Onboard Mic advise needed

[Marc Berger]

Hi, after the audio upgrade I´m looking for a camera stereo mic which works well without mixer. I want to mount it directly on top of the cam. Will the Edirol CS 50 be fine? I just experience with a mono Sennheiser shotgun without mixer very low level.
Thanks,
Marc

 

[Stephen Pruitt]

What are you planning on shooting, Marc? The objective is crucial. I suspect that you will have extreme difficulty in getting usable audio from an on-camera microphone regardless of quality.

Stephen

 

[Marc Berger]

I would like to have a onboard mic for documentary work, Stephen. A kind of reference sound. If its good: for final use; if not, I will use it for sync. the sound taken with a little Zoom recorder beside (No TC cable). So, it should be a good quality mic, lightweight , but not highend in price.
Marc

 

[Stephen Pruitt]

Why do you want a stereo mic? You should almost certainly be looking at a mono mic for this purpose, as I assume that you are actually wanting the things dead in front of the lens to have the greatest emphasis.

We are using a Rode NTG-2 for reference signal. It doesn't sound half bad, and it probably isn't bad for the money, but it definitely isn't something you would want to do for a serious doc. The problem is less the mic than how close you can get it to the source.

Stephen

 

[Marc Berger]

I have a mono mic (Sennheiser ME66), but it´s still not working well with the new audio board without mixer. It still needs the preamp from the mixer (even with +54db I can hardly get enough signal). I wouldn´t buy another mono, because I could use a stereo mic on other recorders too.
Now, which mic would at least deliver direct to the Red enough input?
Thanks Stephen for your patience,
Marc

 

[Stephen Pruitt]

The Rode NTG-2 delivers plenty of gain without an outboard mixer.

I honestly believe you are throwing money away looking at a stereo mic for this purpose. Any decent stereo mic is going to be much more expensive than a mono mic of similar sonic capabilities.

Stephen

 

[Alex Donkle]

I agree with Stephen that a stereo mic won't solve any of your low level issues.

If you're bound and determined to mount something to the camera, why not use a Sound Devices MixPre as your mixer (+66dB of clean gain) or a SD 302 (+75dB) to boost the level (should work better than the Red's preamps).

 

[Marc Berger]

Hi Alex, I have a Mixpre and love it. I´m just looking for a mic which works good with the Red preamps.
Yes you and Stephen are right, a mono will do too.
Thanks
Marc