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Best MICROPHONE for a GH3
  • kaikerrkaikerr

    I looking for a microphone for a GH3... Any recomendations? something like Sennheiser MKE400 or RODE Videomic PRO? Or the new RODE line (cheaper)? Any test? Thanks.

  • 15 Replies sorted by
  • HillTop1HillTop1

    I have a shure vp83 on mine and it beats the mke400 hands down!! and a lil better than that rode videomic pro (I went to my local video store and did some comparison) I was lucky to buy mine back in December when B&H had a sale on those mics so I bought mine for $189.

  • TscheckoffTscheckoff

    I can recommend the VideoMic Pro + Micover fur. Using that combo quite intensively (without any problems). Very nice set (for a good price - at least here in europe). Don´t know the VP83. But as they are priced similar - Maybe try to compare by yourself in a local store. But buy new (not used). Because at least with the Rode VideoMic Pro you only get the 10 years of warranty when registering a new unit!

  • rNeilrNeil

    Any decent mic with superior utilization in practice will beat any superior mic with poor utilization on-set. So ... looking for a mic for a GH3 (got one myself) doesn't tell me much to allow me to make any comment vis a vis the various mics listed. How will you use it? On-camera, boomed, on-stand, hand-held? In what environment, studio/city park/club/city street?

    Between the mics you've got listed, I think the way you use them will make a vastly bigger difference in the quality of you file compared to which mic you use. The old saws about getting the mic as close to the "sound-creator" as possible (booms, stands, clip-ons, that sort of thing), having the best screening for the mic and location/use as possible ("dead kittens", spit-screens, mic suspensions) all that stuff, are the biggest concerns.

    I've seen long discussions vis a vis various mics and recorders, when in use the people were talking about doing things in ways that would have created FAR more noise & background mush than the noise-floor of the recorder or mic they were discussing. At that point the differences between gear were irrelevant.

    I've got the Rode SVM and it works quite nicely for cost ... IF it is close in to the subject in a sound-controlled environment. Boomed/stand with a screen or fur covering. So that's how I use it. I've gotten good sound with a decent signal/noise ratio. It's not gonna be worth crap outside in a park with the subject to mic 15 feet away. For that I'll need to get either a wireless lav setup or a pretty decent shotgun. And of course, set THEM up for best utilization.

    Neil

  • soundgh2soundgh2

    Depends - on cam mic gets dumped in post generally unless throwaway GV's and no time for tracklay in day to day TV mixes - if you really want to capture spoken word hire a sound guy or get a mate to swing (noisily probably) a pole for you- he/she needs to be Just-in Cutoff style - takes confidence to never interrupt a take and be right on the dials - hey that's why it takes years building confidence with the cam op and the crew to go close. Sound is sound - if you want it go get it - if you don't - waste picture and story enhancement. Lovely expensive lens shots still are creatively shit when coupled with badly captured sound unless you shooting cats or bushes then yay. Bad sound makes well shot stuff feel ... well shit - no way around it sadly, and swinging a pole and (eww) radio mic placement is equally as much of an art as pointing a cam with a posh lens on if not more of a skill. Look at the whole. No-one leaves a cinema whistling a 2 shot. Sound can instantly remove you from picture so why on earth it's not emphasised more is a weird one as it will come back to bite you in budgets - ADR (artists don't want to do it!) and feel, and generally when starting out you'll get bedroom audio chaps helping you out so not skilled in these very precise arts. Shoot it right on set - saves a ton and so much more real. Posted after a day of ADR lol Yanks tho so pro's! English never love it ;p

  • MRfannyMRfanny

    I just got myself the shure vp83F durring the sale too and am bloody well happy with it. drop gh3 mic level to 1 adjust shure input to correct level. Gonna be bloody brilliant on my pocket too with its poor excuse for audio.

    Never fancied the the rode video mics simply because they still use those funny 9v batts.

  • jasonkkchanjasonkkchan

    We did a mic test using a few different microphones - GH3 on board microphone Sennheiser MKE400 mini-shotgun Audio-Technica AT35S Wired Lapel Microphone Sennheiser EW-100 G3 Wireless Lapel Microphone Audio-Technica 897 Short Shotgun And the JuicedLink Preamp

    It's not a scientific test or comprehensive but it covers what you might need in various situations - from interview to drama based shoots. We used the Audio Technica 897 with JuicedLink and the Sennheiser EW-100 wireless system for a 13 episode drama for TV recently and they performed really well. Would like to get a Sanken one day or a Schoeps but the AT 897 is a fantastic low cost shot-gun. IF you'd like to hear sound from our production I'll post some clips.

  • rNeilrNeil

    So the Audio-Technica rigs, both the wired lav and the short shotgun ... work decently well with direct-feed into GH3, but vastly cleaner if run through the Juiced Link pre-amp, it seems. Cost/usability would perhaps indicate putting the money into a pre-amp than trying "just" more expensive mics.

    And then eventually getting the more expensive mics when finances warrant the investment. Would this be a fair statement of your experience?

    Neil

  • jasonkkchanjasonkkchan

    Absolutely @rNeil, the preamp - JuicedLink has performed beautifully for us. We did our own tests against the H4N and found it to have much less self noise (or noise floor). Very clean and for quite a reasonable price. It's also really light. Wish the meters had more levels and that the output to camera was a locked connector or something a little more solid - but for our workflow we it was quieter than external sound recorded on an H4N and we didn't have to sync later. Really happy with it. Though I'm eyeing the SoundDevices Mix Pre D. Anyone have experience with that?

    Here are some audition to final production comparison clips that show you how well the Audio Technica, EW 100 plus JuicedLink performed throughout our series: (the key of course was usually get it as close as possible)

  • rNeilrNeil

    @jasonkkchan

    "(the key of course was usually get it as close as possible)"

    Isn't that always the case? ;)

    Liked your comparison bit. Useful and sensible, practical. So ... rather than an H4N or equivalent I've been looking at, next acquisition may very well be the juiced-link preamp. The wired lav would be useful at the moment also ... and maybe later for the shotgun. There's only about 20 other gear items I want now, you know ... priorities must apply. Sigh.

    Neil

  • jasonkkchanjasonkkchan

    @rNeil Hahaha - yes "get it as close as possible" applies in many areas of life - most importantly for sound :) Yeah I'm a big fan of the JuicedLink over external recorders - we've used sound into the GH3 via JuicedLink for broadcast and we've had many comments about the great sound. A little post production of course helps - Izotope RX is an amazing tool and worth every penny! The Audio Technica shotgun is only $212. Really convenient cause it's self powered - with double A batts - one batt lasts thousands of hours! Then you don't have to get the JuicedLink with phantom power. Oh - if you do get the JuicedLink get "iPowerUS lithium polymer" batteries. We were using conventional batteries at first - lasting us about 30-45 mins. The iPowerUS Li Polymer last over 9 hours (entire shoot day) - just incredible.

    But yes - other gear... so much I covet!

  • Fran_GuidryFran_Guidry

    The Zoom H6 is noticeably better than the H4n, and the 1.01 firmware update adds the ability to attenuate the line out in 5 dB steps so it's easy to feed the line out to a camera mic input without a special cable.

    Fran

  • rNeilrNeil

    @jasonkkchan

    Ahh ... interesting note about the batteries. Yea, battery life is HUGE. Loved how my D3 could take over 1500 raw images and only take the battery down to about 25%. Could WAY over-shoot a wedding and never even think about checking the battery.

    GH3 and D600 ... hmm ... shooting stills is ok, but NOT like the D3. Start cranking video by the hour ... my, doth that increase battery usage!

    Neil

  • kaikerrkaikerr

    Thanks for your impressions. Rode VideoMic Pro is the one I'll choose because of its price and quality. I'll post some samples.

  • symphsymph

    Schoeps is super, Rode NT4 rebuild could be an option. Rode Nt4 versus Schoeps:

  • robertGLrobertGL

    Beyerdynamic MCE 86

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