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In Praise of Omnidirectional Microphones


robertw

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Last week, I purchased a pair of Scheops MK 2 omnidirectional microphones.

Compared to MK 41 hypercardiods, I am struck - "blown away" is pretty much the right phrase, as unscientific as it is - by the depth, breadth and presence of the sound that I'm getting from them when placed close to the sound source.

In the dark ages, before Lavalier omnis, were there times when these mics were hidden to record talent, and if so, in what circumstances and how?

And a question for those of you who are using them today. What are you using them for, apart from voice over? No doubt ambient and sound effects are on the list. Anything else?

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On set years ago they wouldn't work because the 16 mm and 35 mm coffee grinders were so damned loud. This was in spite of what the Austrian DOP said " I put ground glass in front of lens it make it quiet " it didn't. Bathrooms would also be an issue for omnis. Also whispering camera ops and noises off set are not friends of clean dialogue. They have their place but on a film set there will be issues.

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I never used an omni in my life for voiceover. It was almost always a cardioid, typically a U87, about 2 feet away. Omnis would pick up too much of the room for me. 

 

I think omnis are useful for music recording in some cases, particularly classical or acoustic music, and they benefit from having very even, uncolored response at different angles. And they're ideal for sound effects gathering when there's no camera or crew around. But there's a lot of "it depends" associated with any mic selection.

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I've had an MK2 for many many years.  I treasure it for its wonderful sound, as you say, very uncolored, so natural.  But on the sort of jobs I work on, video and music, I need reach and pattern--the recording environments and situations are far less than ideal.  So my MK2 hasn't worked very much over the years….

 

philp

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I've had an MK2 for many many years.  I treasure it for its wonderful sound, as you say, very uncolored, so natural.

I purchased a pair of MK2s because I think that they will be suitable for some recordings that I want to do (very influenced by the UK sound recordist Chris Watson), but did not anticipate how much fuller and more natural they sound, close miked to a human voice, than an MK 41. Which doesn't change the fact that in many circumstances, if not most, they are impractical for recording voice in the context of a film or video. But still, it's quite an eye opener.

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