Since there aren't any stores (at least near me) where you can walk in and test a bunch of shotgun mics I was wondering a person decides on which one to buy. Reading reviews and watching You Tube videos is one thing but to really hear how it works you have to be there. If I'm going to spend $300 on a mic I want to hear it first, probably on some of my gear.
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Hmmmmm, hadn't thought of the local news teams, thanks. SG mic
Hmmmmm, hadn't thought of the local news teams, thanks.
SG mics aren't really all that common in studios so going to a regular music store might prove fruitless.
Ya, and it's not like I call them up and have them order a dozen different ones just so I can have a look at them.
It's not like I have to have one tomorrow so I will take my time and shop around.
Rode makes some really nice shotgun mics, (and Sennheiser, and S
Rode makes some really nice shotgun mics, (and Sennheiser, and Shure, and Beyer, and A-T.). For dollar-value, it's going to be hard to do much better than the Rode mics.
As long as it's not a Special Order item, stores like Sweetwater have a fairly generous return policy. Just make sure you have some time set aside to put it through its paces during the return period.
There are a bunch of comparison / review videos for all of them on YouTube. That with online reviews is all you have to go on. At some point you're just going to have to jump in the pool.
Best of luck.
I can't think of any store that would let you take one home for
I can't think of any store that would let you take one home for free... although there may be a few around who would let you rent one on a CC - if they had any in stock. SG mics aren't really all that common in studios so going to a regular music store might prove fruitless. Have you thought about talking to some of the AV news teams at local stations to see what they are using? Also, there's Dreamhire out of NYC, they rent all kinds of audio gear..
http://www.dreamhire.com/audio-equipment-rental/search?q=shotgun+mic&x=0&y=0