[David Payne]

thanks Ty. With regards to the ‘dodgy mic’ I refer to the built in audio in for example the canon 5D mkII DSLR camera. I do not own a DSLR for video yet but its something im considering for the future but I have heard that you should not really use the on board sound.

Thanks for the advice on the directional mics. I realised after posting that the grooms lav mic is to pick up the bride as well (with some tweaking of levels afterwards to get them equal) so therefore unidirectional would as you say be a mistake.

I have ordered a cheap Zoom H1 to try out with the Audio Technica ATR3350 mono omnidirectional lav mic. It has a small battery and a on/off switch and I’ve read that it is compatible with the H1 although obviously only being mono I know I’m not going to get great sound from it.

The benefit of having 3 of these with a 6 hour battery life and 4 hour record time at 96khz wav appeals to me for a no fuss no risk speeches audio solution when used in conjunction with my Sennheiser ME66 15 ft from the speaker. it is just the microphone that I’m slightly worried about so I wont be buying all three until I do some tests.

Sorry to ask another question, but if I were to use an XLR to 3.5mm stereo adapter cable and run it into the H1 (set to line) could I in theory capture sound from a desk/pa system? This was why I originally wanted the H4 but if I can do this without losing too much quality with the H1 then it would save me a few hundred pounds.

Thanks for the continued help Ty.

[David Payne]

One more question if I may. I have been researching the idea of buying 3 smaller recorders and found that many people recommend a cheap omnidirectional lav mic. Does it not make sense to get a unidirectional lav mic for use during speeches as I really only want to pick up the speaker?

[David Payne]

Did you have any luck finding a decent lav mic to work with the H2?

[David Payne]

Ty, I appreciate your point about a sound guy and I certainly would do so if I wasn’t shooting weddings. I’m mid level price wise and I simply cant afford to pay somebody else. In the past I have employed a sound guy when doing better paid corporate jobs and its something I’d certainly do again in future.

—–In future I also plan on buying a DSLR to shoot some video and as these are known for their lacking audio abilities, I thought the Zoom mounted on the camera hotshoe with a rode video mic attached might give me a good option?

Better than what?

————

Well I guess I meant better than just connecting the rode mic straight to the camera input and recording the audio along with the video. I suppose its safer to have audio and video on two different sources? I could then capture ambient sound with the dodgy camera mic and at least have a back up in case of a disaster.

THe sony units are a little more expensive than I thought. Do you think the directionality (have I invented that word) is much better than the Zooms? What about buying 3 cheaper recorders (small & lightweight to put in jacket pockets?) o use with lav mics during ceremony & speeches? I know id lose the xlr but would this give better sound?

[David Payne]

Ty,

thanks for your reply as always.

I would use the recorder in conjunction with a shotgun mic on the camera (ME66) usually about 15ft from the subject.

For the first time I tried a sennheiser wireless transmitter attached to a stand and holding the ME66 (as suggested by yourself in a previous thread I believe) and it worked well, however as the speaker was also holding a PA mic, I seemed to get some light echo & feedback. I’m yet to listen to this audio to confirm this.

I like the idea of having the recorder with a 1/4″ or XLR available to plug into a desk output to record when using a house mic. In this situation I would use the ME66 on camera in conjunction with this solution. Where the house PA/outputs/DJ or staff knowledge or willingness to help out is missing, I’ll put it on the desk.

I know you’ve mentioned taking a field mixer with me in the past, but when i do a wedding on my own I simply can’t afford to have all of this extra equipment to manage, which is why the practicality of the (albeit not perfect) portable recorder solution jumped out at me.

I will look into these sony recorders you mention now, however if they don’t have the XLR and 1/4″ jacks I feel I’m likely to want to go with the zoom.

In future I also plan on buying a DSLR to shoot some video and as these are known for their lacking audio abilities, I thought the Zoom mounted on the camera hotshoe with a rode video mic attached might give me a good option?

i hope to hear some more of your thoughts Ty.

David

[David Payne]

Ty,
It just seems so much quieter, why would this reduced sensitivity ever be a benefit?

I’d like to use the AT as a wireless table mic for speeches

Thanks

[David Payne]

hi Richard,

Thanks for your advice. I did a wedding on saturday with the same cable and got the same horrible low buzz…

Strangely it doesnt seem to happen when I run it through my beachtek DXA-4 XLR box (which I didnt have at this wedding).

I have just bought a rode suspension shock mount to try and move the mic away from the camera to see if that solves the problem (and also removes some of the horrible handling noise that I get from my modified Z1 style mic bracket on the side of the camera)

[David Payne]

nobody has any idea then?

[David Payne]

It’s killing me now!! I filmed a wedding on brand new tapes, edited on CS4 yet still a nice big reg screen half way through scrubbing through footage has crashed the whole project and lost a lot of work.

This can’t be right!!!

[David Payne]

also would this mic stand be better? It appears to have a weighted bottom so should be more stable

https://images5.thomann.de/pics/bdb/152925/595003_800.jpg