Mic Recommendation ... oh how original
 

First off - I don't know the ins and outs of mics by any means, so any explanation to what things mean might come in handy, although I did read into the differences between colioids, hypercolioids, shotguns..etc...


I'm looking to purchase a shotgun mic that is somewhat multipurpose, but I'm mainly going to be using it indoors. Usually when I do big stuff I will get a mic kit and what not from my school, but I'm wanting to get a shotgun that I can use on stuff for my own and when in situations I can't get it from my school.

With that said, I don't have a very high budget, under 300 would be nice, and I need to be able to run the mic off the phantom power from my xl2, OR be able to run it off my sennheiser g2 wireless kit, so I'm assuming battery power as well.

What mics are out there that y'all can recommend I can do this with?

Thanks so much,
Conrad

First of all, it's "cardioid" ("heart-shaped") not "colioid" (would that be colon-shaped? LOL).

A good shotgun that's in your budget would be the Rode NTG-2 which offers you the choice of phantom or battery powering.

Do you have the butt-plug for the Sennheiser? Running a shotgun with the body-pack might be a little tricky.

That being said, shotguns are not usually a very good choice for indoor micing, and that goes double when you are mounting the mic on or at the camera. In fact mounted on the camera is usually the worst place of all to put any mic, even a shotgun. What do you anticipate shooting? "My stuff" is a little vague and your mic choice is going to be dependent on the nature of the subject - for example, a music performance and the dialog in a dramatic scene will have quite different requirements.

Haha i knew that...why in the world i put colioid is besides me...

Mixture of indoor and outdoor, but most of the times indoor...

and i will be operating it on a boompole (usually). Most of what I will be using it for is shooting cinematic stuff, dialog, etc.

It doesn't necessarily have to be a shotgun. What do you recommend?

And yes I have what i'm guessing you call the butt-plug. I have everything that is pictured in this set: http://www.sennheiser.com/sennheiser...nsf/root/21418

I've heard good things about the Rode, and I've figured that it will be the only thing really in my price range.

Indoors on a boom, unless you're in a acoustically non-reflective space like a sound-stage, the mic of choice is usually a hypercardioid instead of a 'gun. Unfortunately there aren't a lot of them in your budget range. One of the few is the Oktava 012 with the hyper capsule. If you can stretch for a few more bucks, the AKG Blueline SE300B/CK93 or the A/T 4053a are a couple of other value mics to consider. Unfortunatly all three of them require phantom and don't have internal batteries so the wireless plug-on transmitter you have won't work with them. OF course, wireless is not the first choice for booming so that may not be too much of an issue and you could upgrade to the Senn 500 series transmitter that does provide phantom or rent one when needed.

I have a couple modded Oktava 012's that get a lot of use. I am really impressed with the quality of sound I'm getting out of these. I use them for indoor booming and also for micing acoustic instruments. The only downside is that they seem to be highly susceptible to handling noise. Not a problem if you use a good shock mount and a ball gag (which I have) but they cost more than the mic.

What online vendors do yall recommend for mics?

[EDIT]This post was not important...so i took it out[/EDIT]

What about the Azden SGM-2X? I know it's not phantom powered, but I do like the idea that it comes with swappable barrels making it essentially two mics

Azden mics do not have the most sterling reputation for excellence. Personally, I'd pass and go with something else.

Then what would you suggest?

I've heard some good things about this particular Azden model. (i also do realize that not all azden products get a lot of praise)

To sum it up, I'm looking for a mic that:
- is under 300 bucks
- Has the option to be batter powered, and possibly phantom powered
- Either cardioid, supercardioid, hypercardioid, lobar/gun or a mixture somewhere in between

Right now the two that I've looked at and are considering is the Rode NTG-2 or the Azden SGM-2X.

What about then the Audio-Technica AT8035 or AT897?

What about a Sennheiser ME66/k6?

Over $300, harsh sounding to some people

The cardioid isn't directional enough for good dialog recording. An inteference tube / lobar pattern mic is subject to subject to issues with off-axis reflections indoors.

Can't speak to the two A/Ts you mention - the 897 is popular. You might want to look up Dan Brocket's recent mic tests on Ken Stone's website
http://www.kenstone.net/fcp_homepage..._brockett.html