for ambience sound effects
 

Shure VP-88 is great stereo microphone. A used one will be within your budget:

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/68506-REG/Shure_VP88_VP88_Mic_with.html
Used:

SHURE VP-88 M-S SINGLE-POINT STEREO CONDENSOR MICROPHONE W/CLIP | eBay

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Re: mic selection for ambience sound effects
 

I had very good results with Sony ECM-MS957. It can be switched between 90° and 120° stereo images. It comes with miniplug but you can get 5-pin to dual 3-pin xlr cable separately.

Sony ECM-MS957 Stereo Condenser Mic Professional Microphone Field Recording 027242512207 | eBay

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http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/287236-REG/Remote_Audio_CAX5QN25_Starquad_XLR_5_Pin_Male.html
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Re: mic selection for ambience sound effects
 

thanks guys i'll have a look at both.

Re: mic selection for ambience sound effects
 

The VP88 can be handy, but if you set it for the widest position, it can be noisy.

The Audio Techinca BP4025 is quite nice. Very quiet due to large diaphragms.

Here's a walk in the backyard on a Spring day. Download and hear for yourself.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/7f0qg6se5b...4025ambi08.wav

Regards,

Ty Ford

Re: mic selection for ambience sound effects
 

thanks Ford I'll check it out.

Re: mic selection for ambience sound effects
 

To build a library of good stereo ambience fx. just use the on board mic on a good video camera, but turn off any audio limiters, auto gain control etc.
Use headphones to be able to move to the best position fast and pay attention to the record levels and for motorcycle and car fx, watch out for low frequencies. Learn what sounds good to maybe enable the low cut filter.

For a solo shooter, you don't need a tripod, it's quicker than setting up a recorder and for the motorcycle/car work you do,
you can concentrate on just the sound .. you can include the video to go with 'em for reference later :)

Cheers.

Re: mic selection for ambience sound effects
 

... and building up a your own sound effects library by recording it yourself is a great idea, but once you have a small reasonable selection,
imo the shine fades away. Especially when you're shooting in a custom field like motorcycles and cars. Time and weather on location are factors.

We have a good library for our airshow/aircaft videos. I always look to keeping the viewer interest and help to justify their purchase of our DVDs
by adding great sfx in the quieter areas of the show.

eg: I have a superb chopper sfx, this Huey flew low over one of our cameras, I saw it coming kept the camera level and quickly positioned it on its tripod, so it flew exactly left to right about 100 feet right over the top of us.

It's a great stereo sound via the camera mic, without any distortion .. or picture. It was very loud and I luckily guessed the correct record level,
it blocked out the other sounds and we can mix it in post either flying left to right .. or right to left. By panning both tracks hard left or right,
we achieve more perspectives.

Another plus is, the viewer *imagines* what the Huey looks like and we use it to build up the quieter areas.
Capture a few good sfx like that for your projects and you can do the same.

So if you spend many $$$ for an external stereo mic *just for sfx*, imo after a while it probably won't get much use.

Cheers.

Re: mic selection for ambience sound effects
 

thanks Allan I really appreciate your advice. I'll be using the mic for other things like music performance etc not just for sound effects.I've been using the Zoom H4n and Rode Stereo Videomic Pro microphones for stereo ambience but don't know how much better a professional mic like the Rode NT4, Audio Techinca or Shure would make. The Roland R-44 built in stereo mic is ok but I need something better.

Re: mic selection for ambience sound effects
 

I can recommend the Audio Techinca BP4025 for your purpose, which I purchased largely on the basis of Ty's sample clip and review. I haven't regretted it. The mic is outstanding for ambience. I run it through a Sound Devices 302. Very, very, very, quiet mic.

Re: mic selection for ambience sound effects
 

Steven,

Thanks for the hat tip. Glad it worked out for you.

Regards,

Ty Ford

Re: mic selection for ambience sound effects
 

i'll check it out thanks man.