Microphone recommendation at DVinfo.net

Tyrone Payne · February 7th, 2004, 02:45 PM

I'm looking for an on-camera microphone that will improve the sound quality for my low end camcorder, (trv38). I've narrowed it down to two microphones, the Azden SGM-X shotgun microphone, or the Sony ECM-Z37C shotgun microphone. Which one do you guys recommend, or do you recommend something different?

Tyrone

Glenn Chan · February 7th, 2004, 02:49 PM

I'd go to a Sony store and try that shotgun out compared to the Sony MS908/907 and the Azden if you can. Check how much sound the shotgun rejects and the sound quality of it on headphones. I'd definitely try a mic before buying it, since some Sony mics suck even more than the on-board camera mic.

Tyrone Payne · February 7th, 2004, 07:26 PM

Yeah, I wish I could test these mics, but there aren't any Sony stores around here. I'm wondering if anyone has any experience with these mics?

Tyrone

Frank Granovski · February 7th, 2004, 08:12 PM

I would just get the Sony. I had a Sony mic and it worked well..., until it broke. :-((

Jan Roovers · February 10th, 2004, 12:35 PM

Samson has a very nice C02 - Pencil Condenser which sounds very well.
They are very cheap, sold as stereopair; have a little less detail as much more expensive mics, but sound great.
I heard them in a shop. They will not disappoint you: great value for the money.

http://www.samsontech.com/products/p...1664&brandID=2

a first soundsample is on
http://www1.keyboards.de/magazine/m1203/312130wp.html

Glenn Chan · February 10th, 2004, 07:49 PM

Frank, which Sony did you have?

I've used a 930C stereo mic from Sony before and that was a super lemon. Worse than the on-board mic. I've listened a little bit to the MS908 (or 907), and that mic sounds pretty decent. For ambient sound it's a great mic. It should be a good replacement for the on-board camcorder mic.

I wouldn't buy the Sony shotgun unless you get to listen to it first, or know from someone who has. There are a number of issues you can run into:
A- It could sound bad.
B- It might pick up a lot of handling and wind noise.
C- You may not like its off-axis response. Depending on what you do this can be ok (i.e. you're not is a reverberant room, your mic is pointed at what you want). Even really expensive shotguns don't have good off-axis response.

Krishna Narayanamurti · February 18th, 2004, 04:50 AM

<<<-- Originally posted by Jan Roovers : Samson has a very nice C02 - Pencil Condenser which sounds very well.
They are very cheap, sold as stereopair; have a little less detail as much more expensive mics, but sound great.
I heard them in a shop. They will not disappoint you: great value for the money.
-->>>

Jan, could you tell us a little more about the Samson C02 mics? Can these mics pick up decent sound at a substantial distance from the camera?

Jan Roovers · February 18th, 2004, 06:06 AM

I have started a page with some private experiences with microphones.
So nothing profesional but my first jump into this world.

There you will find another sample with the Samson C02.

I was surprised about its quality. It gives less depth as a Sennheiser or a Neumannn of course, but as you will hear, the sound is very very acceptable not to say very good.

Regarding its price and to my opinion it is worth to have it. You will not go wrong with it. It is worth the money

Another tip is to get the Sennheiser E664 as you will see on the page. It is cheaper as the ME64/K6 and exactly the same mic.
I have to go to Germany for that, because thay are not sold in the Netherlands.:-( They are sold for € 259,-here K6/ME64 is sold for € 414,-

Tyrone Payne · February 19th, 2004, 05:17 PM

Thanks for the input guys, but I'm settling on the Sennheiser MKE300.

Tyrone

Young Lee · February 23rd, 2004, 03:32 PM

Glenn, the Z37C is a totally different mic.

Bryan Beasleigh · February 23rd, 2004, 11:42 PM

Glen
What camera and mic do you ownright now?

Glenn Chan · February 24th, 2004, 12:04 AM

This is embarassing...
I have a Samsung SCD55 mini-DV camera that's mostly crappy. The only task it is good at is shooting stop motion (even then it's not that good). It has an incredibly bad on-board microphone and no shoe mount. At least the camera can read other people's mini-DV footage (but with some problems :/).

Well at least I'll be able to use some decent gear next year at Ryerson. First year is mostly audio. We can borrow $2000 Tascam portable DAT recorders and then capture recordings into a Soundblaster card via analog...

Rob Hester · February 24th, 2004, 04:56 PM

So glenn you would be 17 now right? Do you live in toronto, or nearby?

My Film TA said that York has a good film making class, have you looked into applying there?

Bryan Beasleigh · February 24th, 2004, 06:51 PM

I had always thought Ryerson to be the best tech school.

Glenn Chan · February 25th, 2004, 12:33 AM

Quote:

So glenn you would be 17 now right? Do you live in toronto, or nearby?

My Film TA said that York has a good film making class, have you looked into applying there?

No, I'm 18 right now. Live in Toronto (50 minute commute).

I considered York film studies, but didn't get in and Ryerson was my first choice anyways. York seems to be a lot more theoretical- you actually learn about Eisenstein and film history there.

Some of the Ryerson facilities/equipment is a bit questionable but I figure you don't need to be a quality whore to learn as much as you can, as long as the stuff works pretty well. Sometimes the equipment leaves something to be desired. Recording foley without a foley studio and with dynamic mics (ok preamps on the Tascam) will have too much noise in some situations.

I'm pretty sure I'm learning more technical stuff reading Jay's books than in a classroom, but I get to do hands on things and receive feedback, work in groups, learn about creative aspects and other things which you may not get studying by yourself or by interning/volunteering.

February 7th, 2004, 02:45 PM	#1
Tyrone Payne New Boot Join Date: Feb 2004 Location: Fairfax, Virginia Posts: 6	Microphone recommendation I'm looking for an on-camera microphone that will improve the sound quality for my low end camcorder, (trv38). I've narrowed it down to two microphones, the Azden SGM-X shotgun microphone, or the Sony ECM-Z37C shotgun microphone. Which one do you guys recommend, or do you recommend something different? Tyrone

February 10th, 2004, 12:35 PM	#5
Jan Roovers Regular Crew Join Date: Mar 2003 Location: Amsterdam NL -Turnhout BE Posts: 158	Samson has a very nice C02 - Pencil Condenser which sounds very well. They are very cheap, sold as stereopair; have a little less detail as much more expensive mics, but sound great. I heard them in a shop. They will not disappoint you: great value for the money. http://www.samsontech.com/products/p...1664&brandID=2 a first soundsample is on http://www1.keyboards.de/magazine/m1203/312130wp.html __________________ ___________ Jan Roovers www.jtv.be

February 18th, 2004, 06:06 AM	#8
Jan Roovers Regular Crew Join Date: Mar 2003 Location: Amsterdam NL -Turnhout BE Posts: 158	I have started a page with some private experiences with microphones. So nothing profesional but my first jump into this world. There you will find another sample with the Samson C02. I was surprised about its quality. It gives less depth as a Sennheiser or a Neumannn of course, but as you will hear, the sound is very very acceptable not to say very good. Regarding its price and to my opinion it is worth to have it. You will not go wrong with it. It is worth the money Another tip is to get the Sennheiser E664 as you will see on the page. It is cheaper as the ME64/K6 and exactly the same mic. I have to go to Germany for that, because thay are not sold in the Netherlands.:-( They are sold for € 259,-here K6/ME64 is sold for € 414,- __________________ ___________ Jan Roovers www.jtv.be

February 24th, 2004, 04:56 PM	#13
Rob Hester Regular Crew Join Date: Aug 2003 Location: Toronto, Ontario Posts: 113	So glenn you would be 17 now right? Do you live in toronto, or nearby? My Film TA said that York has a good film making class, have you looked into applying there? __________________ JVC DV3000U - 30P (non-interlaced) capture on a budget - tests@http://robvideo.netfirms.com

February 7th, 2004, 02:49 PM	#2
Glenn Chan Inner Circle Join Date: Jun 2003 Location: Toronto, Canada Posts: 4,750	I'd go to a Sony store and try that shotgun out compared to the Sony MS908/907 and the Azden if you can. Check how much sound the shotgun rejects and the sound quality of it on headphones. I'd definitely try a mic before buying it, since some Sony mics suck even more than the on-board camera mic.

February 7th, 2004, 07:26 PM	#3
Tyrone Payne New Boot Join Date: Feb 2004 Location: Fairfax, Virginia Posts: 6	Yeah, I wish I could test these mics, but there aren't any Sony stores around here. I'm wondering if anyone has any experience with these mics? Tyrone

February 7th, 2004, 08:12 PM	#4
Frank Granovski Outer Circle Join Date: May 2002 Location: Hope, BC Posts: 7,524	I would just get the Sony. I had a Sony mic and it worked well..., until it broke. :-((

February 10th, 2004, 07:49 PM	#6
Glenn Chan Inner Circle Join Date: Jun 2003 Location: Toronto, Canada Posts: 4,750	Frank, which Sony did you have? I've used a 930C stereo mic from Sony before and that was a super lemon. Worse than the on-board mic. I've listened a little bit to the MS908 (or 907), and that mic sounds pretty decent. For ambient sound it's a great mic. It should be a good replacement for the on-board camcorder mic. I wouldn't buy the Sony shotgun unless you get to listen to it first, or know from someone who has. There are a number of issues you can run into: A- It could sound bad. B- It might pick up a lot of handling and wind noise. C- You may not like its off-axis response. Depending on what you do this can be ok (i.e. you're not is a reverberant room, your mic is pointed at what you want). Even really expensive shotguns don't have good off-axis response.

February 18th, 2004, 04:50 AM	#7
Krishna Narayanamurti Regular Crew Join Date: Jul 2003 Location: Los Angeles, CA Posts: 52	<<<-- Originally posted by Jan Roovers : Samson has a very nice C02 - Pencil Condenser which sounds very well. They are very cheap, sold as stereopair; have a little less detail as much more expensive mics, but sound great. I heard them in a shop. They will not disappoint you: great value for the money. -->>> Jan, could you tell us a little more about the Samson C02 mics? Can these mics pick up decent sound at a substantial distance from the camera?

February 19th, 2004, 05:17 PM	#9
Tyrone Payne New Boot Join Date: Feb 2004 Location: Fairfax, Virginia Posts: 6	Thanks for the input guys, but I'm settling on the Sennheiser MKE300. Tyrone

February 23rd, 2004, 03:32 PM	#10
Young Lee Major Player Join Date: Aug 2003 Location: Orange County, CA Posts: 268	Glenn, the Z37C is a totally different mic.

February 23rd, 2004, 11:42 PM	#11
Bryan Beasleigh Trustee Join Date: May 2002 Location: Barrie, Ontario, Canada Posts: 1,922	Glen What camera and mic do you ownright now?

February 24th, 2004, 12:04 AM	#12
Glenn Chan Inner Circle Join Date: Jun 2003 Location: Toronto, Canada Posts: 4,750	This is embarassing... I have a Samsung SCD55 mini-DV camera that's mostly crappy. The only task it is good at is shooting stop motion (even then it's not that good). It has an incredibly bad on-board microphone and no shoe mount. At least the camera can read other people's mini-DV footage (but with some problems :/). Well at least I'll be able to use some decent gear next year at Ryerson. First year is mostly audio. We can borrow $2000 Tascam portable DAT recorders and then capture recordings into a Soundblaster card via analog...

February 24th, 2004, 06:51 PM	#14
Bryan Beasleigh Trustee Join Date: May 2002 Location: Barrie, Ontario, Canada Posts: 1,922	I had always thought Ryerson to be the best tech school.