Basic shogun mic kit - will this suffice?

[Mark K.]

Hi guys,

Being half-deaf audio has never exactly been one of my strong points, but as I'm in the process of putting together my own production kit for the first time (camera, lights, support and audio) I need to organise the sound recording side of things.

For starters I figured a basic shotgun/boom kit would suffice (I'll probably add a lav and wireless lav down the track), but I wanted to run this kit past you guys and check whether it's got everything I'll need (and whether it'll suffice for interviews, commercials and corporate videos).

My plan was to record directly into a Sound Devices PIX240. Will the controls/inputs on that suffice? Or is a separate mixer/pre-amp necessary?

Any thoughts, opinions or suggestions would be much appreciated.

 

[Christopher Mills]

buy more expensive cables.. these are not as well RF shielded as Remote audio ones..
The PSC mic mount or audio technica one are more durable than this rode one.. but they dont have a built in coild shoe fitting.. so... just take care of this mount.. (remove it from the pole and store it in padding when not using it and you'll be ok)
I like the Rode NTg1, 2, and 3 mics..
if you are using an EPIC or Scarlet, this mic will be ready to go with an AA battery.. the NTG 1 is lighter, but needs phantom power
the NTG3 is MUCH nicer... but needs phantom power..
I think the NT2 sounds better than the Sennheiser ME66/k6 system... and is much less pricy.
you'll need a longer boom for drama production.. 12 feet minimum. this is a good brand.

 

[David W. Jones]

I would add a blimp for exterior work, and a hyper mic with BBG for interior work.

 

[Mark Bearss]

The only problem that I see with this kit; A doc club that I belonged to at MSU bought an internally cabled boom pole, they are great unless you have to move with it. Tried to use the same boom pole on the set of a feature film, and when you have to walk with the boom pole in hand the cable can bang against the inside of the pole. So I learned that internally cabled poles are good in some cases but not all.

Mark

 

[Mike Tiffee]

buy more expensive cables.. these are not as well RF shielded as Remote audio ones..

Actually, buy cheaper cables... but higher quality.
http://www.monoprice.com/products/subdepartment.asp?c_id=102&cp_id=10244#1024401

 

[Christopher Mills]

Then you bought a cheap one.. or did not know how to move with it.. nicer ones make less noise, sometimes through insulation, better internal cables, jumpers from female xlr (tip of boom end) to the mic with thin cable..

or both.

Though, I do know some very experienced boom ops who prefer to use an externally cabled boom rig.

Part of the point of using the boom is to know how to not conduct noise from your handling of it back to the mic.

I have both straight and coiled cabled booms, and find the time I save not having to adjust an externally wrapped cable is essential to production..

Those cables look better than pearstone.. but the Remote audio ones are even nicer

 

[Mark K.]

Well I picked up my basic kit this afternoon. I actually managed to find it cheaper here in Australia than I could get it from B&H (even before including shipping!). I went for the Rode NTG-3 shotgun, with the Rode Blimp, windjammer, 10' boom and a Hosa XLR cable (it all came together in a kit).

Initial tests with the PIX240 I also picked up today seem really promising.

Thanks again for the advice and suggestions guys. At this stage, I think a wireless mic will be next, followed by a hypercardioid condenser mic (though I doubt I'll be affording either of those for a while).

 

[Christopher Mills]

I presume you are using the phantom power from the Pix?
Should sound very good indeed...
I like the NTg3 very much... find it is similar quality to Sennheiser 416 (slight pattern difference, and slightly more susceptible to RF hits from smart phones)...
you can fix the RF issue by replacing the XLR at tip of boom pole with an aftermarket Neutrik RF shielded one..

When you shop for Hypercardioid.. on a budget... Oktava , AT 5053, and , perhaps Rode (since you can probably test one locally)....
If you think about buying the last hyper you will exer need... they Schoeps CMC5 or CMC6 ith MK41 head.. (NOT MK41s)
I also have used an AKG C460 with cardioid and hypercardioid heads and they sound GREAT.. but are available in small quantities,,,
sort of in between price..

 

[Jeffrey T. Morgan]

FWIW

The NTG2 is pretty amazing. Used it for years, just had it take a dive (from massive abuse) and I am using a ME66/K6 from Sennheiser that I had, but I preferred the sound from the NTG2 at half the price. The NTG3 is my favorite shotgun mic, even over the MKH60, etc. The 60 is a close second though.

I JUST picked up a Rode NT3 for interior work and am LOVING it. Its a bit heavy, but it sounds great, is durable, and is $250 vs the MKH50 at around $1500.

My next purchase will be a NTG3 and a Sound Devices MixPreD.

 

[Jeff Whitehurst]

Just added this Pearstone suspender to my Rode SM3 mount. Much better than the weak bands that come with the SM3.
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/564218-REG/Pearstone_4P_SSS_4P_SSS_4_Point_Microphone.html

 

[Tony Koretz]

FWIW

I JUST picked up a Rode NT3 for interior work and am LOVING it. Its a bit heavy, but it sounds great, is durable, and is $250 vs the MKH50 at around $1500.

.

I assume you do mean the NT3 rather than the NT3-G here. I have had an NT3 for years, and used it a lot. Definitely a handy mic, but for more versatility, and having capsules of various polar patterns that you can change to suit the situattion, is the OKtava MK-012. It is a smaller mic and will fit in the same shockmount as a shotgun mic, and is very affordable. Slightly dark sounding, but good quality. Adding something along these lines in addition to a shotgun kit is a good idea.

 

[Ev Shipard]

Any tips on settings for the ntg-2 with the Scarlet? I am using the new beta firmware and finding I am getting a lot of white noise with the default settings. It is connected via the Fortis XLR mount. I have tested both with the bal 48v setting and standard balanced with both a battery and without in the mic.

 

[Marc Wielage]

"White noise" = lots of self-noise in the microphone itself and/or a noisy analog preamp section. Try a completely different preamp and see what you hear. Gain staging (inadequate or excessive amplification at different points of the signal path) could also be an issue.

The lowest self-noise I've ever heard is from the Sennheiser MKH series, like the MKH60 shotgun. In general, electret condensor microphones are not as quiet as true condensor microphones.

 

[Paul Ellington]

DANISH PRO AUDIO BOOM MIC...

DANISH PRO AUDIO BOOM MIC...

.... By far the cleanist, best boom mic I have ever used ( DPA 4017B ), for my money sounds better than the Schoeps and Sennheiser.

 

[Marc Wielage]

The DPA mikes are also very, very good, at least the full-size condensors. Not as free from RF noise and other issues as Sennheiser, but still very good. I'd make the same comments about Neumann microphones. This is kind of a Mercedes vs. BMW vs. Lexus comparison.

But the Rode would be sort of a Chevy Impala by comparison -- serviceable, but not in the same class.

 

[Yousuf Abbasi]

From your list, I can't tell what are you running your audio through? Or are you going directly into the camera..

 

[Terry VerHaar]

I like the idea of a shogun mic!! ;-)

 

[Mark K.]

From your list, I can't tell what are you running your audio through? Or are you going directly into the camera..

As I stated in the OP, the audio is feeding directly into the PIX240.

 

[Marc Wielage]

Sound Devices' preamps are first-rate, some of the best I've ever heard. As far as I know, they're pretty much the same in many of their products, but I haven't used the PIX yet. I don't think it's ideal as a mike preamp, though, just because of gain-staging issues and the relative inability for a person to dynamically adjust it for different locations. For that, you need a sound mixer with ears and fingers.