anyone use/like/dislike at897 shotgun mic?

[Rob Katz]

anyone use/like/dislike at897 shotgun mic?

a buddy of mine is skinny-ing his mic collection and offered this mic to me for very little $.

i am interested because it can be battery powered and several digital audio recorders need to use a powered mic.

i know there are better mics out there.

i'm just wondering if it is "good enough" as an occasional mic for my audio kit.

thank you in advance to anyone who cares to share their thoughts.

be well.

rob
smalltalk productions.
nyc

[Battle Vaughan]

I have used one, and it's a perfectly competent mid-level mike. AT mikes are not known as "hot", this is, having a large sensitivity or output level, so they generally require a little more preamp from your camera than, say, a Sennheiser ME66. But the voice quality, in my experience, for run-n-gun news was perfectly adequate.

Everybody has their own ideas about mikes and probably you will get a number of responses, mostly that anything less than an absolute-top-of-the-line super expensive mike is garbage. 'Tain't so. Consider what you want to use it for (classical music? interviews? family videos?), compare specs with some similar short shotguns, and make your choice...

[Don Bloom]

+1 from me. I use one on my B camera at wedding ceremonys and for me, it's perfect for picking up the music. I've also used it for doing talking heads and MoS interviews when outside and honestly, I love it.
Not as hot as some other mics as Battle pointed out but it gives me a nice clean track and I have never overloaded it which is important especially when working as a 1 man band!
I think for the money it's a very nice piece of gear

[Pete Bauer]

What Battle and Don said. I use mine frequently as a stereo pair for outdoor events and even as backup to a AT4050 pair in auditoriums and I'm happy with them. As stated, they're not especially "hot." The pattern is moderately directional (hypercardioid) so it is nice for general use but wouldn't stand up to more expensive long directional shotguns for isolating one voice in a crowd (tough task in any case).

[Darren Levine]

another +1, it's been by regular mic for years without fault

i do have a 4073a which is a better mic, but not powered, but does have a nicer pickup, though i still use the 897

[Henry Kenyon]

If it's free or affordable, any mic is worth throwing into the bag of tricks.

[Kevin McRoberts]

Lives aboard my AF100. Nicely compact, self-powered, and perfectly acceptable quality for doc use.

[David Gibson]

I have used one for a few years and have found it to be a good mic. No complaints.

[Jay Massengill]

I like mine too, it's pleasant sounding with a smooth response. As long as you can get it close enough to your subject and have a clean preamp, it's very good. If those factors are out of your control, then that will hamper any mic but having a hotter output than the AT-897 may be necessary. Hopefully you can test it out in a realistic recording setup including through a quick edit on your post-production system that you're used to listening to. It can be hard to really judge a mic just listening to headphones live. I think you have to record and then listen later to really tell.

[Rob Katz]

well, i purchased the at897.

i tested it with a sd mixpre providing the phantom power.

i was surprised by how decent the at897 sounded.

it did a good job rejecting some nearby noise while still nicely reproducing the male voice who was selling me the mic.

thanks to those who shared their insights.

be well.

rob
smalltalk productions
nyc

[Rob Katz]

so i'm back at my shop and i wanted to test the phantom function of the at897.

i cannot for the life of me unscrew the mic.

i'm applying a fair amount of grip pressure and i'm managed to get a wee bit of back and forth but nothing more.

now the mic is perfectly straight so i don't think the bottom was mis-screwed onto the threaded top.

in fact, i don't think my friend ever even opened the mic.

any tips in opening the at897?

thanks in advance.

be well.

rob
smalltalk productions
nyc