Boundary Mic recommendations at DVinfo.net

Peter Rush · April 29th, 2013, 05:56 AM

Hi All - I'm thinking of moving away from Lav mics for the speeches in favour of boundary mics - I've used a relatively cheap Audio Technica (ATR4697) a few times and have been pleasantly surprised by the results - The result I find is less 'dry' than a lav mic (I know I could mix in ambiance from another source but not having to do that would be a time saver). Obviously for a 'walking around' speaker I'd still use a lav.

So I'm looking for a good quality white boundary mic (my recorders and cables are in a white pouch so they don't stand out too much on the white table cloth) that will plug directly into my Olympus audio recorders (3.5mm jack) - any recommendations?

Chris Harding · April 29th, 2013, 08:17 AM

Hi Pete

I'm using AKG C-300-GL's and they are awesome ... they are really tiny too ..about 1.5" x 1" and look like a tiny computer mouse..mine are black but I'm sure you could spray the covers white. They do require a bias voltage from the recorder (my transmitters supply bias and most recorders can supply phantom power)

Chris

Roger Gunkel · April 29th, 2013, 09:17 AM

Pete, Maplins have been selling Boundary mics or Pressure Zone Mics as they are sometimes called, for many years. I used to have some of their Realistic branded 4" square ones that were excellent.

They currently advertise a much smaller one for about £33, which is an electret mic running off an internal battery. Electret Boundary Microphone : Condesner Mics : Maplin Electronics The power consumption would be minimal and batteries should last for weeks. I will be getting one to try myself shortly as I am sure you know that they cut down on the natural room reverb that you tend to get with other non close mic types.

You can't run them on phantom power but if they are like the old ones for consumption, you won't need to.

Roger

Roger Gunkel · April 29th, 2013, 09:28 AM

Just found this one which could be interesting VEC CM-1000 Conference Microphone: Amazon.co.uk: Computers & Accessories Apparently you can daisy chain them which might be useful for head table.

Roger

Roger Gunkel · April 29th, 2013, 09:39 AM

Here's a site that has a few different ones Boundary Mics

Roger

Peter Rush · April 29th, 2013, 10:40 AM

Cheers Roger - I'll look through the links this evening

Pete

Peter Riding · April 29th, 2013, 10:42 AM

Good question Pete. I have also been checking into boundary mics. However I'm struggling to understand why they would be more desirable than a bunch of digital audio recorders sitting on mini tabletop tripods. The former would be omnidirectional so handy to rescue situations where the speaker goes way their mark, but it would also count against them in picking up maybe too much guest chatter and shuffling around.

Like you Pete I am not keen how a lav concentrates on audio from the speaker at the expense of ambient - though you can of course take the extra step of adding suitable ambient in afterwards assuming you have it.

Here are a few seconds audio from last Saturdays wedding speeches in which a guest read from some greeting cards. Recorded using an H1 on a table top four feet away from the speaker and directly in front of him. No editing what so ever other than taking the file into Audacity and chopping this section out of the 48/16 file and exporting as WAV. The H1 levels were set to 90%, which is slightly too hot for this speaker. Right click and "save as" if it won't play in your browser:

http://www.ashtonlamont.co.uk/audio/...dio-h1-001.wav

For those who use boundary mics - would a boundary mic have given me a superior result? Thanks.

Off topic a bit: I've also been experimenting with lavs into recorders for scenarios where I want to keep the actual recorder off the person and also out of shot such as when the speaker is at a church lectern. I found this black heavy duty blutac like putty which works a treat:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B...?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Pete

Paul R Johnson · April 29th, 2013, 01:42 PM

I've had a lot of success with these.
CT-07
IU'm not touting for business as I've only got one left on the shelf - but the directional pattern is pretty friendly - good for stages. Most of the cheaper designs like these are not at all bad - decent condenser element and pretty tough cases. The old industry standard was the Crown PCC160 but now the inventor of these now sells them direct - but they're quite expensive. The TM-125. However, if you already have some decent small diameter condensers, then have a look at these turtle rather nifty, but again - expensive, but worth it.

If you want to see how tough the bartlett ones are look here

Then if you watch this one you'll see the British version - but watch the top one first.

James Manford · April 30th, 2013, 01:38 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Paul R Johnson

I've had a lot of success with these.
CT-07
IU'm not touting for business as I've only got one left on the shelf - but the directional pattern is pretty friendly - good for stages. Most of the cheaper designs like these are not at all bad - decent condenser element and pretty tough cases. The old industry standard was the Crown PCC160 but now the inventor of these now sells them direct - but they're quite expensive. The TM-125. However, if you already have some decent small diameter condensers, then have a look at these turtle rather nifty, but again - expensive, but worth it.

If you want to see how tough the bartlett ones are look here
TM 125 truck rollover - YouTube

Then if you watch this one you'll see the British version - but watch the top one first.
blue room microphone - YouTube

hahaha, didn't expect that!

I want a suitable boundary mic to place on tables that doesn't require phantom power ... so literally a 3.5mm Jack straight into my audio recorder to be placed on to a table and moved around as and when necessary.

EDIT: Just ordered the one Pete linked too at Maplins. Will see how this is, if it's not good i'll return it.

Paul R Johnson · April 30th, 2013, 02:02 AM

Audio Technica do this one
Audio Technica ATR4697 - Thomann UK
I had a very similar one a few years back which was pretty good - probably the same one, as AT's cheaper mics are usually all OEM products so often appear in numerous brands. The only pain is the availability of the batteries - not as easy to find one at midnight!

April 29th, 2013, 05:56 AM	#1
Peter Rush Inner Circle Join Date: Nov 2008 Location: UK/Yorkshire Posts: 2,069	Boundary Mic recommendations Hi All - I'm thinking of moving away from Lav mics for the speeches in favour of boundary mics - I've used a relatively cheap Audio Technica (ATR4697) a few times and have been pleasantly surprised by the results - The result I find is less 'dry' than a lav mic (I know I could mix in ambiance from another source but not having to do that would be a time saver). Obviously for a 'walking around' speaker I'd still use a lav. So I'm looking for a good quality white boundary mic (my recorders and cables are in a white pouch so they don't stand out too much on the white table cloth) that will plug directly into my Olympus audio recorders (3.5mm jack) - any recommendations?

April 29th, 2013, 08:17 AM	#2
Chris Harding Inner Circle Join Date: Jul 2009 Location: Perth, Western Australia Posts: 8,441	Re: Boundary Mic recommendations Hi Pete I'm using AKG C-300-GL's and they are awesome ... they are really tiny too ..about 1.5" x 1" and look like a tiny computer mouse..mine are black but I'm sure you could spray the covers white. They do require a bias voltage from the recorder (my transmitters supply bias and most recorders can supply phantom power) Chris

April 29th, 2013, 09:17 AM	#3
Roger Gunkel Inner Circle Join Date: Feb 2013 Location: LIncolnshire, UK Posts: 2,213	Re: Boundary Mic recommendations Pete, Maplins have been selling Boundary mics or Pressure Zone Mics as they are sometimes called, for many years. I used to have some of their Realistic branded 4" square ones that were excellent. They currently advertise a much smaller one for about £33, which is an electret mic running off an internal battery. Electret Boundary Microphone : Condesner Mics : Maplin Electronics The power consumption would be minimal and batteries should last for weeks. I will be getting one to try myself shortly as I am sure you know that they cut down on the natural room reverb that you tend to get with other non close mic types. You can't run them on phantom power but if they are like the old ones for consumption, you won't need to. Roger

April 29th, 2013, 09:28 AM	#4
Roger Gunkel Inner Circle Join Date: Feb 2013 Location: LIncolnshire, UK Posts: 2,213	Re: Boundary Mic recommendations Just found this one which could be interesting VEC CM-1000 Conference Microphone: Amazon.co.uk: Computers & Accessories Apparently you can daisy chain them which might be useful for head table. Roger

April 29th, 2013, 09:39 AM	#5
Roger Gunkel Inner Circle Join Date: Feb 2013 Location: LIncolnshire, UK Posts: 2,213	Re: Boundary Mic recommendations Here's a site that has a few different ones Boundary Mics Roger

April 29th, 2013, 10:40 AM	#6
Peter Rush Inner Circle Join Date: Nov 2008 Location: UK/Yorkshire Posts: 2,069	Re: Boundary Mic recommendations Cheers Roger - I'll look through the links this evening Pete

April 29th, 2013, 10:42 AM	#7
Peter Riding Major Player Join Date: Feb 2011 Location: Reading Berkshire UK Posts: 872	Re: Boundary Mic recommendations Good question Pete. I have also been checking into boundary mics. However I'm struggling to understand why they would be more desirable than a bunch of digital audio recorders sitting on mini tabletop tripods. The former would be omnidirectional so handy to rescue situations where the speaker goes way their mark, but it would also count against them in picking up maybe too much guest chatter and shuffling around. Like you Pete I am not keen how a lav concentrates on audio from the speaker at the expense of ambient - though you can of course take the extra step of adding suitable ambient in afterwards assuming you have it. Here are a few seconds audio from last Saturdays wedding speeches in which a guest read from some greeting cards. Recorded using an H1 on a table top four feet away from the speaker and directly in front of him. No editing what so ever other than taking the file into Audacity and chopping this section out of the 48/16 file and exporting as WAV. The H1 levels were set to 90%, which is slightly too hot for this speaker. Right click and "save as" if it won't play in your browser: http://www.ashtonlamont.co.uk/audio/...dio-h1-001.wav For those who use boundary mics - would a boundary mic have given me a superior result? Thanks. Off topic a bit: I've also been experimenting with lavs into recorders for scenarios where I want to keep the actual recorder off the person and also out of shot such as when the speaker is at a church lectern. I found this black heavy duty blutac like putty which works a treat: http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B...?ie=UTF8&psc=1 Pete Last edited by Peter Riding; April 29th, 2013 at 03:24 PM.

April 29th, 2013, 01:42 PM	#8
Paul R Johnson Inner Circle Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: Lowestoft - UK Posts: 4,045	Re: Boundary Mic recommendations I've had a lot of success with these. CT-07 IU'm not touting for business as I've only got one left on the shelf - but the directional pattern is pretty friendly - good for stages. Most of the cheaper designs like these are not at all bad - decent condenser element and pretty tough cases. The old industry standard was the Crown PCC160 but now the inventor of these now sells them direct - but they're quite expensive. The TM-125. However, if you already have some decent small diameter condensers, then have a look at these turtle rather nifty, but again - expensive, but worth it. If you want to see how tough the bartlett ones are look here TM 125 truck rollover - YouTube Then if you watch this one you'll see the British version - but watch the top one first. blue room microphone - YouTube

April 30th, 2013, 02:02 AM	#10
Paul R Johnson Inner Circle Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: Lowestoft - UK Posts: 4,045	Re: Boundary Mic recommendations Audio Technica do this one Audio Technica ATR4697 - Thomann UK I had a very similar one a few years back which was pretty good - probably the same one, as AT's cheaper mics are usually all OEM products so often appear in numerous brands. The only pain is the availability of the batteries - not as easy to find one at midnight!