As I Hear It - Choosing the Right Microphone

[David Chakman]

Here's a little something I found today while clearing out some old bookmarks - an in depth look at a few of the usual (and maybe not so usual) shotgun, hyper, super and cardioid suspects. Now, I did not write this and to be perfectly honest I don't know if I would agree with some of the stuff that this guys says (admittedly, he is a video guy apparently) but I thought it did make interesting reading and there are some decent samples recordings with each mic that he reviews.

 

Apologies if this has been posted before, I did do a search (yes, on google) with no results, so here goes..

 

http://www.kenstone.net/fcp_homepage/right_mic_brockett.html

 

Enjoy

 

- Chak

[Mark Jones]

Yeah, it's been posted a few times:

 

 

 

 

 

When it comes to microphones, opinions are like a$$ holes: everybody has one. There are a lot of great mics out there that will produce great results in the hands of an experienced user.

 

Mark O.

[David Chakman]

Wow, apparently my searching skills need a little work, don't know how i missed all that!

Amen to that Mark, its been some time since i have listened to any of the sample recordings but i do remember being very impressed with the sound of the Neumann KMR81i, from all the test it sounded like it had the best off axis rejection to me.

- Chak

[Mark Jones]

For the search I used https://www.google.com/#q=site%3Ajwsoundgroup.net%20kenstone.net

 

Personally, I think it's impossible to get a true understanding of a mic through samples like these. It can be said that a Schoeps MK41 capsule has a wider pickup pattern than a shotgun mic. Yet in my experience it sounds as though it handles the off axis sounds in such a way as to make them not stick out very much. You only gain this kind of understanding while booming it over your subject in a real environment.

 

All of those mics will serve you well. Buy some of them, use them, and then decide which ones you prefer.

 

Mark O.

[studiomprd]

microphone selection is quite subjective, and a personal decision...

if it was used properly...the audience cannot tell which one was used.