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#1 |
Inner Circle
Join Date: May 2004
Location: USA
Posts: 3,005
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Stereo Microphones and ATT822
I inherited an Audio Technica ATT 822 stereo condenser microphone which I'm told is a quality mic but it seems to be on the quite side. I've check the battery but compared to phantom power mics such as the oktava mk12, the internal mics on my camera or digital recorder the levels are substantially lower. Are all battery powered condenser mics less sensitive?
My other question is about stereo mics, what benefit is there over a mono mic? All of my equipment can't utilize the ATT822 stereo capability and only see it as a mono, that includes my Sony Z1u, Fx1, and Zoom H4 digital recorder. Most of my work is filming live events. I set up an off camera mic to record the ambient sound, I want to use the ATT822 for this purpose but I find my octava 12 has greater sensitivity. So should I sell the ATT822 because I don't see a purpose for the mic (at least for my situation). Would it be a mistake to get a large diaphragm omni mic to record dance recitals/plays/other live events, or should I stick with my oktava mk12, or get another oktava for a stereo pair? |
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#2 |
Regular Crew
Join Date: May 2007
Location: Hants, UK
Posts: 185
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The AT822 has an output sensitivity of 5.6mV/Pa - cold!
http://www.microphone-data.com/microphone.asp?mic=149 The Oktava MK12 outputs 10mV/Pa - kind of tepid (I have two of these mics, non matched) http://www.microphone-data.com/microphone.asp?mic=606 I like M/S recording with the AT BP4029, nice and hot at 31.6mV/Pa http://www.microphone-data.com/microphone.asp?mic=154 Of course this says nothing in particular about the mic self-noise, I just like it when I don't have to crank the gain so much. If the AT822 doesn't do it for you, sell it.
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#3 |
Inner Circle
Join Date: May 2004
Location: USA
Posts: 3,005
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Since I'm a not an audio expert, I wanted to ask before selling it, to make sure it wasn't user error, or an inherit characteristic of that type of mic. In the past I used what ever equipment was made available or buy a mic with the most positive reviews/stars without fully understanding how to use it. Now that I'm gaining more experience, I can see a lot of negative comments are made by people who are using it improperly or for an application that it wasn't intended for.
I have a hard time making sense of the sensitivity specs because each manufacture lists them at different db/voltage, so I've given up trying to compare them. Looks like I have to register to read the links you posted, but the specs you listed support my personal experience. It isn't always clear that a mic won't be good for a certain application until you try it or can understand how the specs/type of mic will impact your desired use. I now can see that ATT822 is designed to be used close up, capturing a person's voice and the lower sensitivity combined with the built in wind screen makes it an advantage, reducing the pops of speaking, but those characteristics don't lend themselves to recording at a fixed location that isn't close to the source. Btw, I'm not saying its a bad or noisy mic, its just too cold for what I need it to do, recording live events at a distance. In a perfect world, the person on stage would be properly miced or know how project their voice, but that's often not the case so its better for me to have a mic that has to extra sensitivity in reserve to use at those moments not one that is maxed out with no where to go. |
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#4 | ||
Inner Circle
Join Date: Mar 2005
Location: Hamilton, Ontario, Canada
Posts: 5,742
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Remember that a mic with a reserve of sensitivity will have increased pickup of the audience shuffling their feet, sound reflections from the walls and ceiling, etc, as well as the speaker's voice - you're boosting the bad with the good, canceling out the benefits of the increased sensitivity. Quote:
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#5 | ||
Inner Circle
Join Date: May 2004
Location: USA
Posts: 3,005
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#6 | |
Inner Circle
Join Date: Mar 2005
Location: Hamilton, Ontario, Canada
Posts: 5,742
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#7 |
Regular Crew
Join Date: Aug 2006
Location: Ithaca, NY
Posts: 122
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I bought an AT822 off of Ebay and it also only seems to record mono. Anyone have any ideas about this? Thanks!
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#8 |
Inner Circle
Join Date: Nov 2005
Location: Lowestoft - UK
Posts: 4,039
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Don't forget the output on the AT822 is non-standard. It uses the normal 3 pin xlr, but has an unbalanced output, with the left and right outputs on pins 2 and 3, ground as usual on 1.
When you use a standard xlr-xlr cable then what you actually record is the output of the two capsules BUT with reverse polarity, so it does very odd things to the output. It orginally came with an xlr to two 3.5mm plugs and an xlr to one 3.5mm three circuit 'stereo' type plug. I have seen people who have lost the cable use these mics, not even knowing they are stereo! Also worth noting that what you have is a compact quite decent sounding stereo mic - but it isn't remotely designed to be a shotgun style - record at a greater distance mic. Stuck on a stand in front of a choir, it works really well - it's designed for big, loudish sound sources. If you want to record what is in front of the camera, I'd probably use the one in the camera, rather than one of these. |
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#9 | ||
Inner Circle
Join Date: May 2004
Location: USA
Posts: 3,005
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Going back to what I said earlier its often not made clear to the buyer these important details. For a long time I thought stereo mic ok plug in and get stereo. hmmm its not working???? better use my good old stardard mono mic because I can't figure out why its not working. Last edited by Pete Cofrancesco; June 13th, 2009 at 02:21 PM. |
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#10 | |
Regular Crew
Join Date: Aug 2006
Location: Ithaca, NY
Posts: 122
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-JP |
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