kavenzmann

FYI: The original MZF is a good investment but still lacks a little stronger filtering. I'd advice to ask for the modified version if you buy new. The filter on the MixPre is nice, too, but the gaps between frequencies are huge (40, 80, 120 or 160Hz at 18db/oct fixed) and there aren't too many options. The first downside, that I found for the MixPre so far. I used the MKH8060 without the MZF and 80Hz/18db successful. So you can live without the MZF if neccessary.

Update: I completed my order with a third MBC604 preamp, a figure8 and a matching KA500 hypercard. I really like these mics a lot. Have used them for a few gigs primarily for voice with either a KA200 card or the KA500 hypercard. The KA500 is a really nice mic for booming voices. Did some unscientific tests against the Schoeps (MK40/41 + MK8) in a M/S combo. The Schoeps is a benchmark for me with its most natural sounding off-axis character and generally open and warm sound. The MBHO also have a quite uncolorized off-axis sound, sound generally open and more 'airy'. They also have a better noise floor but miss a little openess vs the Schoeps which still lead the pack in my ears. They also tend to sound less warm. I'd say it's not miles away but still a difference, though. Would buy them again as they are superb value for the money. The Schoeps are more flexible due to the more advanced and lighter/smaller preamp choice, which makes them suit better for long booming sessions and in double M/S or other advanced surround combos. Since I have a MixPre6 II, all tests and recordings are made with it though. Let me know if you need more infos!

If you like, have a look at MBHO in germany. They produce a wonderful modular system, but there's hardly any reliable info out there. Even their website is absolutely outdated. As I have a set of cards, hyper cards and figure8 , I can say they're pretty nice allthough in terms of hot output and noisefloor the sennis are hard to beat! Drop me a line if you need more info.

Interesting as I thought to replace the EW100s with the Deity system. Can you upload some examples? THX

Thank you all so much. It's always nice to get some advice from experienced people! I've already been asked by the production company if I can improve the syncing of their recordings on set. It's often to cumbersome for them on set to put the cameras/audio recorders together to sync the TC. I asume that would be the job for one of the Tentacles or one of the BP-TRX from Deity, right?

Okay, got it with the TC. The issue often is, that the B-Cam is a DSLR without proper Timecode. So I'll start with one of the TC boxes and need cables for the different TC connectors (SDI, HDMi, 3,5mm...). That box can then also act as a permanent TC box for the DSLR. Right?

Thanks for your experience. Very much appreciated! I think it's wise to invest in a second G3/4 as they have been very versatile over the years for me. I think even some friends will sell their rarely used ones... For TC I'll check the Tentacles. Those guys are old friends from the university days. Support your locals! Am I right that I need 3 pieces for 2 cams and my MixPre? How will these files be synced in post? Only with their tentacle software or is it a standard readable in common editing software?

Personally I thought the Senni G3s are really outdated and people generally switched to digital wireless. But mine has worked just fine for some years and a second one with another frequency would be an easy upgrade. These guys have gone cheap lately. Would the MKE2 (gold) be a good lav option? I think it's a good idea to have identical lavs and not totally different ones? If I go with 2x G3 wireless, I'd still miss the TC boxes. Typically there's my mixer/recorder plus A cam snd B cam. Any advice what to get here? Can the MixPre be the TC master?

That's a total misunderstanding. I do work as a cinematographer or as a sound technician. Not both at the same time. Some might think this is a bad idea. Accepted! I want to complete my audio only bag.

Hi, I hope it's okay to just follow up on this thread @Sound? I'm not really a professional sound guy. Whatever that means... Actually, I studied film + videocamera at the university 15 years ago and work as a cameraman for 20 years. I also do post production for bigger projects, especially Color Grading and Finishing in my home studio. Nevertheless, sound is often an underestimated art on small crew films/ docos. That's why I often took care for that and collected a entry collection of equipement, that I want to complete for a small sound bag. I also freelanced as a sound technician several years at my local broadcast company WDR and did the whole location sound recording for several long documentaries and shows using traditional booming, M/S and lav techniques. I very much like stereo recording techniques for documentaries and do some field recording as well. My aim here is to improve the use of location sounds for documentaries as much as possible. Here's what I have already: - MixPre 6 II (just came in!) incl. sound bag that originally fits the SD 7xx series (bag was a gift from a friend and is nice but a little too wide) powered via Sony NP-F mount ( https://www.shop-ftt.de/de/batteriespeiseadapter-sd-mixpre-3-62 ) or USB powerbank - Sennheiser MKH 8060 shotgun - Audio Technica BP4029 M/S shotgun - a modular set of 2x MPB604 amps / 2x cards/ 1x super card/ 1x figure8 form MBHO for indoor booming and stereo recording - Rode Boompole Pro (535g, 81-300cm length) - baskets/shockmounts/windprotection from Rycote for most mics and combos (needs some improvement here and there) - some special cabling and connboxes for the stereo setups and lots of standard XLR cables - 1x Sennheiser EW100 G3 RF set incl. MKE2 lav upgrade (can also used hardwired), ME2 lav (from the original set) What's missing to complete the bag?? I had a gig yesterday, that mirrors the standard sound gig I'll do more often in the near future. 2x camera, 2 x talent that need wireless mics, boom for classic booming, additional ambient recording or unexpected situations. TC being a problem very often. We use claps as a sync helper, but that is annoying quite often, too. I do like the overall sound of my new combo very much. Really a serious upgrade over the Zoom H6 and ME66/64 that I used before. But what I was wondering is how warm the MixPre got inside the bag. I mean really warm. Is that a known issue? I rented another EW100 G3 with MKE2 lav, but had some issues inside the rooms. The Senni EW100 G3 is not exactly bad, but I don't think it's good enough to buy a second one. I thought of getting the Deity Connect set with 1x 2ch RX, 2x TX and propably 2x TR-X as a future upgrade for camera hops and TC delivery to B-Cam. Does that sound as a good idea or are there more serious pieces for a comparable pricepoint I should invest in? I'll not do high budget fiction film production, but doco and small crew TV like gigs.

Hi, I use an M/S basket with 2x MBHO modular mics. They are pretty similar in weight and size to the Schoeps CCM6 modular mics. I have a bunch of different shockmount lying here and ask myself which are the right/best ones for my specific needs. I'll switch to the Lyre ones as the traditional rubber bands don'T isolate good enough - especially true for the figure8. I don't use the M/S combo for fast changes on the boom but often just carry it in my hands with a pistol grip. The softest Lyres (62) would allow for the best isolation as far as I understood, but they are just to loose to hold the combination stiff enough inside the Rycote basket. Any experience or should i just buy all three versions (62 - 72 - 82 hardness available) and test myself? I have seen the Cinela baskets and their shockmounts are superiour in many ways, but out of my budget right now. I'll end up needing three different ones for the different mic's and combos I use. Beside the M/S combo with a card or super card as M and the MBHO figure8 these are the MKH8060 as a general shotgun boom mic for outside or big rooms, MBHO super card or card for booming inside and 2x MBHO matched cards in ORTF or other A/B stereo techniques.

Any news when these will be available? Absolutely zero info from retailers and the Deity website, too. Seems a littel strange, no?

Okay. Thanks for your experienced answers! I'll wait for the mixer/recorder to arrive and check if it's good enough for me or if it can't compete with the MZF. As we usually do doco stuff, fast swiveling won't really happen. Will test and report back!

Yeah, sorry. Hard wired only. Not using any TX/RX. Nice, as this will really make for such a tiny basket! Only used MKH416 in huge baskets so far - this is so much better! Any downsides not using the MZF?

Hi, I'm actually using the off time to reconfigure my mics. I also got an MKH 8060 for booming and using it in a windshield. The windshield I already have is nearly perfect, but a tack to short if I also use the MZF with it. It's only 280mm long, but makes a very tiny outdoor boom basket. My MixPre 6 II has 'customisable' low cut settings, but will they also work nicely with the 8060? From the tech specs: Low Cut Filters 40 Hz to 160 Hz (adjustable), 18 dB/oct. First stage analog, subsequent stages digital. Anybody tried this or isn' it worth and I need another basket and better don't use it without the MZF? THX

Same here. Started with a integrated M/S setup (Sennheiser MKH 418). While it's easy to set up in a standard basket for shotguns it has its shortcomings. The mid is really a little bit to tight for ambience recordings, the integrated figure8 is on the noisy side. This led me to have a flexible M/S setup with card, hyper-card and wide-card. Still, if you really want nice stereo ambiences, there are better techniques as Constantin already stated. I use ORTF or similar setups depending on the source. But you'll need matched cards/hyper-cards and/or sub-cards plus a stereo bar and some kind of windjammer for each mic. Generally, the setup time takes longer, booming is often not possible but stereo separation is often much better in my ears. I bought into a modular mic system with 2 amp units, a matched card pair, a figure8 followed by a matched hyper-cards pair and a 3rd amp plus a wide-card pair and maybe omnis at some point later this year. This will allow nearly every stereo technique but does come at a prize. Nevertheless, M/S with card or hyper-card will be my goto setup if speed and size is important.

Update: I have received 2x small MBC604 preamps, KA200N matched pair cardioid capsules, 1x KA500HN hypercardioid capsule. Very small, somewhere in between the older Schoeps CMC6 and the new CMC1. Really like the sound from the first fast test setups here. Sensitivity is a tight match to the Schoeps system with a little peak in the 10kHz range that make tehm sound a little more clear but still without sounding harsh or agressive. Of axis coloration os also very well controlled. These make a very nice modular setup on a mid budget. Still waiting for the KA800A figure8 capsule... These will be setup and used next week. I'll try to check MS and ORTF setups as well as single capsule setups with cadioid/hyper cardioid for booming voices.

I'd say it's worth it for sure. But there's also the tiny MiniCMIT from Schoeps and on a tighter Budget the Sanken CS-1e.

Thanks for all the input! I would really love to hear the MBHO performing in a quite environment. What I found was studio music recordings only. The Line Audio seem to be less sensitive and have higher noise. They really seem to be very nice for the price though! The modular MBHO system is much more flexible and thus attrative to me. They have all sorts of capsules incl. omnis, wide cards, cards, hypercards, figure8, LDC omni, LDC card and also built upon special request without being expensive. Plus they have a lifetime warranty for the original owner. I never really read a bad review, only that they are characterized more high and a little lacking in the deep lows than i.e. the Schoeps or Gefells. Personally, I like the character of the cards that I have here during my very limited tests. There is some noise if you ramp up your preamps, but I won't call them noisy. Just more noisy than the Senni MKH8040, which isn't surprising really. But still they have a very clear, uncolored character with rich base on short distances. With a small popkiller even my voice sounds nice. For ambient recordings the little peak in the highs will nicely compensate for the Rycote windshield and windjammer. I'm sold! Will order a matched pair of the cardoids capsules KA200N with the small MBC604 preamps. Plan to buy hypers and figure8 later on to have a flexible set.

Haun is the last name of the founder and owner - Herbert Haun. His company is called MBHO (Mikrofon-Bau Haun Obrigheim).

Hi, I'm searching for a general purpose card/pair. First, I want to record my own voice for an upcoming film project while watching old pictures on my computer. Yeah, it's really while watching pictures in front of my iMac. This project will last some month, sothat renting won't be the best option. That means far from being a studio environment. Second, I'm a field recordist that likes to record interesting urban and nature ambiences. I worked with several nice stereo mic's includind the Senni MKH 418, Schoeps MKIV/MK8 and own a AT BP4029 M/S-mic. I also own some low profile Sennheiser ME64/66 mics and a Zoom H6 recorder. If I can use the mic's for indoor booming for film/video, it would be another nice benfit! I'd like to have a versatile set of cards (maybe super cards and also omnis later on) to use other stereo techniques as well. I will also buy a better figure8 one day for a better M/S-Setup some day if money allows. I like a natural, clean sound. That means good off-axis response (The ME64/66 is really bad here) and also high sensitivity/signal to noise ratio. I'd like to own a set of different Sennheiser MKH mic's but that's clearly out of my budget. Schoeps sound always great in my ears, but are also to expensive and also not very sensitive. I came across the german Haun MBHO microphone manufacturers, that are doing some very nice SDC modular microphones. But there are not much infos out there - it's a small manufacturer with 5 people. The website (MBHO) is very much outdated - most of the products are better now, the preamps being smaller (8 cm long) and built with newer SMD tech. I have a MBC 603 preamp, a card capsule (KA 400 N) and a matched pair of fixed SDC MBC 400 here for testing purposes. They came without any extra accessories and I like the sound of the modular combo very much. The fixed SDC is not as good, but very attractive at it's price point/600€ +VAT) too. Then I read about the latest Rode SDC, the TF-5 matched pair. They look very nice and the spec's are quite nice with a very hot output (35 mV/Pa) and good noise floor (14db, A), too. But I can't rent these or get a pair for testing. Then there is B9 audio from Taiwan, who looks like a Schoeps imitator, but really comes up with some own interesting ideas. An all interchangeable modular system. Also I don't have the best equipment for tests. The Zoom H6 has okay'ish preamps, but not really good ones. My USB audio interface (Audient) has only 1 good preamp, but my room is far from ideal for testing purposes, too. I like the MBHO, but it's so hard to get any reliable info and even prices of the latest offerings (the newer pre-amps MBC604 - not the older MBP604, all the newer capsules incl, wide card, card, suoer card, figure8....). Also, they are not the hottest mics out there, so I don't know if they would be also good for quite nature recordings. On the other hand they give a lifetime warranty and are located in my region. The Rode seems to be very nice, but there are only the card capsules and nobody can say, if there are coming other capsules, too. I doubt it. So maybe bot a very flexible system for starting out. B9 is rather new and not well known. I don't lnow if I should give them a chance, too. They seem all to be in the same price range more or less - MBHO being a little bit more expensive as they always come with no accessories at all. Any input welcome. THX for reading!

The 416 is a classic for a reason. It's able to deliver on almost every condition. Shortcomings? Most likely off axis and indoor sound. Never really bad, but far from ideal. The 8060 on the other hand, at least in my eyes, does sound better. Off-axis is more natural, it's practicaly noise-free and lightweight, too. Shortcomings? Most likely low frequency pick up and handling noise. You need a HPF either on the mic or at least on your mixer and a good shockmount. Nothing is for free... You prefer a most natural pick up pattern that's still hot - here you are. I'd prefer a 8060 in a heartbeat, but the 416 is a safe bet and prooved to be a workhorse for decades. Can't go wrong with it!

Thank you Inari. You efforts are much appreciated!

The one I was after looked really used and sold for 827€... But the owner didn't give any information about it so I didn't buy... A new MKH8050 is 890€ + VAT sothat this is the route for me. The higher output will be a plus when camera mounted, too.

I'd just buy the MixPre 6 with its 4 channels and you're good to go and more futureproof. It's merely bigger and just a few bucks more. If you need TC out, you need something different either.