How many mics?

[Marco Leavitt]

I unwisely bought Sennheiser's large fitted case for its K6 series microphones, and now am filled with an irrational compulsion to fill the thing up. I already have an ME64 and an ME66, and have wanted an ME67 and ME65 for a while, but where will this stop? I'm curious to know how many different types of mics people own, and how often they use them. It seems like most people have a cardiod and a shotgun of some sort. What about an omni? Do you ever have an occasion to use one? When? We also have a few lavs and I'd like to get a good boundary mic someday. Sheesh. This stuff never ends.

[Dan Mumford]

I would say you should buy a mic as the need arises, especially if you know you will be using a particular type more than once. You may even want more than one of some types.

I cover meetings for our local Chamber of Commerce and Rotary Club. I have two wireless lavs, a wireless handheld, wired handheld and a shotgun. I got the XLR-BP3 Pro and can use just about all of them at the same time. (I can use only two wireless mics at a time)

I guess what I'm saying is to buy what you need. Of course ... if you have deep pockets, you could always buy two of each so you have back-ups!

Dan

[Matt Gettemeier]

The ONLY time I ever feel like I have too many mics is when I'm broke and I'm staring at a stash of mics that's worth more then my car... It's only then that I'll part with one... and soon after that something comes up and I wish I had it back.

I run into times where I want a particular medium shotgun... it's not even like I want just a medium shotgun... no I WANT a 416 for this because... blah, blah, blah.

Moral of the story? You can NEVER have too many mics.

[Jonathan Nicholas]

Staring at a selection of mics is like that dribbly thing homer simpson does... for me anyway

I have two hyper cardiod Audio Technica AT897s, two cardiod Rode NT1s, two Audio technica omni AT30s, a sure SM58 and a Rode NT3 large diaphram capacitor mic. I also have a sennheiser wireless mic.

Covers most eventualities, and I've bought them over the last five years.

Jon

[Ty Ford]

Sell em all and buy a 416 and a Schoeps cmc641, really.

Ty Ford

[Glenn Chan]

You might use an omni for music recording (although they're not too popular when doing multitrack) or as a handheld microphone that appears on camera.

If you look at your shooting situations you may find that you do not need to buy an omni.

[Matt Gettemeier]

I'm really glad Ty is on the boards... That was what I wanted to say, but it gets tiresome always having to be the bad guy...

If you look up any of my old posts over the last year or so you'll see where I was really aggressive in convincing people to get better mics... but the endless onslaught of "this is just as good" really wears me down to the point that I just figure use what you want, be happy, and just be realistic about it.

I had a post a year back where I said an AT4073a would outperform an me66 OR an me67 in ANY situation and man did that piss off a couple people...

In another thread I wanted to convince somebody in the value of something that's $109 instead of $50 for the cheap version... then the conversation went to modding the cheapy for an extra $20... so then we're $39 away from the pro-solution. How many times can you try to convince somebody that it's worth $39 to go pro? There are so many conversations on this board over $10-$20 savings on stuff that it kills me... sorry for the rant. Thanks.

[Marco Leavitt]

Ty and Matt: I'm definitely planning to get pro mics eventually, but I'm not sure that the time is now. For one thing, at our level, audio gear seems to take the biggest beating out of all the equipment we own. Mics get dropped. Boom poles get banged into walls. We've had to train a depressing number of boom ops who all take their own speed to figure everything out. Our present guy is real good, but who knows, school could take him out of town at any time. Handing someone a $1,200 mic to learn on, just doesn't seem like the best strategy right now. Since I'm still learning myself, I like the modular configuration of the K6 series. It's a fairly inexpensive way to see how different polar patterns act in a given environment. It also limits our risk -- if a capsule were to get banged up, the power supply would likely still be fine. There may be better mid-range microphones. I don't know. Like I said, I'm still learning. But I figure that in a few years, when I've moved on to Schoeps, Neumann, and other high-end mics, the ones I'm collecting right now will still have their place for riskier situations.

[Ty Ford]

Marco,

I would be remiss if I didn't point you to the good stuff.

There are a million ways to say, "no." You do what you do, knowing, of course, that every second of audio your record could be better. :)

If you can't teach someone NOT to drop the mic, what does that say?

BTW, I've dropped both my 416 and Schoeps and they're still workin'.

Again, I would not invest in ANY more capsules for that system. I'd start saving for a 416 or a cmc641.

Regards,

Ty

[Bryan Beasleigh]

The only thing better than an MK41 is two mk41's.

My MK41 and MKH 60 pretty well do the trick.

If you spend any time on RAMPS or RAP the same 4 or 5 mics get constant repetition. there are many discussions where people will duke it oiut over a MKH416 vs a 60 or a MKH50 vs a Schoeps. At that end of the spectrum, it's all decent gear and it becomes personal preference.

When you don't want to put your $1400 Schoeps or Sennheiser in harms way you can always dig out your ME66, Oktavas or AT's.

There is no shame in owning an Oktava, Sennheiser K6 series, AKG ULS or Blue Line or any of the other fine mics available and there is no real reason to get rid of them when you get something better.

Ty very kindly showed me the difference between the MK41 and others. He made me realize that the Schoeps just make most of the competition just sound bad. "That's what a mic should sound like"

He didn't put words in my mouth but gave me the ammunition to make a judgement. I bought the MK41 on the recomendation of Jacques and Ty. After paying out over $1600 Canadian I can tell you i was sweating when I did my first comparison. i actually didn't even need to complete it.

[Ty Ford]

Mr. Beasleigh was a rather tough customer; very difficult to persuade. If you look up the word persistent in the dictionary, you'lll see a picture of him. I don't know of anyone who agonized as much as he over whether or not to plunk down the money. I would swear he has 100% Scotsman's blood.

As he explains, fortunately, the story ended well. He and I have yet to begin discussions on other matters. My knuckles must heal first. :)

Regards,

Ty Ford

[Bryan Beasleigh]

Ty the minute you sent me the clip, my mind was made up. Up until I actually heard the comparison, there was no way i'd plunk down that much cash.

No one should blindly take someone elses word about a purchase of that magnitude.

Trew opened a branch in TO and it took very few minutes to agree on my MKH60 once I was able to compare it . i did like the 60 better than the 416 but that's a personal call and either one is top shelf stuff.

The same holds true for the better gear ie: Van Den Burg pole, K-Tek shock mounts, Rycote softies.

As a resource I would recomend Ty's book. I suspect the book is a labor of love rather than a moneymaker. There is no way this much legwork can ever be paid back by the sale of a few books.

Visit Ty's site and be prepared to stay a while, he has done a fair number of reviews . He's a sound engineer , an actor and a highly regarded VO talent.