With any equipment that you use and for
whatever reason there is always both advantages and disadvantages to using that
specific equipment.
As for this project I have already chosen
my equipment and because there is a limited range to choose from, this section
of the project shall reflect the pros and cons of using the equipment I have
already chosen.
The sources for the pros and cons of this
equipment are opinions of others who have used this equipment and others like
it via books, websites and forums, and the opinions of myself that I shall then
be concluding at the end of this project.
Sennheiser ME67
The set up for the ME67 will be made up of
three parts, the first being the K6 which houses a 1.5 volt AA battery this
works in harmony with most of the modern solid state recorders feature which
phantom power.
The ME67 itself is a unidirectional shotgun
microphone (See diagram of this bellow), this means that the main range for captured audio is in one direction, this makes it ideal for this shoot.
However this does mean that you need to be
careful where you place your microphone and make sure it is directly pointed at
your subject.
 |
| sources: http://www.microfilmmaker.com/reviews/Issue65/SennK6y.html |
When the reviewers of this website did a couple of comparisons at ranges of 2,4,10 and 30 feet away from the subject and by only adjusting the level each time they recorded they found that the sound was "incredible" and when compared to other leading brands like Shure and AKG they stated that the Sennhieser was the clearest of the lot.
With my own personal experiences i had found this microphone to be very powerful indeed, my only concerns with using such kit, is that it can be quite bulky and awkward to carry from location to location when it is correctly housed within its "blimp" windshield. Though i do see that such a piece of equipment deserves the correct treatment and is required to be protected at all times.
Marantz PMD 660
The PMD 660 was designed specifically with journalists in mind, it is very light and fairly compact but it does seem very fragile and feels like it would shatter if dropped. With most dynamic mics there is a very low hiss but there doesn't seem to be the same problems when using a unidirectional mic like the ME67.
The built in mics seem to only be for dictation as the quality is poor, the options within the menu on the recorder are difficult to find and therefore it takes longer to set the device up.
I feel that this a recorder that has maybe had its day when compared to the Zoom h4n, it is greatly over priced for the quality of the recordings and its bulky exterior make it a chore to use on location. When needing to set up quickly the PMD 660 is a pain if needing to capture the audio there and then, however i cant help but love using it for capturing audio off location.
Maybe its because I always root for the underdog or maybe I can see past its out of date technology either way my opinion is purely based on aesthetics, it looks and feels like a solid state recorder rather than a dictaphone crossed with a ipod, for me the big perk even though it seems tiny in comparison is the XLR input clips, this actually holds in place your XLR cable rather than it constantly popping out and ruining a perfectly good cable.
In short if i where recording foley on location or wild-track then this would be my choice
Zoom H4N
This is a fantastic piece of kit, its cheap reliable and records exellent quality both as .WAV and .MP3's. It has clearly been designed with musicians in mind, from its four channel recordings (two built in mics and two ext. inputs) to its numerous effects like phasers, chorus, delay and reverb. It is easy to set up and start and therefore makes it fantastic for recoding on location quickly.
With my own personal experiences i had found this microphone to be very powerful indeed, my only concerns with using such kit, is that it can be quite bulky and awkward to carry from location to location when it is correctly housed within its "blimp" windshield. Though i do see that such a piece of equipment deserves the correct treatment and is required to be protected at all times.
Marantz PMD 660
The PMD 660 was designed specifically with journalists in mind, it is very light and fairly compact but it does seem very fragile and feels like it would shatter if dropped. With most dynamic mics there is a very low hiss but there doesn't seem to be the same problems when using a unidirectional mic like the ME67.
I feel that this a recorder that has maybe had its day when compared to the Zoom h4n, it is greatly over priced for the quality of the recordings and its bulky exterior make it a chore to use on location. When needing to set up quickly the PMD 660 is a pain if needing to capture the audio there and then, however i cant help but love using it for capturing audio off location.
Maybe its because I always root for the underdog or maybe I can see past its out of date technology either way my opinion is purely based on aesthetics, it looks and feels like a solid state recorder rather than a dictaphone crossed with a ipod, for me the big perk even though it seems tiny in comparison is the XLR input clips, this actually holds in place your XLR cable rather than it constantly popping out and ruining a perfectly good cable.
In short if i where recording foley on location or wild-track then this would be my choice
Zoom H4N
This is a fantastic piece of kit, its cheap reliable and records exellent quality both as .WAV and .MP3's. It has clearly been designed with musicians in mind, from its four channel recordings (two built in mics and two ext. inputs) to its numerous effects like phasers, chorus, delay and reverb. It is easy to set up and start and therefore makes it fantastic for recoding on location quickly.
My main problems with this piece of equipment is the lack of clipping inicator on the LED screen, this makes it so you are never quite sure if you are going over the recommended levels for recording, this can often make it difficult when capturing audio in a busy location using an omni directional microphone as you have to rely on your ears to make sure that the audio being captured is not being distorted.
When using the built in mics they seem to pick up alot of clicking noises as you change the volume levels or even scrolling through the menus.
Due to its ease of use and compact size for a quality recorder of this kind it is perfect for the location recordings and interviews, and therefore will be a fine addition to the kit which i have already booked (ME67).
No comments:
Post a Comment