Many Mics, One Location

Some common questions that seem to come across my computer for the Q&A show are about audio. What is the best mic to use? What is the cheapest mic? What is the best cheapest mic? Why don't you record into camera instead of external recorder? All these queries demanded their own video.

I thought the best way to answer a lot of these questions was to do some kind of sound demo. I pulled all the mics I had at my disposal (Radio Shack lav mic, Rode VideoMic Pro, and Sennheiser ME-66 shotgun mic) and ran them through various scenarios that would demonstrate how each of them sound in different positions (on-camera vs. on the end of a boom pole) and when going into your camera or external recorder. All situations would be in the exact same environment: my living room.

The above video is the result and I think it verifies a lot of things we already know. On camera mics suck. External recorders made to record quality audio (not just dictation) sound better than cheap preamps included in most video cameras. The most expensive mic should sound the best, but there are good, inexpensive mics that can sound better in the right situation.

This video just lays it all out there for your ears to judge. Of course, I only have three mics and two audio recorders to test here. There are a zillion of these devices out there of varying degrees of quality and mine are mostly low-end. There are some universal truths to be gleaned and I hope that this video can help if you've had some basic audio concerns about what sounds good and what can
sound better.

FEATURED EQUIPMENT
Radio Shack #33-3013 Clip-on Mic
Rode VideoMic Pro Compact Shotgun Mic
Sennhesier ME-66 Shotgun Mic
Sign Video XLR-PRO adapter box
Zoom H1 Handy Recorder