filter question

[Philip Fass]

If you have a shotgun mic and field mixer, and both have low cut filters and pads with similar specs, how do you decide which to use -- the ones on the mic or the mixer?

Also, would you ever use both filters or both pads at the same time?

[Rick Reineke]

All things being equal, it would normally be better to engage the LF filter on the mic, before it's hits a mixers electronics stage, which usually contains the mixer's own LF filter.. However filters are rarely the same, having different frequencies and slopes, so whatever sounds better and does the job.
Unlike many mixers, the SD mixer filter is prior to the pre-amp.

[Philip Fass]

So if you had the SD mixer, would that affect your choice of mic vs mixer filter?

[Brian P. Reynolds]

Use your ears and know your gear.... Use JUST enough to solve the problem.
The ears are the ultimate test of anything.

[Allan Black]

It all depends on the source sounds and where your finished product is going.

For voice and sound fx in the consumer world, anything under 40Hz means trouble .. if they're available generally we use the pads and filters in the mics. the reason is to stop any audio spikes and low, maybe subsonic frequencies swamping the following preamps.

As a result in this case, there are no low cuts set in the SD302s mixers, but likely the audio limiters are in circuit.

If we're using mics which have no pad of filters, then of course they can be in circuit in the mixers.

Music is a different animal, and when you break that down to acoustic, classical, rock, heavy rock, metal and experimental, any combination may do the job and the more you record, the better you'll get with your finished product.

One of the most important aspects is the choice of mics used .. the saying goes; the worst mic in the best position is better than the best mic in the worst position. Get the best headphones you can, usually Sony 7506 are recommended and spend an hour a day listening to the music of your choice.
Hope this helps.

Cheers.

[Philip Fass]

Allan, your comments bring to mind another question: Is there no such thing as a good, older audio mixer (person, not equipment)? Those of us over 50 often don't have the best hearing, so maybe we're not in the best position to judge the sound. I have tinnitus, and I'd bet it's a lot worse for judging sound than having a bad pair of headphones.

[Gary Nattrass]

For voice and location sound recording with capacitor mic's I tend to put an 80hz filter on as default if it is there on the mic. Some of the mics I use such as the AT875r already roll off at this point anyway.

My mixer has 80 and 160hz available and if the wind noise is really bad I would use the 160 option to stop any overloading of the mic amps due to wind buffeting or to get rid of any traffic rumble.

I worked for many years in audio post with AMS Neve digital consoles and most of the time had a 90-100hz high pass filter on the dialogue tracks, I would warm them up a bit my adding a little LF at around 150hz and some sparkle at 6-8khz depending on the quality of the location sound, I also know that the film dubbing guys would be even more brutal with LF filtering so that it leaves all the LF to the music and sound effects.

If I am recording music in a quiet environment I would possibly leave the 80hz filter out but would be using studio mics anyway and not location mics designed to record speech or sound efffects.