Noice cancelling microphones

N

nesrad

New member
I need some expert advice.

I would like to record my voice in a noisy environment. I'm wondering if it's possible to do this while cutting out all or at least most of the noise.

I've read about the Coles 4104, and I wonder how well it really works. Will it cut out people talking in the background including occasional shouting?

I'm also seen all kinds of noise cancelling headsets, such as the Jabra BIZ 2400, and I'm wondering how well they work.

It would be nice to listen to some recordings made in noisy environments to get a feel for it.
 
You are looking for a handheld dynamic mic, or would it be a mounted microphone? You can remove some noise (but shouting is a problem) post-recording in Audible or Audacity. The best plugin I have found for my situation is a plugin called SoundSoap+.
 
I would use a short shotgun mic with a tight pattern, this is what most news crews use when reporting in a crowd.

I have a few Sennheiser K3U/ME80 mics that are good for this, they are no longer made but Sennheiser have newer models that replaced them. Have a look at the ME66, or the ME64 may be better if you plan to hold the mic a little closer, they fit onto the K6 power module. Also they run of phantom or battery. LINK.

Alan.
 
I have a Coles commentators mic - you really don't want to sing into them! They use the ribbon mounting arrangement to reduce the sound that doesn't come in through the front, and the frequency response is also tailored to reduce the bass end, and the high end to assist with the problem. They have an internal system that deals with the amazing bass tip up you get talking really close into them, by slicing the mega bass away. Move them even an inch away and your voice vanishes and at half an inch it's thin and horrid. It works extremely well at doing what it is designed for - commentary. Awful for singing into. You also use spit shields which get quite wet and unpleasant.

Noise cancelling mics do really well at their job - but the common system of having two elements wired back to back in reverse, exposed to the general noise and then one of them to the wanted sound don't sound anything like even a cheap vocal recording microphone. They do the job for speech frequencies and noisy environments.

If you try to use any microphone that needs to sound good, then you want something that will perform a bit better. The best you can do is maximise wanted to unwanted sound. Get the voice in close, and keep the noise at a distance - the difference between wanted and unwanted is the thing to gauge success. I have one semi-regular session where I have to use speakers for multitrack vocal harmony songs. The singer just can't pitch doing it on phones - either both on, one off, closed or open. The mic that works best is the EV320 from my own pretty reasonable mic box. It's design doesn't increase the bass, lips can touch the grill, and the rear lobes seem to have less impact than any of my other mics. So they're not noise cancelling, but wanted to unwanted is better. When I have to do video work at motor sport events or in nightclubs, I use a Beyer M58 omni, touching the lips with a foam windshield. This is the best I can get. I did borrow a pair of Beyers with the commentators mic - as I expected, the performance came from tailored mic response, so again, not much good for singing!
 
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