[Ty Ford]

Hi Mike and welcome to the Cow Audio Forum,

You’ve obviously been thinking about this and have provided us with a good idea of your setup,

The problem is that you are trying to serve two masters; recording and live performance.

My suggestion would be to cast off your concern about loss of intimacy and go with a Countryman E6. It’s a very low profile piece. The E2 has a shorter boom and is less obvious.

So, I don’t fill your price and configuration goals, but there you have it.

You can try one of many standard end address lavs and experiment with where on the chest you might mount it so it doesn’t blow out when you bow your head. The thing to remember is to aim the mic down your chest, not up, so it will be very difficult to pop.

Regards,

Ty Ford
Cow Audio Forum Leader

Want better production audio?: Ty Ford’s Audio Bootcamp Field Guide
Ty Ford Blog: Ty Ford’s Blog

[Ty Ford]

Hello Andrew,

If the below works with what you’re talking about, you do see the 15mm in Europe.

Many mics sold today come with one of these already in the 5/8″ mic mount.

https://www.fullcompass.com/prod/256966-Manfrotto-MIBA?utm_source=googleps&utm_medium=shopping&utm_campaign=googleps&gclid=CMazqdHhvcgCFUMTHwod8VgJ7A

Regards,

Ty Ford
Cow Audio Forum Leader

Want better production audio?: Ty Ford’s Audio Bootcamp Field Guide
Ty Ford Blog: Ty Ford’s Blog

[Ty Ford]

Harlan,

Yes, you got it all correctly! Gold star for your report card! 🙂

Now, a High-pass filter (also known as a low cut filter) is one that passes high frequencies and rolls off low frequencies.

A low-pass filter (also known as a high cut filter) passes the lows, but rolls off the high frequencies.

Nutty, but there you have it.

Regards,

Ty Ford
Cow Audio Forum Leader

Want better production audio?: Ty Ford’s Audio Bootcamp Field Guide
Ty Ford Blog: Ty Ford’s Blog

[Ty Ford]

Hello Harlan,

There are a lot of good folks on the Cow Boards. 🙂

You ran into what many do, the figures don’t always match up for different manufacturers.

20, 24, 26 dB-A sounds about right for lavs. Maybe higher.

To rephrase my thought. Low sensitivity is the “proper” sensitivity if you have a very loud sound source. Like if you wanted o clip a lav to a PA cabinet at a live event when you can’t get a proper line feed. Or if you’re recording a live band that plays really LOUD.

A low sensitivity lav is NOT what you want for a person with a quiet voice.

Regards,

Ty Ford
Cow Audio Forum Leader

Want better production audio?: Ty Ford’s Audio Bootcamp Field Guide
Ty Ford Blog: Ty Ford’s Blog

[Ty Ford]

Hello Harlan and welcome to the Cow Audio Forum.

You’re only looking at one spec. Impedance.

You’re ignoring sensitivity and selfnoise. The sensitivity of the mic is the figure that tells how much voltage a mic generates. You want a high selfnoise, but not so high that if you clip the transmitter during loud speaking.

Usually, the larger the diaphragm, the higher the sensitivity because when a larger diaphragm swings, it generates more voltage.

Selfnoise is the figure that determines how noisy a mic capsule is. You want a low selfnoise.

Regards,

Ty Ford
Cow Audio Forum Leader

Want better production audio?: Ty Ford’s Audio Bootcamp Field Guide
Ty Ford Blog: Ty Ford’s Blog

[Ty Ford]

Hello Daniel and welcome to the Cow Audio Forum.

I think you’re doing OK. Capturing the human voice with a lav is a fascinating and frustrating pursuit.

One time they sound great. Next time (next person) totally different. The deeper you bury the lav, the bigger the chance for a rub or scratch.

No lav I know cuts very well with any boom for any of a number of reasons. Sometimes you get plain lucky and get closer than other times.

Try Sanken COS-11 and DPA 4060, 4061, 4063 and 4071, in addition to the mics you now have. I doubt they’ll be any easier on clothing noise. If they do, be sure to let us know.

Remember, in general, the larger the diaphragm, the lower the selfnoise.

Regards,

Ty Ford
Cow Audio Forum Leader

Want better production audio?: Ty Ford’s Audio Bootcamp Field Guide
Ty Ford Blog: Ty Ford’s Blog

[Ty Ford]

Brian,

Have you any experience with the AT 1800 series?

Regards,

Ty Ford
Cow Audio Forum Leader

Want better production audio?: Ty Ford’s Audio Bootcamp Field Guide
Ty Ford Blog: Ty Ford’s Blog

[Ty Ford]

Hi Simon,

Please allow me to reframe your comment.

Condenser mics usually have an relatively extended high frequency response compared to dynamic mics like the MD421. (I own two of them). As such they may hear some room reflections more readily than dynamic mics.

Dynamic mics are less sensitive at those higher frequencies and less sensitive in general. That means you need ore preamp gain and that may mean more noise. That’s part of why some people feel dynamic mics don’t hear as much. The background noise is masked by the system noise.

You can eat a 421 with a foam ball to make up for that lack of sensitivity. That’s OK for radio or PA work, but not for good VO work.

Regards,

Ty Ford
Cow Audio Forum leader.

Want better production audio?: Ty Ford’s Audio Bootcamp Field Guide
Ty Ford Blog: Ty Ford’s Blog

[Ty Ford]

Excellent response Richard!

Want better production audio?: Ty Ford’s Audio Bootcamp Field Guide
Ty Ford Blog: Ty Ford’s Blog

[Ty Ford]

Andrew,

If you’re going G3, I would stick with A and G. The ME2 lav that comes with the G3 can easily be bettered by choosing the MKE-2 or other lavs. Sanken and Countryman lavs will normally result in better sound as well.

Again, I’m not sure that all 2.4 GHz systems are equal. The AT one sounds VERY good to me. I have one now as a fall back and test model and, so far, it’s doing very well.

There is one problem I have found with 2.4GHz wireless systems and that the shielding on the mic itself. If you hold one of the really small AT lavs near the transmitter, you can hear a HF whine. Normal (visible) lavs, no problem. The Rode has the same problem with the lav that comes with the Rode Link 2.4GHz system.

You don’t normally hold the lav next to the transmitter, so unless you try to use the system with the mic wrapped around the transmitter, like a plant mic, you should be OK.

Regards and thanks for the mention of the blog,

Ty Ford
Cow Audio Forum Leader

Want better production audio?: Ty Ford’s Audio Bootcamp Field Guide
Ty Ford Blog: Ty Ford’s Blog