hi,
i have read a bit here that a shure sm58 is a decent all around dymamic mic. i happen to own one of these as i sometimes sing in a band.

i broke the bank when i bought my gl2. i mostly shoot skateboarding, so the on board mic is fine.

i think i'm going to get into trying to do some shorts with a few friends of mine, and from reading here, i see that on board audio is somewhat of a no no.

can i get away with using the sm58? will it give me noticeably better results than on board? i really can't afford the xlr add-on and a really good mic.

thanks!
harry

The SM58 IS a really good microphone. Just not appropriate for what you want to do.

Unless you want the microphone in the picture, you will need something different.

Probably a self-powered cardiod or shotgun will do well for you.

Get a decent one. Too inexpensive and it will be less than you can deal with. Something like an Audio Technica 835B which is about $235 at discount stores here in the USA. A Radio Shack adapter cable will do to connect the XLR microphone output to the minijack input of the camera.

You can build a shockmount out of some plastic water pipe and rubber bands if you have to.

I recently purchased a ME66 mic for use with the Canon GL2. I am using the 1.5V batter power module. I purchsed a Radio Shack 3-pin XLR to 1/4" mono cable and then use a 1/4" to 1/8" adaptor to match the GL2 input. I am obviously doing something wrong because the signal picked up by the GL2 is can be heard but is extremely weak. I am assuming that I have an impedence mismatch problem or am completely missunderstanding the use of this mic. Can somebody be kind enough to set me straight.

Hi there, The wire from radio shack is wired specially for dynamic microphones only. Here's you can do to eliminate one connector, cut the 1/4" plug and replace it with a 1/8" mini plug and follow the wiring diagram seen here:
http://www.nullmodem.com/Audio.htm

Hope this will help you.

For some of you more experienced guys this will seem like a stupid question, so please bear with me.

I'm wondering in real terms what happens when you stop using MIC level and start using LINE level to feed audio to your cam...

Other then a Beachtek I haven't used a mixer before and I'm contemplating getting a small 2 channel mixer/mic pre that a member of our boards makes...

I'm guessing the audio and dynamic range would go up and get clearer... and I know that the issues of control go up, as far as boosting a dynamic mic or controlling a "hot" mic such as an me66.

But is it a night and day difference or what? This will be going into a DVX and I've been pretty happy with my audio, but I can hear room for improvement... This seems like the next logical step.

Thoughts?

The electrical current generated by a microphone is very small. Referred to as mic level, this signal is typically measured in millivolts. Before it can be used for anything serious the signal needs to be amplified, usually to line level (typically 0.5 -2V). Being a stronger and more robust signal, line level is the standard signal strength used by audio processing equipment and common domestic equipment such as CD players, tape machines, VCRs, etc.

This amplification is achieved in one or more of the following ways:

-Some microphones have tiny built-in amplifiers which boost the
signal to a high mic level or line level.
-The mic can be fed through a small boosting amplifier, often
called a line amp.
-Sound mixers have small amplifiers in each channel. Attenuators
can accommodate mics of varying levels and adjust them all to
an even line level.
-The audio signal is fed to a power amplifier - a specialised amp
which boosts the signal enough to be fed to loudspeakers.

A line input typically will be cleaner that mic level input in a dv cam because a lot of dv cams don't have good pre amps for their mic inputs but the DVX has better audio than other similarly priced dv cams so the difference may not be that dramatic. It really depends on the quality of the mixer and it's boost of the mic signal. If it's a little mixer who knows what the quality is. A mic going in to the DVX's XLR's is a lot better than a beachtec xlr adapter you may have used in the past going in to a 1/8 inch jack into a different camcorder.

Wondering if there is a distortion associated with using the wind protection/blimps. Also, would there be an audible difference in using a "Baby Ball Gag" that doesn't go all the way around a mic, as opposed to a fully enclosed "Extended Ball Gag".

Thanks for any input.

It is told that this mic would be a cheaper copy of the Neumann.
The Neumann would stay a bitter warmer, but the pice-quality of thiis B-5 would be extremely good.
It is sold with two capsules cardioide and omnidirectional.

http://www.behringer.com/02_products/prodindex.cfm?id=B-5&lang=eng


What do you think?

Has somebody heard this mic in practise?

If you had asked me this question a month ago I'd have said "no difference"... At this point I think it depends on the mic.

With an me66 I had both a Rycote zepp and a Softie... The zepp was supposed to be for outright clarity indoors... Then you added a furry for outdoors... but I didn't have the furry so I switched to Softie... Well after several listening tests, I sold the zepp and used the Softie ALL the time. It worked great indoors or out and I couldn't hear any change in the highs (and obviously not the lows)...

I just got a super-sensitive large diaphragm mic and with anything THAT open and THAT sensitive I'll bet everything matters. You can hear the sound change by having an open door across the room. Passing your hand in a circle behind it makes the sound "oscillate" with the position of your hand...

If you had a mic sensitive enough I'm certain you could drive yourself insane.

So to repeat, it will depend on the mic, but for MOST mics a good windshield system won't affect performance too noticeably on DV.

I have an XL1s with an MA200 adaptor and I'm debating which of the above kits to add. Can anyone tell me the relative difference between the two - and which direction you'd go.

Also, it's been suggested that I add a BEC receiver bracket and BEC mounting Box. Are these necessary or preferred?

Do I need any other connections?

Thank you.
Jim

Well the specs don't look bad at all. It seems to make Behringer usually makes a pretty good product for their price point.

Does anybody know of a replacement mic for the one that comes on the DSR-250, that will make it better?

Must be about the same size and use the XLR phantom power like the original does.

The original seems to do a good job, even for interview at 5 feet. However now I want it to primarily pick up the crowd noise.

Any idea?

sanken cs-1
sanken cs-3
mkh-416
mkh 60,50
at-835 st

I'm trying to do a voiceover (narration) on a project in Vegas. I can't get voiceover to show up as a choice (as it shows in the manual). Nor can I get my narration to record. I've hooked up the mic, created a separate audio track, and clicked on the record buttons on the track. It goes through the motions of recording, but no sound is recorded. Can anyone help?

Moved the thread to the more approriate forum.

Go to "options/preferences/audio device" in Vegas and make sure the correct sound card and driver system is selected. If you are using Windows Sound Mapper, intentionally, then in Windows go to the control panel/audio devices and make sure the correct sound card is selected. Now you can test recording in windows through the windows record tool. If this works and windows sound mapper is selected in Audio Devices section of Vegas, then check your project settings and make sure they're set to an acceptable setting for the input of your sound card.

What sound card/input device are you using? Some may require special drivers to show up properly in Vegas. Some may need to be switched to the Windows device before they will become apparent to Vegas, even if you aren't using Sound Mapper as your Vegas audio device.

hi I thought that i would post a thread to see if anyone knows anything about JVC's MZ-320 superdirectional mic. It is a mic that i got when i bought a mx-500. I wasn't given any specs with this mic and was wondering if anyone new anything about it or where i might be able to find some info on it.
Thanks heaps
Justin

Hi,

Does anyone here have the DV Toolkit for ProTools LE? I'm thinking about buying it...anyone have suggestions or experience with it?

Thanks!

Murph

I'm about to purchase dvx100a and need a recommendation on a shotgun mic. Would you recommend Panasonic's AGMC100G mic? Is it any good?

It sounds like from the audio forum that ME66 is a high quality mic (albeit overpriced). Would you recommend it for dvx100a? And, if so, which cables do I need for it?

Thank you,
Vincent

You get what you pay for. In the scheme of things the ME66 is far from the most expensive.

A good place to start would be the AT 8035, 8097 or the ME66. Skip anything below those if you're serious.

From www.minidisc.org forum:

"Hi-MD Back-compatability Bummer: Sony sources have confirmed that Hi-MD equipment will not upload analog recordings made on existing (aka "std-MD") Minidisc equipment. Is it time for another petition?"

http://forums.minidisc.org/viewtopic.php?t=3692

Frigging Sony.

That does sorta suck....Sony's position is that it's a legal-protection issue. What's really strange is that Sony's Electronics division builds products that directly can damage Sony's Music and Digital Pictures divisions. And they seem to be selective about what passes and what doesn't.

Douglas,

I know about the -20, -12 norms.

But let me ask a question here.

I've been delivering 30 second commercials on DVCam to Comcast for a while. I've always set tone at -6 and then allowed the program levels to get up to -7 at peak. This seeming high level was suggested to me by a long-time production house who said that if I did not, the cable channel would likely run the volume too low.

As long as the cable company treats tone as higher than program peak (and I believe they still bump to BetaSP around here) What problem does that generate if any?

Of course, if they have an all-digital chain and are expecting Tone at -20, then it might cause a problem.

But so far, no complaints at all. Anomaly or dumb luck do you think?

Another issue:

Since I don't use commercial S-VHS & VHS decks for duping, a -20 signal level is way too low for reasonable volume levels out of the resulting tapes.

Would you bump the audio levels out of the editing system on the way to the Distribution Amplifier or just temporarily bump output volume up in the editing system?

I don't think it makes any difference but am very glad to be able to ask the questions of you. I'd prefer to take the best approach.

Thanks

I've heard some pretty positive things about these mics. They are spoken in the same catagory as the higher end cardoid and hypercardoid caps. I've heard the 4073 and liked the sound. I wondered if the 4051/4053 was similar.

Scheops and Josephson are always in the lead with the AT's coming in 3rd or close by.

I'm trying to find a place to listen to the mics.

I am still waiting for new capsules for the THE mics as there was a fair bit of hiss compared to others in a lesser catagory.

I've never worked with the 53 head, but have worked with the 51 head, and it's a great sounding mic. It's not unlike the BK mics. Smooth with a nice, sweet top end, sounds great on a voice or acoustic guitar.

Just got a pair of external firewire drives that I'm very impressed with. They are LaCie d2 120GB units. Very quiet since they don't have any fans but use their solid aluminum case and vertical stand as heat sinks. Awesome styling and construction too, really impressive looking as well as being so much quieter than what I was using. It was impossible to record with the old drives nearby. If you have to record in the same room as your drives, these would be quiet enough. You can hear the head seeking occasionally, but otherwise it's almost silent.
For mobile use they are small for standard sized drives, but kind of heavy. They also have a line-lump style power supply instead of a standard detachable power cord. This extra weight and the power supply are what keep them so quiet though, so you can't have everything.
They are reasonably priced too and available just about everywhere. So far I've had no problems with their performance including editing directly with Vegas, which is notorious for hanging with many types of external firewire drives.
Since I think everybody (including me) has had a hard-drive failure with just about every brand out there, I'm only posting this under the "These are quiet" category. No horror stories about LaCie unless you had 3 failures in a row or something extreme like that. :-)

I welcome any suggestions:

I am new to video and own (3) Sure dual diversity SM58 Mics as well as (1) AKG Headset dual diversity mic. All...UHF.

These mics are designed for use with musical or DJ/KJ work.

Question 1.) Are these mics appropriate for video

Question 2.) Is there anything on the market that I could purchase to power these units in the field. ie: DC/AC power source.

Any input would be appreciated

Thank you

Bob Fitzgibbon

Know nothing about sound recording. Need help!!

I will be helping to film a mini concert at the local Hard Rock Cafe this Sat. Need advice on picking up the sound and the recording.

I only have a DVX100A. What type/model of mic do I need and in what positions? I think I can only afford to buy 1 two two mic. Should I feed the mic directly into the DVX100A or record the sound by MD?

Thanks!

I assume since you are at one of the HR's, you'll have a house console for the band. I've yet to see a HR without one. Feed one of the auxes to the camera, but you'll need to set this up in advance. It's no big deal to feed a split of the house into the aux on most any console, even if it's a cheapo 8 channel powered mixer. Then send the aux to the camera so that you have level control that doesn't affect the house levels. Monitor levels closely.
Recording a band can't be done properly nor well without a console and mics on the various instruments. Even if it's a pair of acoustic guitars, they'll be close mic'd for the house sound. House sound can feed you a send. Just be sure that you set it up in advance, check levels at their soundcheck, and you'll be good to go.
BTW, MD works pretty good, even though it's a compressed format.

After tearing this forum to pieces looking for information on basic audio recording I have come to the conclusion that I just need to go ahead and say it. Almost everything on this board is way over my head as far as audio and sound goes. Computers, video, editing, those I know, but not audio. What I am getting at here is, could someone please provide me with a link possibly to an online source of getting basic audio and recording info. I do mean basic as well.

These are the things I need to know...

About the mixer (what it is and what it does)

mics (the differences between the millions of varities of mics)

And heck info on DATs, MD recorders, and multitracks.

I have been given the task of finding out all of this information to help a friend start making short films. He knows his video and computers as well, just not his audio. Living in Northwest Arkansas doesn't help either for obvious reasons.

If anyone could help me out of a tight spot and direct me to some online resources then I would be most grateful. I guess some book ideas would help too but I figure almost all of the money I have (tax return as well) will go to purchasing some of the equipment I am going to learn about.

By the way... You guys are too smart for your own good ~or my own good ;)~

About the mixer (what it is and what it does)
A mixer allows for the connection of multiple microphones, controls their volume, EQ, panning, sends to auxiliary outputs, buses, and eventual routing to loudspeaker systems or cameras or tape. Some mixers have lots of processing features and others are nothing more than just volume control.

mics (the differences between the millions of varities of mics)
Mics can be any number of types from uni-directional (One direction) to omni-directional (all directions) and a variety in between. They can be dynamic, (no external power applied, merely magnetics) to condensers (which use batteries or phantom power to apply voltage to the parts of the mic)

To learn about JUST audio, I recommend starting with Chris Meyer's book on audio for DV, or even to some extent, Jay Rose' audio production for DV book. All of my books cover basic audio as well. You can also find several tutorials on just audio for DV at http://www.sundancemediagroup.com/help/kb There are over 40 audio tutorials there.

And heck info on DATs, MD recorders, and multitracks.

Douglas
I'd be really interested on your experience with this mic. I know Jay Massengill has just bought one and speaks kindly about it.

They're reasonably priced and have an interchageable capsule. They're also 1/3 of the price of a schoeps and mkh50

I had been looking at the Schoepsmk41 or mkh50, but if the AT will do a reasonable job.

It's a very hot mic, has a sweet high end, is great for voice and acoustic guitars, good for upper piano's too. It's crisp with an excellent bottom. I've never worked with a Shoeps 41, so can't comment.

Can anyone direct me to reasonably-priced buyout music that features Italian folk music (mandolins, light pieces, etc.)? I'd prefer something that lets me buy piece-meal, rather than an entire library, as I really want to keep costs down.

Alternatively, if anyone knows someplace that will license this stuff reasonably, I'd appreciate a reference.

Thanks.

(I'll need to do the same thing with Spanish/Basque music in a couple of months).

www.weed.com
Ask specifically or listen specifically to Rudy Sarzo's music. You can also email Rudy care of Sundance Media group, he does a lot of work for us. If you don't know who he is, he's the bass player for Ozzy Osbourne, Whitesnake, and formerly of Quiet Riot. He also has authored lots of Spanish/Cuban/Afro Cuban music. There are 2 Italian cuts from him as well.
Finally, there is a guy named Derek Keith who did some Italian music for a Sonic Fire library that was never released, I'll see if I can dig up any contact info for him.

Here are the specs:
http://minidisc.org/keep/walkman_specs_fy04.pdf

and the lowest end model that we'd want:
http://www.minidisc.org/part_Sony_MZ-NH700.html

"Record from multiple sources: USB-in / Mic-in /
Analogue-in / Digital-in"

At minidisc.org it says the device will record "Linear PCM 1.4mbps: 1h 34m" so the device has large enough storage, but is it still 44.1kHz? 48? This device seems not too shabby...I did a quick search and the going price is £199.95 here:
http://www.avland.co.uk/sony/mznh700/sony-mz-nh700.htm

I believe it's going to be 44.1. HiMD looks to be fantastic, but with no Mac support or at least optical out, it's not going to be of much help to me. Too bad. I love my current MD, and would like to continue with the format, but I'm not about to buy a PC for this reason alone. Sony comes awfully close to being reasonable for a change with this one, but I just wish they would go a little farther and ditch this NetMD crap altogether. If these units could only be connected like any other USB peripheral Sony would conquer the world with it. Still, I'm interested to see how this works out, and who knows, maybe they'll finally license the technology to a third party who will make Mac software. At the very least, all kinds of current minidisc stuff is about to get real cheap on e-bay.

Does anyone have any first hand experience regarding either of these two products they would like to pass along ?
Thank you

I found this review:
http://www.dv.com/reviews/reviews_item.jhtml?category=Hardware&LookupId=/xml/review/garrett0402

Has anybody used it? How's the sound quality with the flash card?

I haven't heard the MR8, but given that it's built with the same parts and manufacturer as the Zoom box, it's got to be pretty good. The Pre's are noisy on the Zoom, but all low priced pre's are noisy unless you've got a fairly hot mic and a fairly strong subject level.
Still, it's a PCM file, so if it's clean going in, it's clean coming out...
Seeing these just makes me laugh. When my band was on the road with ZZTop, we were in awe at the money Dusty had spent on a 'room' in the back of their bus, just for recording. And it didn't do near what these little suckers will do, for less than 1% of the cost.

A buddy and I did another mic comprarison. My oktava 012 with hyper capsule to his Neumann TLM103. We are in a fairly dead, but not very quiet room with both mics mounted eight inches away from my mouth, both up but at opposite sides. The oktava has a BBG on it, the Neumann has a pop screen in front of it. Both are run equal distances to a dual input preamp and recorded to seperate channels on the computer. The gain knobs are in the same position, which was a bit low, so I added 12db of gain to each track in Audition.

You can hear this comparison and a plug for donating to your local PBS station, by going to www.onequarterblue.com/mic_comparison enjoy.


P.S. I should mention that these clips were then converted to mp3 at 256kbs with a frequency limit set to 14000Hz.

Saw on a site that SENN G2 was due out "in Spring 2004." Does anyone have any more specific info on release date and any opinions on whether this is worth waiting for? (in terms of quality, ease of use, portability).

PS Saw an 8/03 thread here that the SENN G2 was "out in a few weeks." What happened?

Sound Devices has added new pictures of their 7 series recorders. They have a cool-looking white housing. They've also posted video clips and are now claiming a Q2 release date.

http://www.sounddevices.com/products/7.htm

The 100 and 300 series are apparently available at
djmart now. Priced $50 more than the prior model. They have no word on the 500 series.
Curiously, their website does not list which
frequency range (i.e. A, B, or C) that they are offering.
B&H says April.
I think the size and weight reduction is worth the
wait. I guess the switch to AA batteries gives
a cost savings and longer run time.

Title says it all really, but I'm looking for a good quality recorder. On paper the devices look damned amazing and I might be tempted to link them with a pda as a portable recording solution.

Cheers
Aaron

I am curious about this mic.
Who can tell me more about it. Or who has heard it?

http://www.cadmics.com/gxl1200.htm

I just bought a Denecke AD-20 A/D converter from Core Sounds (sorry Chris, but none of the sponsors carry it) and when the box came it seemed a little heavy. I open it up, and dig around in the styrofoam peanuts. That's strange. There seems to be something else in there. Out comes not one, or even two, but SIX AD-20s. That's like two grand worth of gear! And the knucklehead FedEx guy had just left the box on top of the garbage can in front of our brownstone (I live in a pretty urban area). They seem like nice folks over at Core Sounds, so I'll send 'em back next week, but I'd be lying if I said unloading them on eBay didn't cross my mind.

Anyway, there's been nothing written about this unit in these forums, so I thought I'd write a little about my experience with it. I haven't had a lot of time to play with it, but it seems very rugged, and man is it quiet. I can't hear any self-noise. None. I know it's there, but this is my first experience recording with this type of gear and I'm really impressed. In fact, it makes me regret buying such an expensive mini-disc recorder since I'm bypassing its converter and pre-amp anyway. My advice to anyone looking to record on a mini-disc is buy the cheapest unit you can find on eBay (make sure it has the latest version of Atrac and manual recording) and spend the money on a good portable A/D converter. You'll end up spending about the same amount.

We're shooting tomorrow (Sunday) and I may use the unit. I usually never use new gear on a shoot, but I'd really like to give this a shot, so maybe I'll break my rule. I'll report back in here after I've used this thing for a while.

The E614 is a super-cardioid back-elektret condensor mic with a near flat frequencyresponce from 40 tot 20.000 Hz .

In Holland it is advised for € 199, incl. BTW. See Sennheiser.nl (http://www.sennheiser.nl/shop/productdetail.asp?id=2517).

I have not seen it yet on the German site.


Message in English from Mojo Pie (http://mojopie.ipbhost.com/index.php?showtopic=36) and in Dutch from Pro Audio Visie. (http://www.proaudiovisie.nl/assets/s2dmain.html?http://www.proaudiovisie.nl/nieuws/100000949a0fac902/10000094930fd6b7b.html)

NB.: In between I found more specs (http://www.sennheiserusa.com/newsite/productdetail.asp?transid=009895) on Sennheiser USA.

First off, I tried to search but didn't find anything, if i've missed a post somewhere I'm sorry.

I'm a high school senior and I need to buy a indoor/outdoor mic for around 100 dollars if possible.

Things I'm looking for:
No echo indoors while filming
Low ambience noise when filming outdoors

I'm also purchasing a DXA-6 beachtek adapter from b&h.

It would also be nice to use the mic with a boom stick incase the situation arises.

Is there even such a mic on the market?

I have a feeling that I'm going to get laughed at... but I'm running out of time before my film is due for our film fest.

Thanks guys!

-Kay