Best shotgun mic and recorder combo

brennanrobideaux

brennanrobideaux

So I am at a little bit of a stand still. First off, I am on the hunt to upgrade my audio equipment and would like to get a new recorder and shotgun mic. So far, I am wanting the Tascam DR-40 more than the Zoom H4N just because of the price difference. Also, for shotgun mics, I have looked at the AT8035, AT875, NtG-2, ME6/K6 combo, and I just don't know which one to get.

Also, is the ME6/K6 really worth the extra $200 or should I go with one of the cheaper models. I just want something that will last me longer than a year or 2 so if you have any audio opinions, then please help me! :)

Thanks,
Brennan Robideaux
www.brobesfx.com
 
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Best shotgun mic and recorder combo
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"Best" is very subjective. If I had the budget my "best" choices would be the Schoeps CMIT5U shotgun ($2,200), Sound Devices 552 mixer ($3,000) and Sound Devices 702T recorder ($2,500).

You seem to have already made your decisions regarding budget. From my perspective there is really no point in pairing a nice mic with a bargain-basement recorder unless you are seriously planning on upgrading the recorder in the relatively near future.

My advice would be to get one of the shotgun mic kits (NTG-1, AT875) with the boom-pole, shock-mount and wind protection, and get a pair of battery packs for the DR-40. It's a bit more money, but you'll have more reliability, and the accessories will still be useful if you ever get around to upgrading. Remember to get decent cables. Oh, and don't forget to get some solid headphones (MDR-V6, MDR-7506, HD 280, Ultrasone PRO 750).
 
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Thank you for the reply..

Now, I have a good boom pole and shock mount and wind protection. So you are telling me that a good shotgun mic will be useless with a budget recorder?

Also, why the NTG-1? Really I am just curious because I figured that those are just average sounding mics.
 
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You would want a decent XLR Shotgun mic for outdoors and a Hyper-Cardiod mic for indoors along with a good recorder to start with. Have you thought of a better option of hiring a sound guy for a project ? might be surprised at the cost. The quality difference is worth it. Ask yourself this would you pay a few hundred on a project to get great sound on a short project ?? You can only do so much yourself. If you had the ultimate gear, would you let an inexperienced person use it ?





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The NTG-2 and NTG-1 are the same mic, but the NTG-2 can supply its own phantom power via an internal battery. The same applies to to the AT875 and AT897. The biggest difference between the mics is that the self phantom powered mics (NTG-2 & AT897) appear to have lower volume output levels; pair that with the DR-40, DR-100 or H4n, which have lower input volume levels, and you have serious volume level problems (the DR-100MkII, which is due out in the spring, reportedly has resolved the problems of the original DR-100 - news at 11:00 :lol: ). Personally I would get one of the "true" entry level recorders like the FR2, PMD-661 or the HD-P2. Yes, I'm aware that these are all currently out of your price range.

The "sound" of various mics is another subjective topic and can be quite vociferous. The $500 ME-66 is a decent mic, but to my ears is on the brittle side. The $700 NTG-3 is, IMHO, a substantially better mic, and has been called the "poor mans" MKH-416 ($1,000). When you get to that level of investment you need to weigh your options carefully. No matter what, I'm sure that the ME-66 will sound much better than whatever it is you have currently.

So my advice would be to get the NTG-1 or AT897 and a couple of battery packs for the DR-40, which would come to about the same price. The reason for the battery packs is that budget recorders go through batteries at a ferocious rate when supplying phantom power. In the long run you'll save money if you think about the cost of going through a sleeve of batteries every shooting day.

No matter what, the techniques used make even more of a difference than the equipment. Great boom technique will more than make up for using budget gear, but crappy technique with even the best gear will still yield crappy sound.

A final bit of advice - opinions are like a$$holes; everybody has one and they all stink! Do some serious research and come to your own decision.
 
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I have to say that you give some of the best advice out there. You are extremely informative and I thank you for that... I will definitely complete my own research but first I needed the opinion of a guy who knows what he is talking about.. Thanks again!
 
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I often pair an ME66 with a Tascam DR-100 and get fairly good results. The output of the ME-66 is just good enough for me to get decent levels without having to flick the gain switch to high which really brings up the hiss.
I tend to be set to medium gain with record levels between 4 and 9 (pushing it a bit) depending on the shot and how close I can get.
It's a great setup for radio work when I can get in real close or news gathering when I can have the mic in shot. For film work it's always been OK but I haven't had to deal with really wide shots.
One thing about the ME66 though is I think it has a slightly wider pick up than the longer shotguns. I find it a touch more 'forgiving' when off centre (kinda useful when trying to catch more than one actor) but picks up more ambient noise than I would like. Don't really like it in noisy outdoor enviroments.
 
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