What kind of microphone needed to record outdoor event?

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hellagrant

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What kind of microphone needed to record outdoor event?

PostThu May 03, 2018 8:14 pm

Looking to obtain a microphone that will plug directly into a camcorder. Primary use will be outdoor youth sports games, while being on the sideline. I think shotgun style mics are primarily for interview style audio. Ideally I want something that is directional(so picks up everything that the mic is pointed to but doesn't pick up anything from the back of the mic). Has to have decent reach, I want to be able to record the sound from one end of a field to another.
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hellagrant

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Re: What kind of microphone needed to record outdoor event?

PostWed Jul 04, 2018 2:40 pm

bump
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Brad Hurley

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Re: What kind of microphone needed to record outdoor event?

PostWed Jul 04, 2018 4:03 pm

It sounds like you need a cardioid mic (picks up what the mic is pointed to and some from the sides, and less from behind). A standard shotgun will reject sound from the side, although there are short shotguns like the Sennheiser MKH 8060 that have a somewhat broader pickup pattern. In your case you want broad, since you're not trying to pick out individual dialog from surrounding sounds. Note that you can't entirely eliminate noise from the rear; shotguns are better at this than standard cardioids (the only mic I know of that's able to magically block virtually all sound from the rear is the $2,500 Earthworks SV33 but that's really a studio mic).

You'll want a condenser mic instead of dynamic, because condenser mics are more sensitive and for the big distances you're trying to cover you'll need sensitivity. The downsides of condensers are the need for power (battery or external 48volt phantom) and more sensitivity to humidity (although some use circuitry to minimize this), wind, and handling noise.

Picking up everything from one end of a field to another is a tall order for any microphone, but if you're just trying to capture ambient sound you might be able to do it with a semi-wide cardioid. There's no such thing as a "telephoto mic" although you could do some research on parabolic reflectors to see if that would be a solution for your needs. Edited to add, you could also look into binaural microphones like this one: https://www.soundprofessionals.com//cgi ... m/MS-TFB-2

A few other considerations to think about:

1. Inputs matter: See http://www.shure.com/americas/support/f ... -camcorder for more details.

2. Preamp quality matters. Especially when you're trying to pick up distant sounds, you don't want to have to deal with noisy preamps on top of it. You have to factor the microphone's internal noise into the equation as well. You'll want a low-noise preamp and a low-noise mic so you can boost the levels in post-processing without hearing hiss.

3. Wind protection is important. Most cardiod condenser mics are sensitive to wind and handling noise and at the very least you'll need a "dead cat" windscreen and better yet a blimp plus furry windscreen. The foam windscreens that come with many mics are for use indoors; they won't do much to cut wind outside.
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David Peterson

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Re: What kind of microphone needed to record outdoor event?

PostTue Jul 17, 2018 8:06 am

Don't expect anything great from an on camera mic.

As the saying goes in real estate, what matters is:

Location!
Location!
Location!
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sonamwsingh

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Re: What kind of microphone needed to record outdoor event?

PostWed Jul 18, 2018 9:28 am

Try Shotgun microphones. It will be beneficial.
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Brad Hurley

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Re: What kind of microphone needed to record outdoor event?

PostWed Jul 18, 2018 4:57 pm

David Peterson wrote:Don't expect anything great from an on camera mic.


Well, unless you spend $2,500 on a Schoeps shotgun mic, that is.

All the sound in the action footage in the documentary Cartel Land was recorded with an on-camera Schoeps CMIT-5: http://cartellandmovie.com/

But yes, in general if you want to get good sound from one end of a football field to the other you probably need to plant a number of separate mics at different locations. Or else you have to be able to run really fast and stay close to the action. :D
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david12

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Re: What kind of microphone needed to record outdoor event?

PostSat Jul 21, 2018 9:59 pm

There is a lot of good microphones for this destination. You should think about DSLR Video Cameras. Some of examples worthy to look at:
Rode VideoMic Pro
Sennheiser MKE 400
Azden SMX-10
Rode Stereo VideoMic
Audio-Technica ATR-3350
Sennheiser EW 100 ENG G3-A
Tascam TM-2X
Shure VP64A
Audio-Technica AT8004
Zoom SSH-6
Of course it also depends how much money you want to spend :)
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Eric-Jan

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Re: What kind of microphone needed to record outdoor event?

PostSun Jul 29, 2018 7:54 pm

Btw.... the build in pre-amps of cameras are not top, external recording is mostly preferred is my guess,
the choice of good microphones is also better because of the XLR connection on these recorders,
internal audio recording is mostly used to sync .
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David Peterson

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Re: What kind of microphone needed to record outdoor event?

PostWed Aug 15, 2018 4:10 am

Brad Hurley wrote:
David Peterson wrote:Don't expect anything great from an on camera mic.


Well, unless you spend $2,500 on a Schoeps shotgun mic, that is.

All the sound in the action footage in the documentary Cartel Land was recorded with an on-camera Schoeps CMIT-5: http://cartellandmovie.com/

But yes, in general if you want to get good sound from one end of a football field to the other you probably need to plant a number of separate mics at different locations. Or else you have to be able to run really fast and stay close to the action. :D


Even a Schoeps will of course not sound as great as it can if it is not in the right position.
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Peter Benson

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Re: What kind of microphone needed to record outdoor event?

PostWed Aug 15, 2018 4:49 am

David Peterson wrote:Don't expect anything great from an on camera mic.

As the saying goes in real estate, what matters is:

Location!
Location!
Location!
+1

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