[David C jones]

Hi Janice-

Is this for a PA system or are you recording it, or both? Are you wanting each person to have their own mic; are you using a mixer or going directly into a camera or recorder? What’s your budget for this?

Sorry for all the questions but what to recommend can depend on the setup and what the final product will be used for :o)

[David C jones]

What type of mic are you using? If you want to make it sound like it’s outside, then (generally speaking) you want to use a mic that would be used for outside recording. In other words, when Hollywood does ADR, the post-sound studios will use the same mic that was used “on location” to capture the dialog, not a voiceover studio condenser mic like the kind used for announcing. But, maybe I’m not understanding the situation correctly.

It sounds like you already have the voice recorded so, hopefully someone with more post-sound experience (than me) will post here.

[David C jones]

Well, I’m not sure about all of them, but the spectrum that falls within freq. blocks 28 and (I think) 29 will supposedly be sold off. This means it could be illegal to use wireless systems that use these frequencies. If fact, Lectrosonics stopped making wireless units in these blocks. As someone who has two systems on block 28, I hope there will be some sort of compensation!

But hopefully someone who knows vastly more than I will post here :o)

[David C jones]

I agree with Ty (I usually do…lol). The ME66 is an electret condenser and not a true condenser, which basically means it’s about as good as the mics that come with most cameras. It’s fine for general background sound, but for capturing good sound from interviews, dialog and nat sound stuff, you need a mic like the 416; the difference is night-and-day!

As for a lav mic, the best, in my opinion, is the Sanken COS-11X. It actually sounds like a boom mic and matches great when using a boom and lav together.

Nether is cheap, but then again, nether is good audio :o)

[David C jones]

I have a shoot for a doc tomorrow and have been expirmenting with the Rycote “Undercovers”; machanically, they work just like they claim; but clothing noise was still a major problem. The only thing that has worked for me (as far as hiding the mic) is using the sticky triangle method. Since I’m using Sanken COS 11x’s tomorrow, I might try using the rubber mount it comes with, along with some Topstick. I’ll let you know what I come up with :o)

[David C jones]

I don’t know if this is what you’re looking for, but you might check out Remote Audio RN-7506 headphones. They use the same drivers at the Sony 7506 headphones, but cover the ear completely and cancel all noise. BTW: I have not used these myself.

[David C jones]

As long as you keep the output settings on the mixer the same as the imputs on the camera you will be fine. In other words, if you have the mixers outputs on line level, make sure the inputs on the camera are set to line level as well. Also, MAKE SURE THE LIMITER IS SET TO ON OR IN, ON THE MIXER.

There is a lot to know about audio; if you want good audio, you need to ether hire a professional sound mixer, or learn and study as much as you can about sound production.

[David C jones]

Hi Brian-

I’m a huge fan and user of Lectrosonics, but most wireless systems out today are pretty good and will give you what you want.

Most companies now have dual systems (where you have one receiver able to receive two independent transmitter paths). Lectrosonics SR, Audio Technica ATW-1821, and Sony-862B (though, the list price on this one is $4K!) I have also used the Sennheiser ew series without any problems, but I feel like it’s so delicate, that one bump and it’s toast! And coming from a mixer stand point, there are no numbers on the level meters so you’re not really sure what they are set at.

Anyway, if you can’t afford lectro, I would go with something from Sony.

[David C jones]

Hi Daniel-

My tips were just meant to be starting points to good audio (which you clearly already knew). And all those problems you listed, I’ve encountered as well. In fact, I read on another post that the post-sound facilty for the TV show “Lost”, was complaining that they could hear traffic in the background from the dialog audio, when the show is suppose to take place on an island in the middle of no where! So even in Hollywood this sort of thing does happen. And another reality show on NBC had such bad audio, they had to “title” a lot of the stuff people were saying. Even good reality shows like “The Amazing Race” has some “titling”.

Anyway, to your points:

1. Office buildings (in my opinion) are the worst! I was working on an inde feature one time, and on one paticular location in a bar, it took me forever to find all the sounds from “stuff” and turn them all off! One of the biggest offenders in offices, are computers. They actually make A LOT of noise.

2. Any house near traffic is a bad location for filming (at least for sound), there’s nothing you can really do except shoot in a basement.

And you’re right, good mics are going to hear EVERYTHING. Post-production can certianly fix some things, and mask others; hopefully someone else will post here with more answers on that :o)

[David C jones]

Well, there may be several reasons for this, but from a production stand point here are three:

One: they may have still turned stuff off like the AC, refridgerator, fans, etc.

Two: Low-cut filters! If you don’t know how to use them, you need to learn. Low-cut filters (located on field mixers) will eliminate frequencies below a set frequency, like 120Hz, 140Hz. This will rid you of low frequencies like the ever popular 60Hz associated with AC units and the like…sounds you can’t hear with your ears but will end up on your recording.

Three: using the right mics. Good boom mics like the Scheops MK-41 and Sennheiser MKH 60 (and others known as “true” condensers) will give you the best sound possible. Yes, they’re expensive, but well worth it!