doing a film competition this weekend. the rental house im going to use has 3 AudioTechnica mics. the at897 is the shortest and the next two get alittle longer. forgot the models. anyone familiar with these . guy told me to go with the longest one
will be mainly used for dialogue between 2 actors, fairly close together, say3-5 ft.
will be setting my audio to manual. not sure if i should change the gain from the default 41db or not.
any advice on this?
the rental house also has an me66, but not sure it will b available.
input welcome.
when we were testing the 3 audio technicas the other day, there seemed to be a slight hiss. couldnt figure out why???

Presumably you are familiar with the review and article in this thread (since you started it :-)):
http://www.dvinfo.net/forum/sony-xdcam-ex-cinealta/506018-new-mic-my-ex-2.html#post1725699

I think you mean "Trim" not Gain. The trim (in my experience) is something that you tune for specific mics so leaving your self some time to do some tests will help. I would expect it to affect the hiss.

The advice to go with the longer one is advice to pick one that is more directional.... generally.

Jim...you don't say, but are you planning to use a 'Boom-Pole'? I say this because the "Old Crew Dogs" on DVINFO will tell you to get the Shotgun Mic off of the camera. The example often sited, "Just because you see a Mic mounted on the camera, doesn't mean it's the 'primary' Mic recording the audio." Also, don't forget wind-shields. I would recommend a 'Blimp' system if you can get your hands on one.

I have an Audio-Technica AT4053b microphone that had a 'hiss', I sent it back for repair, AT replaced the entire microphone. You shouldn't hear 'noticeable' hiss unless you are over-driving the signal (too much Gain), or there's something wrong with the Mic.

Regarding which Shotgun Mic to recommend, I like, and own a RODE NTG-3. The Sennheiser ME66 is an industry standard. Both, in good working order, would serve you well.

Best regards,

J.

Reminds me of this nice video that Fred put together. In the example, the AT897 isn't too bad, but it looks like he's on a stage. Later in the video, you'll hear him mention that the price you pay for the 4071's reach indoors is dramatically more echo/reverb. You may want to see if the rental house offers a hyper if you're in a small room.

Mic Basics: Part 4 on Vimeo

ended up using the at897 and was extremely pleased with the sound. not too bad for a mic under 300.00