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Instastash mics


Marc Hoppe

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Does anyone have personal experience with the Production Talent Instastash mics? A salesman at one of the usual suspects suggested it after I brought in a Peter Engh Omnigoose for repair (it was not repairable).

I have another Omnigoose and like it for plants and car work, and am not opposed to replacing it, but my curiosity has been piqued by this alternative. I've searched for it here on JW and elsewhere and have found nothing other than this link from Pro Sound: http://www.pro-sound.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Product_Code=SPROINSTASTASH&Store_Code=PSS&search=INSTASTASH&offset=&filter_cat=&PowerSearch_Begin_Only=&sort=&range_low=&range_high=

Any personal experiences will be greatly appreciated.

Thanks.

Marc

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I got one in April. I also have a Peter Engh. I haven't used the instastash a lot, but when I A-B'd them, both in a SMQV, I felt the Instastash was noisier. It is a good bit cheaper IIRC. The neck is longer (good or bad I suppose depending on the situation) and the mic head is smaller. I think it could be hidden in places the Engh might show.

I wanted options for quick car drops etc when there isn't time to properly set up a CUB or something. Cars, and where the cameras will be, are so different that I don't mind having both with me. Based purely on sound, I think I prefer the Peter Engh. Oh, I think one is wired for SM only and one is Lectro universal. I didn't (yet) research if they can be rewired. Might not matter for my needs though.

Offhand I think Pro-Sound stocks the Ibstastash and Gotham has the Peter Engh mics..... If you want to grab one in person.

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If I get a chance. My CUBs are not with me right now. The CUB is directional, and the others are omni. I would always prefer a CUB, but these two gooseneck mics can be placed in a car in 20 seconds or less. It's a different use for me. I generally use the CUB on narrative work where you get to plan shots and rig cars.

I personally like the sound of a well placed CUB, like even mounted on a steering column. Putting them on the visor is a little more experimentation. I have a piece of plexiglass that's about the size of a license plate that I would often mount the CUB to and clip it to the visor. Being a boundary mic, I think they are more effected by how they're mounted. Somebody else may be able to add more science to that answer. I know some people epoxy their boundary mics to the flat surface. Different world, but those plexiglass isolation shields that go around drums sometimes will have a boundary mic glued to them. A lot of sound people swear by that.

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I tried the omni goose and cub side by side for a shoot I was doing in a courtroom and I needed to put mics on the defense and prosecutors tables. I went with the cub because I found that when the person speaking was further from the mic I had better audio. The omni goose sounded ok but the audio fell off rapidly once the person stepped away.

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Thanks guys, I appreciate the info. The Omnigoose is about $270 and the Instastash is about $155 if I recall correctly.

JohnPaul, if you get a chance to A/B them and post it, that would be great, but it sounds like the general impression is that the Omnigoose is more preferred.

I have been considering picking up a couple of CUBs but haven't pulled the trigger on them yet. I do like the ease of mounting the Omnigooses (Omnigeese?)quickly using an SMV and a dab of Joe's Sticky Stuff, and for reality or ENG car work, the results are more than acceptable.

As always, this forum continues to be a wealth of information.

Marc

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Ok, so I am currently uploading 3 WAV files. Recorded to the Nomad and uploaded, no tweaking in any other app. 2-track recording with the Peter Engh on one channel and the Instastash on the other. Both plugged into a SMQV, both sending to a 411, both 411 outputting line level into the Nomad. We did driver's visor, center console drink holder and then passenger visor. 2007 Jeep Commander V6, so not the quietest car, but not very loud either. Windows were closed and air was off. I'll link them once they are up. Thanks to fellow mixer Ben Wong for operating the Nomad and monitoring while I drove us to get burritos.... err made this scientific test happen. 

 

post-876-0-38381700-1400942723_thumb.jpg

 

post-876-0-13519400-1400942746_thumb.jpg

 

post-876-0-57009300-1400942757_thumb.jpg

 

The Instastash is the one that's a little longer, and a much smaller mic head. I like having both. I mostly bought them for real quick drops in cars, but who knows what uses I will find for them. One may pay off better. They are also relatively inexpensive, so it's worth having at least one in the kit. 

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Driver's visor (me)

https://www.mediafire.com/?6nqqcx74nhink3a 

 

center console drink holder between us

https://www.mediafire.com/?6cvf495541hzl23

 

passenger side visor (Ben) 

https://www.mediafire.com/?5vdbuqoqd7winrx 

 

not scientific, and you can see we just stuck them up. Somewhat real world, though we would normally hide them a little more. wasn't so easy to do that with 2 mics and have them equal, so take it for what it's worth. 

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  • 2 weeks later...

I wanted to check out the samples you uploaded. Only the center console link to works for me. I noticed the first and third links have a square at the end, but removing it didn't help. Either way, thanks for the insight.

I trimmed the weird superfluous characters for the first and third link. Seems to work:

Driver's visor (me)

https://www.mediafire.com/?6nqqcx74nhink3a

passenger side visor (Ben)

https://www.mediafire.com/?5vdbuqoqd7winrx

And thanks JP!

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  • 2 months later...

JP, thanks for uploading these. Which mic is on which track? Sorry if I missed this info . . .

 

Oops, the Peter Engh is track 1 and the Omnigoose is on track 2. It is in the metadata, and I forgot to upload the sound report. 

I really should have planted a CUB-01 and maybe a COS-11. If I get a chance at some point I will do another test with all of those mics at once. 

I still have the feeling that the CUB is my first choice when there is time to properly wire a car, say on a narrative project. The Engh & Omnigoose live in my bag for doc/reality and I can set them pretty quickly. It gives me an extra level of confidence on situations where I drop the bag and am in a follow car and don't have an easy chance to make adjustments for a seatbelt or something. I would leave the player lav'd, but drop one or both of these as additional mics. 

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