Recommendation for Studio/"talking heads"

[Robert Lane]

I have a DIY production coming up that I'm considering using boom mics instead of a lav for. I shot the demo with the host using a lav which sounded OK, but I'm thinking it *might* sound better to have more room ambience in the vocals and, to have 2 boom mics creating a nice stereo image rather than the usual mono-lav.

You're probably wondering why I'd want to make a stereo mix of dialog; the host will be mostly on one side of the frame or the other but moving back and forth left to right a lot - that side movement would be reinforced by the natural pan that would be created by the host moving away from one mic and getting closer to the other. That part of the pre-shoot plan is more conceptual at this point than a requirement.

The project will mostly be shot in-studio with sound damping curtains on 3 sides to lessen unwanted reflections/echo.

I had already purchased a Senn G2 Evo for the host but like I say, I'm thinking boom mics instead for a more natural sounding capture.

The budget isn't big so I'd need some recommendations for mics that are less than $300 each and an appropriate windscreen/fuzzy and shockmount to go with them.

Although this is a lot of talking heads stuff we're making this look more cinematic rather than video-like, similar to the look & feel of the british TV chef's show, Nigella Lawson (if you've seen it), so I want the audio to be appropriate for the look.

[Steve House]

You can decide where to place the host's sound in the stereo field at your leisure in post if you record the original in mono off a lav. Remember too that a lot of the people viewing won't be able to hear the show in stereo anyway so it will have to sound equally good when downmixed to mono as it does in stereo. Two boom mics probably will not create a good stereo field unless you are very very careful in placement - there's more to capturing good stereo than simply using two mics and having the sound louder in one mic than the other is only part of it. You're also likely to start running into all sorts of nasty phasing artifacts if both booms are picking up the dialog with different arrival times. When booms are used for stereo, there's usually ONE boom with two mics mounted on it in a M/S coincident array. Just some food for thought ....

[Robert Lane]

Thanks Steve,

I see your points about dual boom mics for stereo dialog/single point of interest capture; probably more technically challenging than I'd like to deal with for this project. I'll keep the dual mic idea for capturing location ambient sounds or sound effects, like a passing aircraft.

If a single boom mic were used instead, can you quantify the difference between a lav and a single boom mic for dialog in a studio, i.e. which you think sounds better? Unfortunately in my area we have no pro-audio/video shops that carry shotguns let alone demo them, so any feedback (no pun intended) you have on the comparison would be appreciated.

[Robert Lane]

Based on budget, the only two mics that seem to fit would either be the NTG-2 or, the AT897.

Anyone have a preference and if so, why?