Need the best microphone for professional streaming/online business consulting.

A

audiophile23496

New member
I am looking for the best microphone for professional streaming and online business consulting. The ideal microphone is one that would deliver excellent sound quality with excellent ambient noise reduction and cancellation. I live in an apartment in the city and have roommates. Some of my apartment neighbors also have dogs barking. I want a microphone that can minimize all of that noise and traffic/talking noise from outside my windows and rooms. What is the best mic for this job? Budget doesn't really matter, but I just want the noise to be minimized. Should I be looking for a long shotgun mic?

Thank you!
 
No, a shotgun mic is for picking up sounds in a distance. A dynamic mic will pick up less ambient sound than a condensor mic typically. DO you have an audio interface? If not, a USB mic might be the simple answer.
"Best" is very subjective - what works well for one person's voice in their room may not be best for you in your room.
 
Dogs barking?? I’d look into a headset mic with that kind of environment. If you can hear it, the microphone can too unless the gain is very low and that means it has to be very close to the sound you want it to pick up.
 
mjbphotos said:
No, a shotgun mic is for picking up sounds in a distance. A dynamic mic will pick up less ambient sound than a condensor mic typically. DO you have an audio interface? If not, a USB mic might be the simple answer.
"Best" is very subjective - what works well for one person's voice in their room may not be best for you in your room.
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Yeah but I don't want people to see a mic next to my mouth. Can I still use a dynamic mic or do I have to use a shotgun mic? I thought only shot gun mics are unidirectional and pick up less ambient noise?
 
There's no getting around the laws of physics. The primary solution to all those problems is to get the mic close to your mouth. There are several ways to get this done, including a handheld dynamic or a headset condenser, both of which are available in cardioid (unidirectional) types.

If you want to operate with the mic completely out of the frame then a shotgun mic on a boom might do the trick. You'll still need a controlled (isolated and treated) acoustic environment.
 
bouldersoundguy said:
There's no getting around the laws of physics. The primary solution to all those problems is to get the mic close to your mouth. There are several ways to get this done, including a handheld dynamic or a headset condenser, both of which are available in cardioid (unidirectional) types.

If you want to operate with the mic completely out of the frame then a shotgun mic on a boom might do the trick. You'll still need a controlled (isolated and treated) acoustic environment.
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Okay so basically get the mic as close to the mouth as possible and turn down the gain? do you know any cheap and effective acoustic things I can do to reduce noise from outside my walls and window?
 
Take a watch of this video below. Can you 'boom' a mic overhead so it's out of view?
Shotguns tend to be very directional and are good at rejecting off axis sounds, as noted in this Shure blurb...
Choosing a Shotgun Microphone: The Long and Short of It | Shure Blog
May not eliminate barking dogs, but then most mics may not either.

I bought this mic >>> AT875R Line + Gradient Condenser Microphone || Audio-Technica US as a budget shotgun and it works OK, but doesn't have the sound of a good quality large diaphragm condenser mic. This Sennheiser short shotgun is popular with a good number of voiceover people >> Sennheiser MKH-416 - Short Shotgun Interference Tube MKH416-P48 and the price reflects its better quality.

 
Imagine your shotgun is a torch. Your aim needs to light up the head, but not any other surface that could be reflecting sound back. Where is your noise problem. Is it coming through the glass or the walls or ceiling/floor. It's a huge subject, but the usual quick explanation of what works to reduce your sound leaking out and outside leaking in is simply mass. You need barriers, which are difficult to penetrate. So plasterboard and extra glass on the windows is the way to go, but is not simple or cheap. There is NO magic cheap solution.

The killer problems with shotguns are that their performance does not stop at the subject. They are just narrow, so the bulk of their sensitivity is forward, so noises from the side are reduced, but if there is noise in these directions, they will be reduced, not missing!

It's quite possible a clip on omni could sound better and have less outside noise than a shotgun at a distance, because of a thing called inverse square law. Close to the mouth sounds clean and solid, and distance to the mouth is not too far. However at double that distance, the mic is a quarter as loud, and at double that distance, it drops to a 16th and so on. Shotguns indoors can often sound coloured, spikey and even unpleasant as hard surfaces behind the person talking will reflect back into the mic.
 
arcaxis said:
Take a watch of this video below. Can you 'boom' a mic overhead so it's out of view?
Shotguns tend to be very directional and are good at rejecting off axis sounds, as noted in this Shure blurb..
Click to expand...

Do you think I should get a long shotgun or does the length not matter? Is there any shotgun mic better than the Sennheiser MKH-416 in terms of noise isolation/directionality and quality?
 
audiophile23496 said:
Do you think I should get a long shotgun or does the length not matter? Is there any shotgun mic better than the Sennheiser MKH-416 in terms of noise isolation/directionality and quality?
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No idea. I'm only familiar with the Audio Technica I bought, which for the price ($140 used) is adequate for my purposes. A lesser of a mic than the MKH-416 might work OK for you with some room treatment and recording at a time of day or night that is most quiet.
 
I would get a DPA headmic. It will give you the quality and isolation you need.

If you need a normal mic. people will see a large mic.in fromt of you - the headmic. will be virtually invisible, especially if you get one close to your skin tone.
 
The EV RE-20 has pretty much been the industry standard for broadcasting for almost 50 years. It has built-in pop filter and proximity effect reduction. Works extremely well off-axis if you move around while broadcasting. I'll flip the bass roll-off switch for bass guitar when I'm not going direct. Stevie Wonder used it a bunch for vocals, too. Around $450 new, street price.

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John Willett said:
I would get a DPA headmic. It will give you the quality and isolation you need.

If you need a normal mic. people will see a large mic.in fromt of you - the headmic. will be virtually invisible, especially if you get one close to your skin tone.
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DPA headmic vs Sennheiser MKH416? Which one is better for quality and noise isolation? Does the EV RE-20 beat these? I am looking for the best. Is it a hard question to answer for noise isolation + quality purposes?

Thank you guys SO MUCH for your answers. They have all been extremely helpful. :)
 
That EV is going to need a preamp and a serious desk arm or counterweight. That's a lot of money for this application, TBH, and will probably not perform best at a distance in a noisy environment. (Haven't used one but trying out the RE320 - it's a brick!)

If you can seal off your door and window to tamp down the outside noises enough I'd go back to looking at a desk arm and shotgun like the NTG1 (which I use). I'm still thinking a headset mic that's right on your face is going to work best, and people listening are going to be more distracted by outside noises with the wrong mic choice for the room, than a pro headset that sounds good.

Sometimes "better is the enemy of good" is not just another empty platitude. (Old guy loves his old sayings, as more and more he realizes the reason for them...)
 
Regarding the headset mic.... it may give the best isolation from other noises around due to the closeness to your mouth, but if you cough, sneeze, clear your throat, etc, where you could turn away from a mic mounted on a stand and reduce some of the objectionable sounds coming from you, the headset mic will pick it up clearly. Might be able to find a 'mute' button of sorts to kill the headset mic if you think a sneeze or cough is coming on.


I rather believe you could do what you want with a lesser mic than the MKH416. The Rode NTG1 that Keith has might be a good mid priced shotgun to consider. Search on Youtube for potential picks and see how they sound and read reviews.

This video is a comparison between my cheapo AT875r ($169) and the MKH416 ($999) ......

 
arcaxis said:
Regarding the headset mic.... it may give the best isolation from other noises around due to the closeness to your mouth, but if you cough, sneeze, clear your throat, etc, where you could turn away from a mic mounted on a stand and reduce some of the objectionable sounds coming from you, the headset mic will pick it up clearly. Might be able to find a 'mute' button of sorts to kill the headset mic if you think a sneeze or cough is coming on....
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Oh, yeah, a "Push to Talk" button should be part of your setup. And, of course, don't get a headset mic if you're a huffer/puffer or nose whistler!
 
lol...the window would be my first attack, the noises and dogs barking as keith said, if you can hear it the mic will too.
its not as fun as gear , imo, but you might need to get to the lumberyard and grab some plywood, screws, insulation, maybe moving blankets..seal the window tight but make it so you can remove it easily.
just one window shouldnt be too bad. my buddy had to seal up his windows and he made fiberglass panels he can put up or take down.

getting the mic up close always helps the voice to background-noise ratio.

these Symetrix 528 broadcasters unit are great piece of gear, with a really nice back ground noise/gate/expander circuit....but these days you can get most that done in plugs.
 
Hi,

Ray Ortega has a video on YouTube that describes the use of a boom microphone, the AT4053b. Importantly Ray demonstrates set up, microphone positioning,and noise reducing techniques. You can hear, and see, the results, so there may be several things to be learned from this. Ray uses the microphone for interviews indoors which may suit your needs.

AT4053b Hypercardioid Boom Microphone - YouTube

AT4053b Hypercardioid Boom Microphone - YouTube


Johnk4007
 
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