What is the best Shotgun mic out there?

What is the shotgun mic that the professional hollywood budget movie makers use?

And is that the way they get that super rich close sound... with those great shotgun mics?


Thanks,

1) Sennheiser Mkh60 (opinion)

2) There are a handful of mics in that price range that may be used... including the Schoeps Mk41 (super-cardioid NOT shotgun)...

3) Professionals use several techniques to get the best sound... sometimes it can be done on the spot with a good boom... sometimes it'll be a wireless lav... and sometimes it's ADR (dialog dubbed in later)...

The best way to get a super-rich studio sound is to start off with a detailed mic with a smooth (and full) frequency response... then get that mic as close as you can to the speaker's mouth. Sound is like light... it's the Inverse Square Law.

I'll proffer a different opinion, my answer to such a wide question is "the one that works for you and fits your price range. There is no all-around best, but there are models best suited in certain applications.

price range is irrelevant-

I wanna know whats the best out there.

I want whats the caliber of mic that Barbara Walters uses for her interviews when she's interviewing The President or something.

The best.

Barbara Walters doesn't use a shotgun mic when she's interviewing the president. Her sound guy uses lavalier mics for that function.
There IS NO #1 all-around shotgun. It's like saying "I want the best hammer."

OK, hammer for what? Shoeing horses? Framing a house? Pounding shock absorbers? Finish carpentry?

These are all different hammers to be used in different situations. What are you recording with it? Dialog or other sounds? Is it going to be on a boom or on a camera? Does your boom operator know what he's doing? How far will the camera be away from the subject?

Audio Technica AT835
Audio Technica AT4073
Sony ECM 672
Neumann KMR82
Neumann KMR81
Sanken CS-3E
Sennheiser K6/ME7 Long Shotgun Microphone
Sennheiser MKH 416
Schoeps MK41

Are all common mics and all have their 'betters' than others.

The show "CSI" uses the Neumann kmr81, kmr82 (long throw shotgun mic) and the Schoeps MK41. Wirelesses are Lectrosonics 195, 205, 210, 211 with Sanken lavaliers.

Like DSE says, "the right tool for the job." I do a lot of nature and wildlife work and I prefer the AT and Sennheiser mics. But for voice I would prefer the Neumann or Schoeps shotguns. There is no one best mic for all recording applications.

<<<-- Originally posted by Kevin Lepp : price range is irrelevant-

I wanna know whats the best out there.

I want whats the caliber of mic that Barbara Walters uses for her interviews when she's interviewing The President or something.

The best. -->>>

Schoeps MK41... 9 times out of 10*.

*Based on the situation you just mentioned. (Indoors, controlled acoustics, one on one with no audio distractions... Mk41 about 6-12" over both Walters and Mr. President.)

Run that through an SD302... perhaps using TWO Mk41 mics... and into a PMD670 or some other portable digital recorder.

My "best mic" is the MKH60 short shotgun and the Schoeps MK41 hypercardoid. Someone elses may be the Sanken CS-3e or MKH50

The MK41 is $1350 with the CMC6 preamp and the MKH60 is $1430. If you listen to some of the other clips in the dvfreelancer sound forum the Oktava at $190 (sometimes less at Guitar Center) will give the higher priced mics a run for their money.

Ken Tanaka did a comparison here as well. (http://www.dvinfo.net/articles/audio/tanaka2.php)Ken put a $400 mic up against a $1000 mic.

You could always search through RAMPS where all of the pros hang out. (http://groups.google.com/groups?hl=en&lr=&newwindow=1&q=dialog+mic&meta=group%3Drec.arts.movies.production.sound)

"Barbara Walters doesn't use a shotgun mic when she's interviewing the president. Her sound guy uses lavalier mics for that function."

I recently saw a Barbara Walters interview, and there were 2 shotgun mics above her and who she was interviewing. But im sure there were also lavs on them as well.

Thanks for all the input guys!

It depends on the room acoustics, ambient noise level and who is doing the sound. It can go either way (hypercardioid or shotgun) depending on the circumstances.

Q: What mic was used for both the republican and democratic conventions
primary lectern mic?
A: (2) Schoeps MK41s (This is the MK41 capsule with low end cut for speech)
and I think the other was a MK4 for use when talent had a tendency to
move around. I think prosound news had and article on the sound company
hired by both parties. But believe me, those guys could afford
to by ANY mic for that gig.

One other interesting thing about the Collette series of Schoeps mics is
you can change capsules. MK4 (regular) cardioid is also a wonderful sounding
mic when you don't need 'super zoom'. Omni, figure 8 and other patterns
are also available depending on your need.