Best handheld mic.

Foggy · Mar 11, 2014

I have recently returned from driving around europe filming my first documentary.Now I am home I need to film some street interviews and will require a handheld microphone.

I use a tascam dr-05 for audio recording and have used it as a mic before too but it doesn't look great on screen.

I am planning on either plugging the mic straight into the tascam which can sit in the pocket of the presenter, or get a wireless setup that plugs into the tascam so I can at least visually monitor the audio.

Any advice is hugely welcome, I have a budget of around £100.

Cheers.

Alcove Audio · Mar 11, 2014

Your biggest issue is that you are using a high impedance audio recorder and a decent handheld interview mic (even a cheapie) will be low impedance requiring phantom power.

Oh, BTW, the "best" handheld mic is about $350.

Will Vincent · Mar 11, 2014

Alcove Audio said:
Oh, BTW, the "best" handheld mic is about $350.

With current exchange rates the 100 pound budget is most of the way there.. :lol:

Foggy · Mar 11, 2014

Thanks Alcove, I should have said best within my budget.

Does this mean I will need a new sound recorder?

Alcove Audio · Mar 11, 2014

There are lots of cheap mics out there; just remember that you get what you pay for.

The Rode Reporter - US$129

Audio-Technica AT8004L - US$90

Both are dynamic mics by decent vendors that will not require phantom power, but you will might need an impedance matcher, and definitely an XLR to minipin converter and a mono to stereo converter. I do not know if they have enough output to drive the DR-05 mic input efficiently.

If you are doing sit-down interviews you may want to consider lavs. The Rode smartLav is only US$60.

Will Vincent said:
With current exchange rates the 100 pound budget is most of the way there..

About half way at todays rates. GBP £100 = US$166

Will Vincent · Mar 11, 2014

Alcove Audio said:
About half way at todays rates. GBP £100 = US$166

I was being facetious.. have to laugh about the extremely weak dollar to keep from crying..

brunerww · Mar 11, 2014

Hi Foggy - the minimum it's going to cost you is about:

- £118 for the Rode Reporter
- £3.29 for 1m of balanced XLR cable
- £22.91 for an XLR to 3.5mm transformer/adapter to match your mic's impedance to your DR-05

Hope that's helpful!

Bill

brunerww · Mar 11, 2014

Hi Foggy - I just found a better deal - there are a couple of used Beyerdynamic M58s on Amazon UK and one on eBay UK for less than £100.

Even used, this is a better mic than the Rode.

Good luck!

Bill

Foggy · Mar 23, 2014

Thanks folks, I went with the rode reporter in the end and for my purposes the sound quality is even better than needed,perfect!

brunerww · Mar 24, 2014

That's great, Foggy! Turns out I needed one for NAB, so doing the research to answer your question was helpful to me too!

I ended up buying a Sennheiser MD46 handheld cardioid mic based on this video from Guy at the dvestore.

Now I'll just have to remember to move it back and forth during interviews

Cheers,

Bill

Foggy · Mar 25, 2014

I'm glad it came in helpful for us both Bill! My employers are more than happy with the sound quality and the mic looks very professional on screen too.