And remember that there is considerable difference between the older AT873r and the new U873r. The new version (which I still have no personal experience with) is much lower noise but also much lower sensitivity versus the AT873r, which I've used extensively. They both have greater sensitivity in the bass region than the NT3, which is probably contributing to sounding better in VO but didn't add much to the female singer.
The new U873r and all the other new Unipoint line from Audio-Technica is supposed to be immune to cell-phone interference. Certainly the older version was "great" at picking up any nearby phone/e-mail communicator.
Have you used the U873r on a boom yet for dialogue? If it has enough sensitivity it could be a great low-cost solution. I feel like it would need a preamp or mixer though to be most successful.

[QUOTE=JThe new U873r and all the other new Unipoint line from Audio-Technica is supposed to be immune to cell-phone interference. Certainly the older version was "great" at picking up any nearby phone/e-mail communicator.
Have you used the U873r on a boom yet for dialogue?[/QUOTE]


What would happen when the older AT873 would pick
up a nearby phone? You'd hear peoples' conversations
on your mic?

Haven't tried the newer U873 on a boom yet. Have
used the NT3 a bit on boom instead, but now after
hearing the comparison at 1' distance I'd like
to compare the two mic's at 2' to 4'!
When I get around to it I'll post back what I
find out.

One area I'd be interested in, besides
tone of the mic's, would be ambiant rejection.
I just did some sit-down one-person interviews
where I used a handheld reporter's mic. Sound was
okay but visually it would have been better to
have the mic off-camera. I'm thinkinga about
trying a mic placed on a short table-top
mic stand in front of the interviewee. I'm thinking
the 873 might work out well here. One thing
I'm wondering about is if it would be effective
to use a small enclosure for the mic such as
the one that Spot showed on the Vasst site,
where you carry the 4 pieces and assemble that
on location. I'm wondering if this would help to
cut out ambiant noise. I could cut out the mic enclosure
with a tight talking-head shot.
Does anyone know if the video for the construction
of this portable sound booth is still posted?

No conversations, just digital beeping, clicking and buzzing.
I have no idea how that enclosure would affect them when used at a distance from the talent. When shooting down at a typical booming angle, about 45-degrees, I've never had a significant problem with ambience with either the AT873r or the NT3.

Thank you, Steve. The OPs later post that speaks in favor of the wireless lav is a good idea. The counter post of being aware that different countries use different parts of the RF spectrum for different things and you could well be violating the law by using US wireless gear is quite valid.

SOME MORE THOUGHTS
1. I love a good boom mic. You're a one man band forget the boom mic idea.

2. Last week I was combo micing boom and lav split on a IT guy in a computer room. In that case, even with our attempts at lessening the noise, there were moments when the lav won because it was a few inches closer than the schoeps cmc641. Write this down...THE CLOSER THE BETTER....I can guarantee that humping a mic and stand so you can set it up several feet from the person talking will be underwhelming to downright nasty.

3. FOR YOUR GIG, in addition to your on-camera mic, get a hard wired lav. Let your ears decide. I like a Countryman B6 and EMW lavs. I DO like a mixer with a good limiter because it protects you from overs and lets you record a hotter signal. The Sound Devices MixPre is such a mixer if your camera has line level inputs. The more expensive 302 (more channels, and other useful stuff) has line or mic level outputs.

I don't like Beachtek boxes. Sorry. It's an inconvenient truth, but you need more if you want to take your audio to the next level.

Regards,

Ty Ford

PS. I have a Rode SVM clip up in my public folder. (Not the mic for this gig unless you have no on camera mic and need one.)

It seems like the U873R has more
proximity effect than the NT3.

For anyone who's interested:

I ended up using the NT3 on a mic stand for any interviews I had to do with the ME66 on a mic stand as backup. Although I purchased a wireless lapel - I never actually used it and I felt the audio from the mics would be better after a bit of testing.

Despite the fact that all the locations were horrible audio wise (flight path, generators, loud crowds, air conditioners, etc.) the audio actually turned out OK.

Thanks to EVERYONE who offered their views, thoughts and suggestions!