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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 :)

Shotgun Mic

For Corporate work, real nice thing about the 416 is it has a "sweet spot" on male voice for interviews/voiceovers in office type of spaces, lot of male voice actors use it. And since multiple people will be using the mic, 416 is very common so people will understand it(i.e. each mic has it's own sweet spots and personality ... if only one person is going to use a mic ... then the non-416 are perhaps better choices). As you know though, there is no perfect single mic ... my mic box even has 3 old (where under 200$ in the 80's) mic's that I find i sometimes need to use.

Mark Phelan's comment "Hmmm, might see a problem here. I usually don't use a shotgun indoors because ..." is also very interesting, I tend to use a bunch of non shotgun mic's where i'm "suppose" to use my shotgun mic(i.e. i often have a large neumamn condenser going[for art the noises of brushes and stuff ... u do want], I even have a h4n running, and/or have my old mic's just going as backup in case I screw up[this happens often when you don't have a dedicated sound guy] ).
 
I am so sorry guys I was kidding when I said that I was mounting it to the camera, I have a c stand and a boom pole all hooked up. I guess not too many redditors here (reddit.com) /s = sarcasm. Yes I am shooting indoors. I did go with the 416. I am horrible at audio...but I check out sites all the time to learn about techniques, and use them. I use Sanken COS-11d's (my Lav mics) and learned about Vampire mics. Should I be worried about phantom power with the scarlet?
 
PatrickFaith said:
For Corporate work, real nice thing about the 416 is it has a "sweet spot" on male voice for interviews/voiceovers in office type of spaces, lot of male voice actors use it.
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I know of some big-time voice-over announcers who absolutely hate the 416 as a VO mike. Read what Corey Burton has to say about it at this link. I don't think it's quite as bad as he says, but I do agree, it's a very colored, bass-heavy sound that may not enhance certain kinds of voices. But it is widely used on a lot of trailers and promos, especially for TV. I think the Neumann U87 is a lot more neutral, but that's a specialized studio-only mike used for music, not film.

Barry Bishop said:
I use Sanken COS-11d's (my Lav mics) and learned about Vampire mics. Should I be worried about phantom power with the scarlet?
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I think you mean vampire mounts. Those can work, but there are a lot of different techniques for wiring up people with lavs and hiding them, and not all of these will work in all situations.

I personally think an external mixer is a better way to go than using the phantom preamps in any camera. Even something like a little Sound Devices 302 has far better headroom and lower noise levels.
 
I think you mean vampire mounts.

Yea i meant mounts...it was late and I was doing a bit of shopping.
$1,300 for the Sound Device? What does this really get me? I can buy it, but I want to make sure its something that will make a noticeable difference in the audio.
 
Wondering where people on this thread stand on the question 9 years later.
 
Ashley Stracke said:
Wondering where people on this thread stand on the question 9 years later.
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I have about 40 microphones at this point and I'd say the 416 is still the workhorse of the industry.

There's been some new companies and new mics over the years, but that remains sort of a defacto standard still to this day. In terms of investment, it's easily been my most used mic in that lot.

Seems most mics I'm looking at nowadays are to fill rather specific use cases outside of where a traditional shotgun would be ideal, but that's a whole other topic.
 
NTG-3 is more full-bodied and more liquid sounding. MKH-416 is more thinner sounding and brighter, which gives the impression of a more detailed sound. NTG-3 is better in my opinion, especially if you listen to it for a long time.
 
Schoeps CMC641 for VO / interviews. Sanken CS3e shotgun for isolating sources in a crowd, even in many interiors. Great clean sound, little off-axis coloring. No rear pickup like the 5U has.
For a budget VO/Interview options, look at other hypercardioids including the Octava MC-012 over a shotgun.
 
Thanks everyone. Do others feel the NTG3 or the Sanken compare favorably to the 416?

Also interested if anyone's used the Sennheiser 418 as a camera-mounted shotgun for the stereo imaging?
 
Sean Solowiej said:
Schoeps CMC641 for VO / interviews. Sanken CS3e shotgun for isolating sources in a crowd, even in many interiors. Great clean sound, little off-axis coloring. No rear pickup like the 5U has.
For a budget VO/Interview options, look at other hypercardioids including the Octava MC-012 over a shotgun.
Click to expand...

This is similar to my arsenal. I have two Sanken CS-3e's, a CS-M1 and a Schoeps CMC641. This kinda sounds bad in a way, but it's really a great compliment and shows how versatile they are, but the CS-3e's are great "utility" mics, because you can use them for almost anything and never take them off your boom. If you could only buy ONE mic, a CS-3e is definitely at the top of the list and could play that role nicely.
 
I think the same, Christopher. And I make most of my living as a sound guy for the past 10 years. Sankens rock in so many ways, including matching them to COS-11 lavs. They're one of those mics you rarely see on the used market, which says a lot.

I'm happy to see this discussion here on RU. But for anyone looking for in-depth discussion of mic and sound gear choices, also check the forums at jwsoundgroup.net.
 
If you chance to go the "pre-loved" AKA "used and abused" route with a 416, be sure to check that is Phantom powered ( P48 ). It may be T power which is a lower supplied power. Feeding a T power mic phantom power may see it into its grave eventually. Please heed the advice of others who know better than I the story behind phantom power and T power. What I do know was that a T-powered Sennhesier 416 was used on an indie fearture shoot with a JVC-GY-HD111 which supplied phantom power. It died halfway through the shoot. They used my old Sony C74 until the 416 was replaced.

The C74 has a drier voice sound and is supposed to be slightly more directional but seemed fairly close. Specimens which have lived all their lives fixed in position in churches or performance halls may have a good look but may have many hours on them depending on whether their power source remained switched on continuously or not. Those which were used in the field or ENG work will have skin and hair knocked off them but may be in better functional condition.

A few specimens turn up on eBay from time-to-time.

http://https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_from=R40&_trksid=p2380057.m570.l1313&_nkw=sony+C74+microphone&_sacat=0

The Rode Blimp with a centre extension will contain a Sony C74. The mic body is brass, very heavy. You may need to double the upper suspension bands in the Rode blimp. A guy swinging one on a pole will get the shakes until his strength develops.


Sony also made another longer version of the type , the C76, which was more tightly directional, very dry, airey and much lower apparent gain. With the C76 you are on your own regarding a blimp. Sony made their own foam muff and a narrow blimp but they were not all that good in wind. I made my own blimp out of an aircleaner from a Caterpillar ore truck. As well as the corrugated paper, it had a nice felt jacket. The pick-up zone became uncomfortably directional so don't try that cheap trick.

https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_from=R40&_trksid=p2334524.m570.l1313&_nkw=sony+C76+microphone&_sacat=0&LH_TitleDesc=0&_osacat=0&_odkw=sony+C74+microphone
 
Sean Solowiej said:
I think the same, Christopher. And I make most of my living as a sound guy for the past 10 years. Sankens rock in so many ways, including matching them to COS-11 lavs. They're one of those mics you rarely see on the used market, which says a lot.

I'm happy to see this discussion here on RU. But for anyone looking for in-depth discussion of mic and sound gear choices, also check the forums at jwsoundgroup.net.
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I'm not an "audio guy", but I place a high priority on it and that's why I probably own more audio gear than most of my audio guys and most will work with my gear without any hesitation, because it's as good or better than theirs. And heck, I've actually done two separate audio gigs with one of the guys I shoot with for a total of four days, recently. And way back in the day, one of my buddies and I used to shoot on a series and we would change it up every few shoots and one of us would shoot and the other do audio. It made for a nice change of pace, especially since a lot of the stories were the same, just being told by different subjects.

And yes, it's good to see some higher end audio equipment being discussed here. If it's not camera or lens related, it seems like the questions are usually like, "What $200 tripod or $100 wireless and $25 lav should I get?".
 
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