I am looking to get a general purpose (yeah, I know that there isn't such a thing, but I want to get close) shotgun mic to use with my DVX100 for both boom mount (when I have a boom person) and camera mount (when I don't). I am leaning toward either the 416 which I have rented, or the Sanken CS-1 (which is cheaper but I don't have a rental source for).

Do any of you have or have listened to both? If so, could you please give me some comments on the strengths/weaknesses of each?

Thanks!

Randall

Hi Randall,
I'd suggest you also consider a mic you haven't mentioned: the Audio Technica 4073. Technically there's not much to choose between the 416 and the 4073, but I like the sound of the 4073 more. I prefer the reproduction of off-axis sound, but otherwise my preference is a bit indefinable. You can get a 4073 for USD 550.
Best,
Helen

I was gonna say that too, but I always take flak about suggesting the 4073a.
It definitely has wider reception than the 416, so in many instances when extreme directionality isn't critical it does "sound better".
The only complaint I hear about the CS-1 is the need for special mounting since it has such a short body. Again, the 4073a is a good compromise here. Easy to use with lots of different mounts but very lightweight and not too long.
It can also run on lower phantom voltages, so an 18-volt supply will work just fine.

<<<-- Originally posted by Jay Massengill : I was gonna say that too, but I always take flak about suggesting the 4073a.
It definitely has wider reception than the 416, so in many instances when extreme directionality isn't critical it does "sound better".-->>>

Maybe because many times cardioids sound better than hypercardiods? The Schoeps is also less directional than the 416 and sounds very good.

<<<--The only complaint I hear about the CS-1 is the need for special mounting since it has such a short body. -->>>

It seems to be same size as the Schoeps.

<<<--Again, the 4073a is a good compromise here. Easy to use with lots of different mounts but very lightweight and not too long.
It can also run on lower phantom voltages, so an 18-volt supply will work just fine. -->>>

Sounds very much like the AKG Blue Line, which I don't think is a very widespread type in the USA. A pity.


Carlos

I go along with the Schoepsist* philosophy that, in general, the shorter the interference tube**, the more natural the off-axis sound. Of course in the case of Schoeps mics there is no interference tube - just a hypercardioid element for typical boom use. Because the interference tube merely removes off-axis sounds rather than amplifies on-axis sounds, it does no better than a hypercardioid (which is what is usually at the base of the tube) for on-axis sound. Off axis sounds may be attenuated more by an interference tube than by a plain hypercardioid, but this is at the cost of colouration. So, it's a choice between this on the one hand and that on the other, as usual.

The AT 4073 has a short tube, by the way. A good all-rounder indoors.

Best,
Helen, slightly off axis.

* Schoepsism: a form of pseudoscientific-technobabble used by obscure crewmembers who need to justify their patently nonsensical opinions by pretending that they share them with some Higher Power (in this case Schoeps, by strange coincidence). A vague similarity between the nonsensical opinion and that of the Higher Power usually helps. Promoting the nonsensical opinion to a 'philosophy' is a hopeless last-ditch attempt at credibility.

**the slotted thing at the front of a shotgun mic.