Am I right in my thinking here: use the Rode NTG-3 outside and the Audio Technica 4053B inside?

[Richard Crowley]

Yes. The indoor/outdoor distinction is the popular meme, but if you know the real reasoning, you can adapt to a wider variety of situations.

“Shotgun” microphones use the ANGLE of incidence to cancel off-axis sounds (that is what makes it a “shotgun”)
When you are indoors, you are almost guaranteed to have nearby reflective surfaces that will “confuse” a shotgun mic.
That is why we traditionally use hyper-cardioid microphones INDOORS because hypers are much less susceptible to reflections by virtue of their operating principles.

So the REAL distinction is nearby reflective surfaces (or not).
If you were shooting in a gigantic indoor space with no reflective surfaces 50 feet in any direction, then a shotgun may be the ideal choice.
OTOH, if you were out in the middle of a desert and had lots of hard-surface reflectors or light-blocking shades, etc. then a hyper may perform better.

[Ty Ford]

Hello Noam and welcome to the Cow Audio Forum.

Richard is spot on.

BTW, there’s nothing to stop you for using the AT4053b in the wide open spaces.

I regularly use my Schoeps CMC641 outside. No problem.

Regards,

Ty Ford
Cow Audio Forum Leader

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