Vive Surround Microphone

[Lee Mullen]

Dear sirs,

I am considering buying this microphone for my video camera and would like to request any user experience from other members.

eBay - New & used electronics, cars, apparel, collectibles, sporting goods & more at low prices

if you can suggest other similar product please inform.

Regards

Jalan

[Lee Mullen]

Appears to have good reviews.

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/500287-REG/Cascade_Audio_VIV100_Vive_Surround_Sound.html

[Chris Soucy]

Hi, Jalan............

IMHO (and I don't claim to be a Guru on this subject), which is based only on what I've read on the B&H site and a little experience of real audio capture, that thing is JUNK!

You can't even get single channel audio with any clarity under $400, Dolby 5.1 for $100? Get real.

These rip offs are breeding faster than rabbits.

Run, don't walk, away from this, no matter what the reviews say.


CS

[Steve House]

"Similar products?" If by that you mean real surround sound microphone systems, try googles on "Soundfield ST450" and "Holophone."

[Lee Mullen]

Originally Posted by Chris Soucy

IMHO (and I don't claim to be a Guru on this subject), which is based only on what I've read on the B&H site and a little experience of real audio capture, that thing is JUNK!

Have you actually bought one? How do you know this then?

[Lee Mullen]

Originally Posted by Steve House

"Similar products?" If by that you mean real surround sound microphone systems, try googles on "Soundfield ST450" and "Holophone."

megabucks. How can Panasonic put in a decent 5.1 mic in its new camcorders but a separate microphone is too hard to find for a decent price?

[Chris Soucy]

How do you know this then?

Well, let's start with the physical / electronic facts, shall we?

It is simply NOT POSSIBLE to pump 5.1 surround down a standard dual core ANALOGUE mic cable into ANALOGUE pre amps in a camera and expect anything to produce 5.1 surround from the resultant mess, can't be done, simple as that.

So, the claim for 5.1 surround must be bogus, hence the entire product, for a paltry $100, has to be a scam.

Look, buy it, try it, you're happy, everybody is happy, but just don't come back here saying you weren't warned, simple as that.

The reason the products Steve pointed to are so expensive is that to get "the real deal" costs magabucks, end of story.

I will take this with a seriously large pinch of salt:

How can Panasonic put in a decent 5.1 mic in its new camcorders

First I've heard of it and simply cannot see how that is possible with one (1) on camera mic.

Whatever, serious video/ audio/ lighting etc etc etc is a seriously expensive business, friend, and there simply is no such thing as "cheap" in this business, and if it's "too good to be true", well, it most certainly is.

Caveat Emptor, Jalan, never forget it, that's hard earned cash going down the drain.


CS

[Lee Mullen]

OK. Thanks

[Gary Nattrass]

Any mic claiming to do 5.1 or surround is a piece of junk and any sound recordist trying to record 5.1 on location for video or film needs his head examined.

5.1 is best produced in post prod where it can be controlled and made to suit the edited images, even recording stereo on location can be a challenge as once anything is edited together the sound field can jump all over the place.

OK there are microphones that can be useful for recording stereo or even multi channel atmos or wild tracks for use in post prod but any domestic camcorder with 5.1 surround capability is just doing a bodge encode matrix from a stereo mic and from what I have experienced in my 30 years in post the results are not ideal and you are better off setting it to stereo or even better plug in a mono external mic and get it closer to the sound source and do any stereo or 5.1 in post prod.

FYI panasonic do not put a 5.1 mic in their cameras they put a stereo mic in them and do a bodge matrix to encode an AC3 5.1 signal, it is in no way true 5.1 and is a huge compromise that can actually cause even more problems than it is worth, it is a gimmick thought up by the marketing people to shift camera's and as said once you start to try editing sound together it will give you big problems in post.

[Lee Mullen]

Vive Surround Sound Microphone Review

[Gerry Gallegos]

It sounds like you already have your mind made up to get this...

The reason all the experienced guys here are warning you against it is because we know what it realy takes to create a true 5.1 recording. which a $100 dollar mic probably has zero chance in achieving, period.

It really depends what kind of shooting you are doing, to even determine if a 5.1 mic mounted to the camera is even the right thing to do.

here is a quote from that review "The mic puts out a stereo audio signal that is compatible with all Dolby sound-enabled audio receivers, including Dolby Pro Logic and Dolby Digital 5.1 decoders"

so its not a true 5.1 mic, its a stereo mic that encodes stereo into 5.1. not the same as a true 5.1 recording which takes 6 discrete elements to be recorded.

But go ahead and buy it, and write a review for us.

hope this helps

[Lee Mullen]

So why does it sound failry good?

[Gerry Gallegos]

no one here is saying it doesn't sound good. and good is a relative term.

I don't think it sounds very good at all. no better than a handy-cam mic, but Im not the one looking to buy it.

what everyone IS saying is that it is NOT a true 5.1 mic.

so it really depends on what you are trying to achieve, if this is what you want to achieve then by all means buy it.. you are the one who's opinion matters anyways.

If you're looking for affirmation that your opinion is correct about this mic , you're not likely to get it here from seasoned pros.

Good luck

[Gary Nattrass]

Well on my pro dynaudio stereo speakers it sounds dreadful with extreme wide imaging and the whole image sounds out of phase, when I hit the mono button it all collapses and you get a very low level signal which means that they have just taken some capsules and done some phase trickery to emulate surround.

Buy it if you wish but it ain't a 5.1 surround mic and as said will probably cause you more problems than just recording mono or stereo and doing surround as it should in post prod.

Any mic can sound fairly good but if you end up with a recording that has major imaging or phase problems you will have serious trouble trying to get a decent competed audio sound track.

[Jon Fairhurst]

5.1 mics (good ones, anyway) are most useful for live events. Set up one stand in a live crowd and you have one 5.1 source without phase issues. Add other mics for the sports field or performance stage, mix and deliver.

For narrative work that will be mixed in post there's no need for 5.1 capture.