Good mic to pick up wedding 'ambience' at DVinfo.net

Jeff Toogood · December 13th, 2004, 09:10 AM

I am trying to get a idea on what to use for a on-camera microphone that will be just for gettting some ambience sounds (music, cheering etc.)
I have tried the Sennheiser ME66 and found that it was too sensitive and was overloading on me when people began cheering.

Ideally I want something that sounds similiar to my onboard microphone on the GL2, however once I attach my wireless the onboard mic is cut-off.

I am thinking of a Omni or Cardoid mic, perhaps the AT3031 or the ATM10a.

Also speaking of the AT3031 I notice it runs on phantom power, how much phantom power is required for this mic to work? I am thinking of getting a samson mixpad that will have 18V when using battery power, is that sufficient for this microphone?

Davi Dortas · December 13th, 2004, 10:27 AM

ME66's shouldn't be used indoors, or for that matter, any shotgun microphone, since they are prone to pick up reflections and color the sound when not directly in front.

Try XY Stereo-point mics, cardiods or omnis as they work much better in capturing ambient noises, especially indoors.

I don't know about the mics of those handycams, but I used a GL1 one time and the sound quality was awful. Way too much high-frequency hiss and peaking.

I find recording ambient noises in manual gain also makes a huge difference.

Jimmy McKenzie · December 13th, 2004, 10:35 AM

I often use my me66 in place of the stock xl1 mic. I understand your comment about the clipping, you really have to anticipate the surge of sound pressure.
I'm not sure about coloration. Perhaps Davi can explain.

Thanks - Jimmy.

Jay Massengill · December 13th, 2004, 12:00 PM

Generally speaking, mics that are more directional tend to sound worse when a large percentage of the sound from in front of the mic is also getting reflected back to the sides and rear of the mics, such as a reverberent indoor situation.
Higher quality directional mics suffer less from this condition.

The AT3031 cardioid, the AT3021 omni, the ATM10a omni or the ATM31a cardioid would all be good candidates for ambient mics that would also have great uses in other areas too. The cardioids would get my vote as the most versatile.
The 30 series needs 11-52 volts phantom. The ATM mics can run on either AA battery or 9-52 volts phantom.

The K6/ME66 has a very high output, which can easily overload a mic input designed for low sensitivity mics unless you use additional attenuation between the mic and the camera. The recording level controls won't help with this situation.
These AT mics listed have moderate sensitivity and will work well for ambience.

Rob Kroeger · December 16th, 2004, 07:41 PM

Hey There! Thanks very much, Jay, for recomending this mic to me for picking up football & basketball game ambience, mentioned in a seperate post. It should be here in a few days, I just hope it wont cause problems when I plug it into my audio Y-Splitter to make 2 mics 3.

Right now the problem is when your watching one of the games on the station I shoot for, the only thing you can hear are the commentators and *barley* come cheers \ background noise when theres mic silence. Im hoping this helps me out. Thanks again, Jay! I'll let you all know how it works with the GL1's and GL2's I use there. Take it easy!

Ty Ford · December 18th, 2004, 11:16 PM

<<<-- Originally posted by Rob Kroeger : Hey There! Thanks very much, Jay, for recomending this mic to me for picking up football & basketball game ambience, mentioned in a seperate post. It should be here in a few days, I just hope it wont cause problems when I plug it into my audio Y-Splitter to make 2 mics 3.

Right now the problem is when your watching one of the games on the station I shoot for, the only thing you can hear are the commentators and *barley* come cheers \ background noise when theres mic silence. Im hoping this helps me out. Thanks again, Jay! I'll let you all know how it works with the GL1's and GL2's I use there. Take it easy! -->>>

STEP AWAY FROM THE SPLITTER CABLE. Um, it is not usually a good idea to use splitter cables for mics. It changes the load impedance the mic preamp is expecting to see and can allow the mics to interact with themselves. Strange changes in frequency response and/or distortion and level may result. Proceed with caution. The best bet is to use a 3 channel mixer.

Smiles,

Ty Ford

December 13th, 2004, 09:10 AM	#1
Jeff Toogood Major Player Join Date: Feb 2004 Location: St.Thomas, Ontario, CANADA Posts: 428	Good mic to pick up wedding 'ambience' I am trying to get a idea on what to use for a on-camera microphone that will be just for gettting some ambience sounds (music, cheering etc.) I have tried the Sennheiser ME66 and found that it was too sensitive and was overloading on me when people began cheering. Ideally I want something that sounds similiar to my onboard microphone on the GL2, however once I attach my wireless the onboard mic is cut-off. I am thinking of a Omni or Cardoid mic, perhaps the AT3031 or the ATM10a. Also speaking of the AT3031 I notice it runs on phantom power, how much phantom power is required for this mic to work? I am thinking of getting a samson mixpad that will have 18V when using battery power, is that sufficient for this microphone? __________________ Toogood Studios

December 13th, 2004, 10:35 AM	#3
Jimmy McKenzie Major Player Join Date: Jan 2004 Location: Waterloo Ontario Posts: 721	don't use a directional indoors? I often use my me66 in place of the stock xl1 mic. I understand your comment about the clipping, you really have to anticipate the surge of sound pressure. I'm not sure about coloration. Perhaps Davi can explain. Thanks - Jimmy.

December 18th, 2004, 11:16 PM	#6
Ty Ford Inner Circle Join Date: Nov 2004 Location: Baltimore, MD USA Posts: 2,337	<<<-- Originally posted by Rob Kroeger : Hey There! Thanks very much, Jay, for recomending this mic to me for picking up football & basketball game ambience, mentioned in a seperate post. It should be here in a few days, I just hope it wont cause problems when I plug it into my audio Y-Splitter to make 2 mics 3. Right now the problem is when your watching one of the games on the station I shoot for, the only thing you can hear are the commentators and barley come cheers \ background noise when theres mic silence. Im hoping this helps me out. Thanks again, Jay! I'll let you all know how it works with the GL1's and GL2's I use there. Take it easy! -->>> STEP AWAY FROM THE SPLITTER CABLE. Um, it is not usually a good idea to use splitter cables for mics. It changes the load impedance the mic preamp is expecting to see and can allow the mics to interact with themselves. Strange changes in frequency response and/or distortion and level may result. Proceed with caution. The best bet is to use a 3 channel mixer. Smiles, Ty Ford __________________ Ty Ford's Audio Bootcamp Field Guide Ty Ford's Audio Video Blog

December 13th, 2004, 10:27 AM	#2
Davi Dortas Membership Suspended Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: Brazil Posts: 78	ME66's shouldn't be used indoors, or for that matter, any shotgun microphone, since they are prone to pick up reflections and color the sound when not directly in front. Try XY Stereo-point mics, cardiods or omnis as they work much better in capturing ambient noises, especially indoors. I don't know about the mics of those handycams, but I used a GL1 one time and the sound quality was awful. Way too much high-frequency hiss and peaking. I find recording ambient noises in manual gain also makes a huge difference.

December 13th, 2004, 12:00 PM	#4
Jay Massengill Trustee Join Date: Jul 2003 Location: Burlington Posts: 1,976	Generally speaking, mics that are more directional tend to sound worse when a large percentage of the sound from in front of the mic is also getting reflected back to the sides and rear of the mics, such as a reverberent indoor situation. Higher quality directional mics suffer less from this condition. The AT3031 cardioid, the AT3021 omni, the ATM10a omni or the ATM31a cardioid would all be good candidates for ambient mics that would also have great uses in other areas too. The cardioids would get my vote as the most versatile. The 30 series needs 11-52 volts phantom. The ATM mics can run on either AA battery or 9-52 volts phantom. The K6/ME66 has a very high output, which can easily overload a mic input designed for low sensitivity mics unless you use additional attenuation between the mic and the camera. The recording level controls won't help with this situation. These AT mics listed have moderate sensitivity and will work well for ambience.

December 16th, 2004, 07:41 PM	#5
Rob Kroeger Regular Crew Join Date: Nov 2004 Location: Saratoga Springs, Ut Posts: 31	Hey There! Thanks very much, Jay, for recomending this mic to me for picking up football & basketball game ambience, mentioned in a seperate post. It should be here in a few days, I just hope it wont cause problems when I plug it into my audio Y-Splitter to make 2 mics 3. Right now the problem is when your watching one of the games on the station I shoot for, the only thing you can hear are the commentators and barley come cheers \ background noise when theres mic silence. Im hoping this helps me out. Thanks again, Jay! I'll let you all know how it works with the GL1's and GL2's I use there. Take it easy!