Mic placement and cable question

[Will Salley]

I have positioned the mic element about one inch to the side of the mouth in most cases. If the talent has a habit of blowing plosives (like a heavy P), more distance from the mouth may be necessary along with a windscreen.

Looping the cable should not create any adverse effects on the signal but obvious care should be taken not to crimp or pinch it – it is fragile. I use gaffers tape, topstick tape, and hairpins to dress the cable. It may also depend on the transmitter model as some use the mic as an antenna -or they used to with VHF.

Mac Pro 2×2.8 Quadcore – 10.6.2 – QT 7.6.3 – 22 GB RAM – nvidia8800GT – SATA internal & external storage – Blackmagic Multibridge Pro – Open GL 1.5.10 – Wacom Intous2 tablet – AJA io
SONY XDCAM EX3 – Letus Elite

[Stan Welks]

Thanks for your response. Is it a bad idea to use a windscreen even if the talent does not blow heavy “plosives” as a precautionary measure? I am obviously new to this.

Thanks.

[Will Salley]

It’s always a GOOD idea to use a good windscreen, but it negates the major advantage of the E6, its small size. If it’s an interior shoot with little air movement and gentle head movement, you can get by with no windscreen – especially when the camera angle demands a discrete mic placement. On exteriors, I would always use a windscreen – the small stock pink thing that comes with the mic is really not sufficient but it’s better than nothing.

Mac Pro 2×2.8 Quadcore – 10.6.2 – QT 7.6.3 – 22 GB RAM – nvidia8800GT – SATA internal & external storage – Blackmagic Multibridge Pro – Open GL 1.5.10 – Wacom Intous2 tablet – AJA io
SONY XDCAM EX3 – Letus Elite

[Stan Welks]

How does the windscreen affect the sound quality in an interior shot if it is not needed? Does it muffle the sound?

Thanks.

[Will Salley]

A quality windscreen shouldn’t have any noticeable affect on sound quality. Inferior windscreens can attenuate (muffle) the high-end and some will even squeak when the rub on the mic capsule.

Mac Pro 2×2.8 Quadcore – 10.6.2 – QT 7.6.3 – 22 GB RAM – nvidia8800GT – SATA internal & external storage – Blackmagic Multibridge Pro – Open GL 1.5.10 – Wacom Intous2 tablet – AJA io
SONY XDCAM EX3 – Letus Elite

[Ty Ford]

The E6 should not be placed in front of the mouth, so plosives should not be an issue. The mic is best placed off the cheek. Inside, you should be fine without the pop filter. Outside it may help you.

As regards the cable, yes, you may expect performance to be compromised if the cable is tightly wrapped around the neck of the performer.

Regards,

Ty Ford

Want better production audio?: Ty Ford’s Audio Bootcamp Field Guide
Watch Ty play guitar

[Jordan Wolf]

If you’re using an omni, you’ll get much more room sound in the final product…if it’s a cardioid, you’ll probably want to compensate for the proximity effect in the LF area (try a HPF somewhere between 80Hz and 200Hz; 12dB or 18dB slope should work fine).

I typically place E6s just behind the corner of the talent’s mouth. If they have facial hair (like the Abraham Lincoln impersonator I ran sound for at my college), you may have to adjust the distance away from their face.

Just remember that the inverse square law applies – you have (roughly, since it’s the real world) 6dB of additional gain for every halving of distance.

If the cable with the XLR on it is as thin as the one that I’ve used with wireless microphones, just make sure you treat it gingerly. The quick release connector at the top sometimes develops an intermittent connection if handled too roughly and the strain relief at the XLR barrel should be inspected every-so-often for the same problem.

Wolf
<><