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  • Hey all, just changed over the backend after 15 years I figured time to give it a bit of an update, its probably gonna be a bit weird for most of you and i am sure there is a few bugs to work out but it should kinda work the same as before... hopefully :)

I just got kicked out for using the wrong mics. What did I do wrong?

What's interesting is that he is accusing you of what he is guilty of, which is a lack of awareness of what the industry standards are today.
There is a reason that this microphone is still sold new all over the world.
 
This is realy crazy. Result is what matters. My sound guy records sometimes with Shoeps, sometimes with Sanken and in other situations with 416.
All depends of the space, number of actors, scene.
When I go in post all I want from the shotgun is to be as close in sound with levaliers.
This reminds me of idiot talks about Alexa vs Epic skin tone advantages.
 
QUOTE: Paul J Steinberg. Hey the script isn't very good so we're going to need the absolute best, state-of-the-art microphones to hopefully punch it up a little. END OF QUOTE:

That puts a whole new complexion on the quotation probably incorrectly remembered by myself - "In a movie, sound is 70% of what you see." A nice cool photogenic mike to spice up the look instead of a workmanlike 416 which has lived? I still have somewhere in the shed an old silver Toa mike which the label fell off of for the client.
 
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Here's one I use often that I came up with a long time ago, when I was a television sound recordist. I still mention this often whenever people want to skimp on sound.

"Without sound it isn't even radio"

Battistella


in terms of that client. There is never a reason to be rude. They don't want you, fine, being rude, not fine.
 
This can't be true. It's crazy.
 
Total bullshit - 416 as others have already said is a fine microphone still being made and sold new today. It definitely is an industry standard.

Them cancelling the contract sounds really fishy - have the producer and director gone with another production company that they have a financial or personal relationship with?
 
My kids are both musicians... when they were looking for mic's I did some research and got them Shure SM57's and 58's - which are still some of the best selling pro audio mic's mic in the world - released in 1965 (the 57's are SAE recommended for drum applications according to Wikipedia - which knows all).

I think the guy has an unrealistic idea of the technical changes in microphones over the past 50 years.
 
A little knowledge is dangerous for some.. the 416 is a fantastic old mic and will stand the test of time for many more years to come.

On a similar topic... We had shoot some time back where the client wanted audio of an actor talking to camera (wasn't in the script or initial idea or shot list ) A after thought in other words.
Anyways... I grabbed my iphone, (to the sound of gasps from the client) put it within 3 feet of the actor talking, hit record, dubbed it over my shot footage the next day and the audio was flawless !?!?!?!?... So good in fact we have used it several times since.

We told a soundy about this , he laughed of corse... but put us onto a cheap $29 dollar lapel microphone that plugs into the phone... We tested it next to a 416 and the sound engineer that we had rate the two couldn't decide what was better. I certainly couldn't hear any difference. It's a crazy old world, and I think you just bumped into one of the crazies. Don't worry about it.
 
The 416 is a very good mic, that being said I wouldn't want to use it for on set audio because I find very metallic sounding. I much prefer the DPA 4017B but it's really a matter of taste.

- E
 
I'm no sound recordist, but I recognise the 416 in some capacity on the majority of jobs that I work on, and also when talking with the recordist. If that's what they were like before the shoot I can only imagine the level of pain there would have been had it continued. Sorry to hear the job didn't go ahead, but it may have been a blessing.
 
I'm sorry for your experience, certainly a non-professional behavior.


Sound as many other things have two aspects, measurable and aesthetically. Both can be requested from a client, the latter with a verbal definition only.

However, none of the two were in question, nor argued in the first place (with data or facts, not even with an example of personal experience). Which indicates to me that, perhaps, the simple formula could be applied: uncertainty results in emotional reaction.


If you go in front of a judge, this would be my anchor, as none of the parameter/defintions that describes quality were questioned really.
Furthermore, the client had no proof that the newer one (with he obviously did not know very well, if at all), would have been better.
Otherwise he would have requested it specifically in the first place.

My personal take on such, be happy to have split with this "person" as early as possible. Something was not on par with your level of skills.
 
Mark Toia said:
A little knowledge is dangerous for some.. the 416 is a fantastic old mic and will stand the test of time for many more years to come.

On a similar topic... We had shoot some time back where the client wanted audio of an actor talking to camera (wasn't in the script or initial idea or shot list ) A after thought in other words.
Anyways... I grabbed my iphone, (to the sound of gasps from the client) put it within 3 feet of the actor talking, hit record, dubbed it over my shot footage the next day and the audio was flawless !?!?!?!?... So good in fact we have used it several times since.

We told a soundy about this , he laughed of corse... but put us onto a cheap $29 dollar lapel microphone that plugs into the phone... We tested it next to a 416 and the sound engineer that we had rate the two couldn't decide what was better. I certainly couldn't hear any difference. It's a crazy old world, and I think you just bumped into one of the crazies. Don't worry about it.
Click to expand...


And Grand Sommeliers have been fooled, by he equivalent of Two Buck Chuck...

Thank you very much

Fury
 
Mics are like fine wine. Many of the older ones are much better. As has been pointed out already, your kit is fine - Their heads are screwed on wrong.
 
A highly regarded mic and as far as I'm aware, considered an industry standard.

Head over to jwsoundgroup.net - lots of pros on that forum. Scroll through this thread:

http://jwsoundgroup.net/index.php?/...your-kit/page-2?hl=sennheiser+416#entry176604

See how the 416 fares there and I think you'll be reassured.

Sounds to me like you had a narrow escape. If they're finding fault with a mic like that, goodness knows what they might find in the actual files themselves, had you completed the gig.
 
Michael Romano said:
Mics are like fine wine. Many of the older ones are much better. As has been pointed out already, your kit is fine - Their heads are screwed on wrong.
Click to expand...

If a mic design has lasted 40 years then you have another benefit in addition to sounding great - it's going to be a rugged piece of equipment.
 
David Kuhn said:
If a mic design has lasted 40 years then you have another benefit in addition to sounding great - it's going to be a rugged piece of equipment.
Click to expand...
I have often referred to the MKH416 as the "Swiss Army Knife" of filmmaking. There are countless 1970s and 1980s films done almost completely on that mic. It's not a great choice for indoors (particularly with reverberant walls), but it's perfectly clean, even in relation to the newer MKH60 and MKH4060 mics. I actually prefer the MKH60, but most sound mixers don't. In truth, I find myself using the supercardioid MKH50 a lot more often indoors, but all can create good results in the right hands (and in the right position).
 
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