Well you get what you pay for and if you choose poorly there, that's all you get.:)

AT makes better stereo mics, if, in fact, that's the best array for the job,

I think you mean diaphragms, not "speaker" in the mic itself.

What were your expectations of this mic? What were you trying to do?

Regards,

Ty Ford

im just after better sound options than my onboard! I believe i have chosen wisely not poorly?! I sent the stereo mic back.. so i have a credit waiting, im looking at getting an identical shotgun to the one i have. Pound for pound i see no better alternative.... i believe the audo seems just as good as the rode reviews ive seen....
Id love to see more simple reviews about..
I think the limitation is the sweet spot.. im supposing more expensive mics.. ie 1000 plus.. have a larger 'sweet' spot, and a lot more sound rejection.

The larger the "sweet spot" the more unwanted sound you get. If you are just doing home movies then that 50.00 shotgun will be good for better dialogue pickup than your on-board mics. Dialogue should be recorded in mono. Stereo is good for music and ambient stuff like a city street sounds, or out in nature etc. If people talking is the focus, then a mono mic is the way. But really you need to be in the 250.00 and above range if you are the slightest bit serious. Rode NTG-2 is an amazing starter shotgun.

EDIT: I forgot to mention that the Rode VideoMic and VideoMic Pro are great consumer mics with the same capsule as it's professional sibling the NTG-2. All sound great and will beat the pants off of that ATR6550.

Michael,

You made a comment in an earlier post in this thread about wanting to "zoom" a shotgun.

Unfortunately, shotguns (nor any other mic) can zoom like a lens. Physics of sound is a different breed of cat. Mic has to be physically close to work well for dialogue.

Also, shotguns indoors can be a less than great solution if they are not right up close to what you're recording. They WILL pick up room reverb from the side. And if you get them too close they will over-emphasize lower frequencies. Great for male voices if you want them to sound like the guy is on steroids, but maybe less flattering for female voices.

Re expensive mics, I don't think "sweet spot" has much to do with price - each mic's maker usually provides a chart showing sensitivity as a function of angle and frequency - this is pretty much the whole story.and should tell you most of what you need to know.

Expensive mics are usually more accurate/consistent transducers, have lower noise and better controlled frequency response etc as well as often improved sensitivity. And better quality overall.

Dialogue does not usually put extreme technical demands on a microphone compared to something like a classical recording so you can usually find quite good mic's at quite reasonable prices - but you do have to pay attention to getting the right type of mic for the job.

yea your right jim.. the 'zoom' function on the ATR 6550 is prettey pointless... yes it does what it says but just adds hiss.. and amplifies everything.. ie boosts the volume.
On its normal mode im happy with the mic.. notably the reduction in hiss/camera noise... and the clarity.

n chad.. By sweet spot.. what i mean is.. hear my voice over on the beginning of the vid i made.. my voice isnt the best but im happy with this. If you were to compare it to a recording with a normal mike.. my voice sounds a lot better!

But this sweet spot... its maybe 2 to 6 inches! 4 to 8 inches on tele mode!

Obviously your right.. you need different mics for different jobs... and lav mics.. mind i did hear that in a lot of hollywood stuff... they pull in the actors afterwards and get them to narate in a studio setting and re do all the audio!

n chad yea you got me thinkin about the stereo.. i do like to take a lot of outdoor shots etc, (building a library for future works) My main enemy is always... camera noise! (and hiss!) If im filming a building or a street or a reservoir/lake... etc... i dont want hiss and motor noise yet it aint always gonna be convinient to set up a mike stand and a mini disk for audio! I dont have phantom power/xlr either on the xm2.. so the choices are limited. I think the 6550 is the right one for now.. in the future id like a quality radio transmitter (the fm one i have.. adds hiss)... and to look at lav mikes.. there are so many available and i simply dont understand (or know wether to believe) the data the manufacturers provide. There was a particular senheiser mike.. bout 300 quid... didnt sound half as good as the one i have or the rode video mike.. i cant remember the specific comments but the reviewers were saying it was very dissapointing.

Hello again Michael

Aha - I think now I have better idea of what you're referring to. Let me guess - when you say the mic makes you sound better than your normal voice, do you mean that it makes it sound more full and resonant? If you step back a bit from the mic, does your voice sound thinner (or more normal)

If so this is the famous (or infamous, depending on your point of view) proximity effect - frequency response changing with distance from source and emphasizing lower frequencies up close. Works great for guys but maybe not so flattering for girls. At least it works great for guys when up close but if distance to mic changes much the quality of the voice will change as well, which can be a less than great thing.

yip thats exactly it, thanks. I knew my voice was 'good enough' for voice overs after having a brief play at a studio (with a condenser mic) many years ago.. but on all my home recordings its been dreadfull! Even with a duvet over my head lol! Just as you say a lack of deep tones. And also various hiss. I have a couple of normal singing mics.. fine.. but you need em so close to mouth for the 'sweet' spot... probably because they are for singing not talking!

But with this mic im happy to use it for voice overs and without using a sound room or duvet over head!

And maybe your right about girls!.. i aint had it out much but filmed some girls singing... just a freebie... they sounded awfull although they did in real life, the pa system seemed to play their electronical music sounds really well just not the vocals. Unfortunately i botched the whole job.. didnt change the batteries on front camera stereo mic.. and managed to press STOP on my handheld camera right at beginning of their final and best song :-(
Im learning... never again! It was my first outdoor thing... people standing infront of cameras, big silly piece of metal down centre of stage. Ill always use a seperate sound souce on any live event and use onboard mic for back up. When theres a lot going on sound wise the motor noise etc is less noticeable.