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Record voice while driving?


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I ordered a Rode HS2 Headset based on price and reputation. The DPA’s are very pricey. Double the price of the Rode. I’ll receive it Wednesday. I’ll make sure I use proper mic placement by carefully adjusting it’s exact location for the best performance. I’ll report back how it works out. 

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This is interesting. I just did a test drive with my wife sitting in the passengers seat in the same car but she was being recorded on audio this time instead of me. She had the mic pointing up at an angle towards her mouth about 6 inches away. Remember I had the mic pointed down on an angle towards my mouth as it was in the sun visor. My audio picked up all kinds of road noise but my wife's audio had minimal road noise. Almost too little this time. David Waelder did mention that I point the mic up and I did some quick tests on my own but the test was not as precise because I was a one man band. With my wife holding the mic and recording her voice with the mic at the upward angle position things were MUCH quieter with regards to road noise. I have a headwore mic from Rode coming in this week and that will be very convenient due to it's form factor. If that works out I'll be all set. If not then I will need to somehow mount the shotgun mic near the cupholders near the shift handle in the center of the seats to point up to my mouth. Getting it that close to my mouth will be a challenge due to the need for driving safety. 

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You'll need some sort of bendable arm that can be attached to the car to hold your microphone in an advantageous position. (Sorry I didn't mention that.)

 

The Noga arm is frequently used for this. Authentic Noga arms, available from places like Film Tools, are a bit expensive. Knock-offs found on Ebay seem to work well. You'll also need a clamp on one end to affix the arm to the car. Clamps are often offered by the same Ebay vendors selling faux Noga arms.

 

Weathertek (and others) sell forms to hold your cell phone that fit into a cup-holder. I would buy one of those and modify it as needed to accept the clamp for your "Noga" arm.

 

Adjust the microphone position while the car is stationary and lock the arm. (No more assuming that something goes without saying :))

 

David

Oh, and, of course, you'll need a microphone shock mount with suitable hardware to attach it to the other end of your "Noga" arm.

 

David 

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The Ebay listings under "Noga" now appear authentic. I guess the Noga people cracked down. (As they have every right)

 

You'll have to be more creative in your search terms to find the Knock-offs. (Or pay for the authentic product.)

 

But I think you really do want a Noga-style  product. That design locks flexible joints at both ends with a single lever making a rigid support

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Wow. This magic arm thing will work. I looked at the car just now and the area between the seats where you store things has a hatch that opens up and a section between where I can clamp this magic arm and easily adjust the mic to essentially any position I want. This is gold. I need a shock mount to finish it off. Folks.....I can’t thank you enough. I’m going to try the Rode HS2 headmount this week and see if that is preferable but if not then this magic arm opens up a world of possibilities. 

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OK. I recieved the headmount microphone. It did the job of reducing road and cabin noise in the car very well. Unfortunately for me I received a flawed unit and had to send it back. The package looked like it had been opened when I took it out of the shipping box and low and behold it suffered from static sounds that could be due to the place where it connected to the recorder. Now I know for sure that a headmount mic does reduce noise from the road and vehicle itself. I'm back to using the shotgun mic and I just need to figure out how to arrange it so it points up and is close to my mouth while maintaining driving safety. Getting the correct mount is a bit tricky. 

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  • 3 weeks later...

OK. Update on my original post. The advice about having the mic close to the mouth via a headworn mic worked perfectly. Unfortunately for me I had a defective headworn mic and had to send it back. What I ended up doing was using a really nice Sony lav mic with an XLR connection into my Mixpre 3 ll. I took a piece of flexible springy wire stuff from Home Depot and put an alligator clip on one end and attached the mic to the other end. Then I just clipped the rig on my baseball cap and adjusted the mic so it was slightly to the side and back near my mouth and the sound quality of vocal audio the road noise was perfectly balanced for what was my original intended purpose. I also tried just clipping the mic to the front of my baseball cap and pointing it towards my mouth but too much road noise resulted in that technique. The mic was probably 7 inches from my mouth vs 1 or 2 inches with my current set up. I’m grateful for the assistance and advice. Many, many thanks. 

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I previously recommended acquiring a Noga arm, or a knock-off, for rigging microphones in cars. The inexpensive knock-offs that were previously available on Ebay are now relegated to listings as "magic arms." This is entirely right and proper.

 

Since then, I received a promotional piece for a very similar "Articulating Arm" from Adorama for only $20:

 

https://www.adorama.com/fpxar06.html

 

In general I think that buying from Adorama is better than wandering into the den of thieves that sometimes operates in a corner of Ebay. Still, I am reminded of the interchange between Noah Cross and Jake Giddes in Chinatown where Cross asks if Lt. Escobar, assigned to the case of investigating the death of Hollis Mulray, is honest. Giddes replies that he is honest but adds "we all swim in the same waters."

 

David 

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  • 4 months later...

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