How crucial is great audio quality really?

[Colin Rowe]

Glad it helped Nigel. I have a couple of the 4016 with 1 metre cable (much neater for placement). The mics are described as unidirectional, but they seem to veer more on the omnidirectional side. Perfect on the groom. Pointing downward, they pick up everthing from the groom, bride and vicar. An excellent mic, and the price is unbelievable.

[Nigel Barker]

Pointing downward, they pick up everthing from the groom, bride and vicar.[/QUOTE]This is a trick that we picked up on a while ago. I wish I could remember who recommended it to me as it's very effective for getting good audio from all three participants without having to adjust the levels down every time the groom speaks. I not only place it upside down but also lower down on the groom's lapel so it's not far above his top button.

[Chris Harding]

Hi Nigel

The upside down is a new one for me but I have always kept the groom's mic low down just above the top button too!! Makes the audio a lot more even as you say and no powerful groom audio and thin bride audio.

Please explain the theory behind placing the mic upside down??? It sounds like it certainly works but I would love to know the reason. Going to try it on tomorrows wedding I think!!

Chris

[Colin Rowe]

Chris. Its an old trick, main benefit is, it helps to stop pops in the audio

[Nigel Barker]

Originally Posted by Colin Rowe

Chris. Its an old trick, main reason is, it helps to stop pops in the audio

Yes, even if you are using the lav mic for just one speaker & have it high up on the lapel then the theory is that it reduces any plosive pops (not often I get the chance to use the word 'plosive':-)

[Chris Harding]

Interesting! I wouldn't have thought that you would pick up any pops with the mic 12" away...I never have ..I was thinking maybe it got some added output from floor reflections as well.

I was always of the opinion that if sound is going to travel it would rather go upwards, but I'm no sound engineer of course....Does it give you some degree of attenuation with the mic pointing at the floor??? or doesn't it seem to make any difference. I have laid a boundary mic on a bridal table when speeches are done from there and it's quite amazing how well it will grab audio even from 2 metres away..however you do tend to lose a lot of low frequency response.

I will try the upside down idea !! Maybe a test at home is a good idea first?

Thanks Guys

Chris

[Colin Rowe]

Chris.
It will be slightly better with an omni mic

[Peter Riding]

Chris, definitely test it out first at home. I got caught out badly when a lav which I had assumed was omnidirectional turned out to be cardioid :- (

You'll often see lavs angled downwards on TV guests and announcers.

Pete

[James Kuhn]

To all...very interesting discussion. I was also caught completely off-guard regarding the "audio side". Luckily, I had DVI and the fine folks who frequent the 'Forum' to get me back on 'track' (pun intended). I started with a RODE NTG-3 Shotgun and a Sennheiser G-3 kit, both helped me get through my first project, a documentary on serial killers submitted to Sundance Committee for review. I added a couple of impedance matched stereo microphones, AKG 414 XLS and AKG 451 b, for ensemble musical recording and a Sound-Devices SD-302 mixer with a Marantz PMD-661 digital recorder. I have several mic stands I use since I'm a one-man operation.

IMHO, audio is 98% of video. Human beings are "wired" to fill-in the visual gaps, but bad audio will degrade the overall visual experience for most viewer's. JMHO, YMMV.

Best regards,

J.

[Rob Cantwell]

I'd agree that audio especially the spoken word is vital, you can get by with poor video but if you cant hear clearly whats been spoken it's really annoying.

I often see on TV interviews that people wear what looks like a double lav mike and yeah most appear to point downward, why the double one?

[Zoran Vincic]

Second lav is used for backup and sometimes it is used if the host is not en face to the camera and switches sides (usually if they have guests on both sides).

I always point a omni lav down with one exception, if I have poor S/N ratio then I'll try to stuck it right under the speakers throat to get the voice as loud as I can, compromising quality (which is already compromised by the background noise).

[Rob Cantwell]

ah! ok thanks

:-)

[Dave Blackhurst]

Originally Posted by Rob Cantwell

I'd agree that audio especially the spoken word is vital, you can get by with poor video but if you cant hear clearly whats been spoken it's really annoying.

I often see on TV interviews that people wear what looks like a double lav mike and yeah most appear to point downward, why the double one?

I've got one of those "double mics" - two capsules side by side on one mount - first thing is it records "stereo", rather than being a mono mic signal, and if I understand the theory correctly, the two mics should cancel some audio interference (or allow you to do it in post?). IIRC, the mounting of the mics upside down is to get a better overall audio mix without pops and boomyness - seem to recall a thread in the audio section here referring to a "mic loop" or something like that - there was an "industry term" for the technique.

[Mark Ahrens]

So, i tried the upside down lav mic trick . . . but, at the last minute it was decided to mic the officiant.
He had a 3 ring binder that he read from and must have had 30pt type because he turned about 20 pages and they sounded crystal clear! Lesson learned.