TrianaSound

Very good point Vincent. That's one reason I wanted to get professional guidance from this forum before moving forward. I guess if it's good enough for NPR then it's good enough for me 😆 I wasn't aware of the counterfeit thing. Will definitely do some further research if I decide to go with Octavas. These are good points and quite helpful if I am able to stretch the budget. Thanks again to everyone for contributing to this thread. You have been a great help.

Thank you for each of your comments. Much appreciated. I have one more question about microphone placement in this set-up, specifically where to aim the microphone? Although hard to tell by the angle of the photo, it appears that Ms. Obama's mic is aimed directly at her mouth whereas Mr. Obama's mic is aimed in front of him with him speaking across the polar pattern (if that makes sense)? I know that overhead booms are usually aimed at the chin, but unsure how to aim it when on a lower stand that is more head level. Also, I am not committed to the Oktava 012. Other mics I have considered are the Audix SCX1-HC, Audio Technica AT4053b or even stretching my budget a bit for the SENNHEISER MKH 50 or MKH 8050 if convinced they would be that much better than the others. Any thoughts about these choices? Or another specific mic recommendation for this set-up? Thanks again for taking the time to share your expertise with me. I will definitely take all of it into consideration.

Saw this photo and thought the set-up could be ideal for recording lengthy oral history interviews. The goal is to encourage a relaxed conversational style with interviewees that may be intimidated by too much production (i.e., getting wired with a lav and/or sitting under an overhead boom rig). The set-up in this photo seems less intimidating with the mics placed off the eye line and a little further away (maybe 18"). My questions are: 1) What specific microphones would you use for this set-up? I'm assuming these are cardioid (super-cardioid) condensers with a pick-up pattern to allow some shifting of seated interview subjects? 2) Given the goal stated above, would you recommend this set-up as opposed to what I understand is the more traditional approach of using lav mics and/or overhead booms? Before seeing this photo I was planning to purchase a MixPre 3ii and a couple hyper-cardioid Oktava MK-012 with overhead boom stands. I'm new to this so all suggestions are very much appreciated. Thank you.