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melcarver 1 September 2012

I'm working on my first short film. New to the art. Am in the process of getting the audio gear I need. I've done a fair amount of research on what I need to record dialogue indoors (which is all I need to do for this project). My understanding is that the best type of mic for my purposes is a small diaphragm condenser with a hypercardiod pattern. I have found two microphones in my price range, but they have different specs. Was wondering if anyone could let me know which is the better option. I'll be using them with an H4N. The mics are:

1. Audix SCX1:

2. AKG Blue Line:
[url=link removed Blue Line Series Hypercardioid Microphone Kit B&H Photo

Thanks in advance for your comments.

Comments

Boswell Mon, 09/03/2012 - 08:18

You don't give any idea of budget other than the price bracket of the two mics you mentioned.

Are you talking about using a boom so the mic is out of shot? At the sort of price level of the AKG, you may want to consider a mini-shotgun type like the [[url=http://[/URL]="http://www.rodemic…"]Rode Videomic[/]="http://www.rodemic…"]Rode Videomic[/] if you need other than close-up. There's a stereo version as well if you are recording in stereo.

drumrob Wed, 09/05/2012 - 09:17

Melcarver,

I was hoping somebody else would chime in who has experience with both mics. I'm afraid I'm another one who can only give you part of the story, but maybe it will help a little. I own and have used extensively the AKG SE300 with the CK93 hypercardioid capsule. It does a great job on dialog - when placed properly of course. I also have a pair of the audix scx-one mics, but only with the cardioid cap, so I can't compare it directly to the AKG. It is a great mic, and like Davedog, I love the Audix line as well. I've used the scx-one on acoustic guitar, as drum overheads, in X-Y on a jazz band, and even once for backup vocals (!!??! - it was handy and actually did a pretty darn good job, what can I say?) with great results. Ty Ford, an audio guy and well-known reviewer and writer in the Washington DC area, recommends the Audix with the hyper as a good choice if you can't afford the Schoeps CMC641, which is the Hollywood standard. They cost almost $2000 bucks, though. The other mic I see recommended frequently, though I have NO personal experience with it, is the Audio-Technica 4053. My guess is that though the three mics may sound a little different from one another, any of them will do a great job for you. The most important thing is having a good boom op to get them in close (and stay out of the shot). Good luck and have fun!

melcarver Sun, 09/09/2012 - 15:40

Thanks to everyone who's chimed in so far. Really appreciate your help. drumrob, thanks for your detailed answer.

I think I'm going with the AKG. It has a few features the Audix doesn't. According to BnH, these are:
"A preattenuation switch which provides extra headroom and eliminates distortion caused by overload when reproducing excessively loud signals, and a low frequency roll-off switch reduces low frequency noise caused by wind, ambiance, bad grounds etc."

I'm aware that for the purpose of recording normal speech in an indoor environment that I control I probably won't need either of these switches, but I'm hoping to be able to use the mic for more than one kind of shoot, if possible. I've definitely run into problems with distortion from loud sounds and low frequency noise in the past and am curious to see if the AKG performs like it says it will.

As I said before, I'm a beginner and to an extent, I have no choice but to experiment a little, which I'm glad to do. Once I get some time on the AKG, I'll post my results.

Best of luck out there.

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