SFX Gathering Equipment Advice

[Canada Soundman]

Hello,

Looking for some help here deciding on a Stereo shotgun for sfx gathering.

I was thinking about the Neumann 191 or Sanken CS 5- w Sound Devices 722?

I am primarily a SFX Editor and have never used a stereo shot gun to record.

Any equipment suggestions or configurations would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks... Eh!

John

[Arnold F.]

I can't say I've tried every mic but I have been recording sound effects for a while and have not seen a stereo shotgun used for that (although it might be great).  I think a set-up you didn't mention, a Schoeps MS rig, is arguably the best there is for non-explosive effects and backgrounds.  Is there a particular reason you're leaning toward a stereo shotgun?

A.

[Philip Perkins]

I've had great luck w/ both those mics esp the Neumann, and you won't go wrong w/ the 722, but you might find that 2 mono mics is a more versitile setup.  Stereo mics are great for ambience and "one point" perspectivces and are handy for fast moving situations, but for times when the SFX recording is the main thing going on you might want to have a little more control over the stereo spread and/or have mics in two very different locations for the same effect.

Most of my sfx recording happens as quick grabs on sync sound dialog shoots, so the stereo mic thing works very well for that.

Philip Perkins

[productionsound.de]

Hi John!

I have worked with the Neumann RMS 191, with Neumann 140+120 rigs, with AT 835ST and the 191 is the most versatile and solid, the 140+120 is the best sounding but heaviest and the AT is the lightest and most practical rig because the matrix is in the mic.

What about a four-track recorder? you could record 4.0 SFX-tracks with a double-MS rig :-)

Christian

[Canada Soundman]

I've had great luck w/ both those mics esp the Neumann, and you won't go wrong w/ the 722, but you might find that 2 mono mics is a more versitile setup.  Stereo mics are great for ambience and "one point" perspectivces and are handy for fast moving situations, but for times when the SFX recording is the main thing going on you might want to have a little more control over the stereo spread and/or have mics in two very different locations for the same effect.

Most of my sfx recording happens as quick grabs on sync sound dialog shoots, so the stereo mic thing works very well for that.

Philip Perkins

Hi Philip,

What would you recommend as a premium stereo pair?

Thanks,

John

[Canada Soundman]

I can't say I've tried every mic but I have been recording sound effects for a while and have not seen a stereo shotgun used for that (although it might be great).  I think a set-up you didn't mention, a Schoeps MS rig, is arguably the best there is for non-explosive effects and backgrounds.  Is there a particular reason you're leaning toward a stereo shotgun?

A.

To be honest, I'm actually not sure what the best microphone technique would be for what I would like to do. Basically the idea here is to have the best quality, portable and most versatile set up. The neumann 191 was recommended to me and I have never recorded using a matched pair, so I'm not sure which is better. I want to capture wide clean BG's and also car passes, door closes and many other hard effects all with the same setup, as my budget is for one mic or a matched pair.

Which would you recommend, Stereo shotgun or matched pair?

Thanks

john

[Arnold F.]

John:

Out of three options, an MS setup, a matched pair and a single stereo mic (not necessarily a shotgun) I would think the latter would be the most portable.  MS is a just slightly more fiddly than a shotgun (two mounted mics instead of one) but would be a close second since both types of rigs would live in a shockmount/zeppelin and you probably wouldn't mess with much once they're in there.  During much of the 80's I did use a matched pair of Schoeps in both xy and ortf and it was always a pain to keep the rather poorly designed mount adjusted properly.  Hopefully someone has invented something that makes it easier now.

I switched over to MS because of it's ease of use and versatility.  It sits in one mount/zeppelin and offers a variety of recording options.  You can change the stereo image when recording bg's.  I've done many car series' with it and it's versatile for car bys (not to mention trains, planes, helicopters, etc.).  If you don't want stereo you've got an unbeatable mono mic (as well as a great production mic).  It used to be that you had to buy an expensive matrix for MS but both my SD442 and 702T have it built in and I'll bet your 722 does as well.  Lastly, if you want, you can leave the tracks encoded and decode them later on a project by project basis (might need an outside matrix for this) - I've never chosen this route because of the extra work but some people do.  I know sound editors (and production mixers) who get a single stereo mic so they can run out and pick stuff up but I think the primary setup of choice amongst actual sound effects recordists is Schoeps MS (as well as a kit full of other toys and tricks).  I've been using one for at least 15 years on tons of projects.

Sorry, this has become an MS sales pitch so I'll try to answer your question directly.  If handling a matched pair is as fiddly as it used to be then I would go with a single, stereo mic.  One editor I know in particular loves his (I think it's a neumann but not a shotgun).  You could probably get a good stereo mic cheaper than a matched pair of Schoeps or Schoeps MS, both of which would probably cost about the same amount after you factor in the need to purchase a second shockmount, zeppelin and furry for the matched pair.

Arnold

To be honest, I'm actually not sure what the best microphone technique would be for what I would like to do. Basically the idea here is to have the best quality, portable and most versatile set up. The neumann 191 was recommended to me and I have never recorded using a matched pair, so I'm not sure which is better. I want to capture wide clean BG's and also car passes, door closes and many other hard effects all with the same setup, as my budget is for one mic or a matched pair.

Which would you recommend, Stereo shotgun or matched pair?

Thanks

john