[Bob Kessler]

The Rode NTG-3 has a very good reputation.

If you are shooting exclusively indoors you may want to consider a hypercardioid mic like the Audio Technic AT4053b; it may sound less “roomy.”

Peace,

Bob
____________________________________________________________________
Filmmaking is the art of the invisible;
If anyone notices your work you haven’t done your job right.

[Bob Kessler]

As much as folks hate hearing it, you should get a separate audio recorder like the Tascam HD-P2, Marantz PMD-661, Fostex FR-2 or Tascam DR-100. Your sound will be much better.

Yes, it’s a little more work syncing the audio in post, but that’s been done ever since “The Jazz Singer.” And it’s a lot easier with a guide track (camera sound) and you can partially automate the process using something like PluralEyes.

If you still want to go direct-to-camera don’t forget to look at juicedLink Riggy products as well as the BeachTek stuff.

Peace,

Bob
____________________________________________________________________
Filmmaking is the art of the invisible;
If anyone notices your work you haven’t done your job right.

[Bob Kessler]

FYI –

Yes, when the DR-100mkII supplies phantom power to the mic(s) the batteries are drained fairly quickly, but mics that use a battery (AT897, NTG-2, etc.) have a quite noticeably lower volume output levels. This means you will have to increase the input gain on the DR-100 and therefor will have increased pre-amp noise.

Peace,

Bob
____________________________________________________________________
Filmmaking is the art of the invisible;
If anyone notices your work you haven’t done your job right.

[Bob Kessler]

I’m just curious why there would be a separate sub-set of sounds that pertain to “Reality” TV shows rather than narrative or comedy TV shows. Or are you looking for specific sounds like whooshes? Or are you confusing musical hits, transitions, etc. with sound effects? Some specificity would help to steer you in the right direction.

Peace,

Bob
____________________________________________________________________
Filmmaking is the art of the invisible;
If anyone notices your work you haven’t done your job right.

[Bob Kessler]

Not an optimum solution, but you may want to consider hanging or “choir” mics. Although usually ceiling mounted I’m sure that you could get two or three up on VERY high mic stands above and in front of you.

Choir Mics

https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/buy/Hanging/ci/8547/N/4210544023

Boom Stands

On-Stage Stands SMS7650

Ultimate Support MC-125

Peace,

Bob
____________________________________________________________________
Filmmaking is the art of the invisible;
If anyone notices your work you haven’t done your job right.

[Bob Kessler]

The issue is always going to be budget versus quality and reliability.

Even a head worn mic of modest quality, Audio Technica or Shure, for example, will set you back $100 to $200 per unit; something “nice”, like Sennheiser or Countryman, will be $400 to $650 per unit. And that’s just the headset! You haven’t even touched on the wireless transmitter/receiver system.

The Sennheiser G3 system is the “entry level” professional wireless system, about $650 per trans/rec set. The really good stuff, like Lectrosonics, is $1,200 to $3,500 per trans/rec set, just to give you a little perspective.

You’ll have to research not only what headset mics fit your budget, but also what will stay on your heads and be “unobtrusive;” most ultra-low budget headset mics are rather clunky looking, or so flimsy that they would not be effective as on-stage units.

One of the few affordable semi-reliable UHF systems is Samson at $200 each – that’s already $1,600, leaving you less than $400 for headset mics or only $50 per unit.

You can go with VHF wireless, but even if you put the receivers right on the front of the stage you will still be prone to EM/RF interference, static, etc.

Another issue that has not been discussed… Would the venue(s) at which you are performing be able to handle eight (8) discrete inputs, or do you need to supply your own mixing and/or amplification?

Peace,

Bob
____________________________________________________________________
Filmmaking is the art of the invisible;
If anyone notices your work you haven’t done your job right.

[Bob Kessler]

The NTG-2, as has already been noted, is well known for low output levels.

The H4n was never intended to be a production sound tool. The H4n is aimed at musicians who generally work at high volume levels, so the H4n has lower input levels. The noisy pre-amps are much less noticeable when recording very the loud sources associated with music.

Put the NTG-2 together with the H4n and you have very low levels. I can understand that you would want to normalize as the levels are extremely low, but when you normalize you also bring up the noise from the substandard pre-amps.

Peace,

Bob
____________________________________________________________________
Filmmaking is the art of the invisible;
If anyone notices your work you haven’t done your job right.

[Bob Kessler]

I like 96kHz if I’m going to be doing extreme amounts of processing as I get fewer audio artifacts. As long as you pay attention to what you are doing as far a production sound goes – right location, proper mic selection, solid boom technique – there should be no reason to go to a rate higher than 48kHz.

Peace,

Bob
____________________________________________________________________
Filmmaking is the art of the invisible;
If anyone notices your work you haven’t done your job right.

[Bob Kessler]

You can start by reading the manual.

Peace,

Bob
____________________________________________________________________
Filmmaking is the art of the invisible;
If anyone notices your work you haven’t done your job right.

[Bob Kessler]

I’ll second the JBL LSR2325P You may also want to look at the Genelec 6010 – a bit more than you wanted to spend, but very nice. You should also consider at least some sound treatment to control the worst of your rooms problems; again, more than you wanted to spend, but worth the expense.

Peace,

Bob
____________________________________________________________________
Filmmaking is the art of the invisible;
If anyone notices your work you haven’t done your job right.