HD110u stock mic
 

Hi all. Just ordered my 110u, waiting for B&H to ship next week! I was just curious to see how well the stock mic it ships with is? I was planning on ordering a NTG-2 later, just wanting to know how the stock mic sounds.
Thanks..........Dave

...yeah it pretty much sucks. I didnt realize this until I bought a dedicated microphone. Some would say its good for nothing. Ive used it to pick up background sounds sometimes. Otherwise, I would say the FIRST thing to buy for the camera is a better mike. Mine is sitting in my desk- where its going to stay until its time to sell.

Alan

Dave,
Alan is right, I too didnt realize how bad it was till i got another shotgun. I tested it "side by side" and the stock mike sounded like its in a "can". Its good for picking up ambient, "all around sound" though.

-If your work involves a lot of sound work, get a good mike.
-Get good long lasting batteries.
-Get another ND filter, the 2 built in isnt enough for the HD100.
-When it arrives, test it for sse, thank God mine didnt have it.
-When your ready to shoot footage I strongly recommend you consider testing the scene files available in this forum, I would suggest Piolo's TC V3.

Good Luck,

Ted

I would say the stock mic is adequate for most things. It’s a condenser shotgun which is already better than those awful built-in mics that most prosumer cameras in this price range use.

I like that it has a boost around 1-2K which is great for speech, and with a little tweaking in FCP using the graphic EQ I can dial in a pretty fat sound. I just dip the mids and boost the highs.

Most aftermarket shotgun mics have a lot of sibilance built in which isn’t always what I’m after.

I would invest in a good wireless system. This will be much more useful for audio capture than a more expensive shotgun.

The following is a clip that I shot using only the stock mic, I couldn’t get a board feed because the DJ was using an older mixer, so I was forced to just use the stock mic. With a little EQ, you can actually pull a lot out of it.

http://blip.tv/file/188020/?skin=popup&file_type=mov

Hi Guys
 

Thanks for the input. Once the cam gets here I do plan on testing it out thoroughly. I only plan to use the stock mic for ambient, think trains. In a few weeks I plan to add a better sound system IE Senn G2 wireless and if funds permit an AT4073, if not an NTG2 at least with muffs and all. Just would like to use the stock mic for background and ambient. Thanks for the replies.
Sparky

The Rode is a good replacement for the toy mic that comes with the camera, It is a lot sharper.

The HD100 clamp it is not very effective at isolating the mic, esp if it is a tight fit and I found most mics are broader than than clamp on the HD100. "Most" in this case meaning the Rode and an AT835

Rode also do a decent standoff/isolator kit that mounts in the clamp or there is also a shoe mount version. With the clamp version - use the narrow end.

Lesh

I agree that the NTG2 is a big improvement on the supplied mic, which is pretty horrible, to be honest. However, the NTG2 isn't all that great either and I'd say the AT is worse than the NTG2. If you have the cash for the Senn MKH 416 or a Sanken equivalent I think you'll really hear where the extra money goes. I had very high hopes for the Rode, based on the studio range but I was very disappointed. Still, for the money it's hard to complain, really.

The low-budget G2 wireless mics, on the other hand, are absolutely superb for the money IMHO.

I would agree that the rode is crisper than the 835, which is an economy long shotgun and not in the 416 category, altho think I preferred it to the me66.

There can be bargains around on 416 kits with zepplin etc. so its always worth hunting around. I also think the sanken's are pretty fanciable and yeah, the g2 radios are great for the money

lesh.

the problem with the SE 416's is they suck up these 6V batteries every 20-39 hours. they get expensive to own. Put it away with the power on, take it out the next week and its dead. I really don't find the 416 that great anyway, too thin. OTH I've got a older Sony 672 shotgun that runs for 6-9 MONTHS on ONE AA. I just leave it in, and if the battery does go dead, it will phantom power and work. its been updated to the 674 now. only problem is it doesn't fit into the stock mic holder. I do dearly wish the mic holder was screwed to the body like sony mounts - I find it sticks up too high, and it would also be good to be able to change the mount to fit a fatter mic.

Anything at those levels would sound OK. It completely hides the hiss that is apparent in the stock mic. The great preamps on the camera are masked by the hideous mic when you pull the camera out of the box. Plug in a good mic and you'll take full advantage of the very good sound floor on the pre's.

The stock mic sux.

When I was shooting overseas last year the stock mic gave up the ghost and I ended up using a Senn e835 with the SK100 for my shotgun. It worked out well enough for me to get the job done. I had the mic replaced when I got back to the states under warrantee. The new one I got still was terrible. It's just a very cheap mic to get you by until you get a good solution in place.

Hi,all....
 

Thanks for replying, lots of great info. Sorry I've been away for a bit, the cam came wednesday and I've been "playing"!
A lot of whats been said is true and I do appreciate all the input, especialy taking the time to post an audio sample, greatly appreciated! and thank you.
The reason for my post is I kind of broke the bank to get the cam, left the audio high and dry. Graet deal from B&H with the bag, tapes and filter. Let alone the IDX from JVC.
All I need for is the stock mic to give a reference and posibly some depth to the audio. Think wall of sound by Ronnie Spectre.
The reason for the NTG is to boost that sound, for now, and to use with the Senn G2. Seems like a great combo. Later I'll ad more. Just a get going type of set up. Plus the NTG works with the Senn wireless Butt Plug.
Lets face it what I like to shoot, trains, it's not hard to tell where they are going:). Gives me latitude to set up the cam and monitor the audio through a mixer and phones. Using the stock mic I get a reference and maybe something to use. The more to mix, the better!
Thanks for all the replies and my friends do call me Sparky, can't imagine why.....................Sparky