SDCs for speech use?

A

Agent47

Dismember
You may have seen my recent thread on robust mics for portable use: Basically I want to be able to take a couple of mics, with mixer and flash recorder, to people's homes and offices, to record speech, round-the-table podcasts. Ie. untreated rooms.

I'm thinking of getting a pair of sE2as to record speech, as they do hypercardioid so will reject more room reflections than a cardiod. (supposedly, although I've never used a hypercardioid mic)

Ok, they won't give me the 'warm' sound of a LDC, but I'll save on room noise with the hypercardioid option.

SDCs for speech use? Or a definite no no?

Or can someone recommend an LDC with hypercardioid for less than £150 ($220) each?
 
Agent47 said:
You may have seen my recent thread on robust mics for portable use: Basically I want to be able to take a couple of mics, with mixer and flash recorder, to people's homes and offices, to record speech, round-the-table podcasts. Ie. untreated rooms.

I'm thinking of getting a pair of sE2as to record speech, as they do hypercardioid so will reject more room reflections than a cardiod. (supposedly, although I've never used a hypercardioid mic)

Ok, they won't give me the 'warm' sound of a LDC, but I'll save on room noise with the hypercardioid option.

SDCs for speech use? Or a definite no no?

Or can someone recommend an LDC with hypercardioid for less than £150 ($220) each?
Click to expand...

You may save on room noise with a hypercardioid. But with a SDC you will sacrifice self noise. SDC mics generally hive higher self noise.

I suggest a CAD M179.
- Multi-pattern (continuously variable, including hypercardioid)
- Bass roll off switch (get rid of low end rumble from things like people moving, or HVAC system)
- Very low self noise 11dBA (so you can turn up the gain if someone is speaking softly or out of the mic's pickup pattern.

Check out the video on this website for a good review and more general info/pricing ($199): http://www.frontendaudio.com/ProductDetails.asp?ProductCode=1637&Show=TechSpecs
 
Mostly " Sorry but this product is now discontinued and is no longer available to purchase. "...

Looks like there's about one left in the UK...
 
SDC's aren't typically used in this application for a few reasons; it's simply not their strong suit. You're honestly better off with a good dynamic mic or an LDC if necessary.

Frank
 
Agent47 said:
SDCs for speech use? Or a definite no no?
Click to expand...
The only time I've actually tried it was with a Shure SM-81, which I think is a nice SDC -- it picked up too much detail, and by detail, I mean smacky little mouth noises and stuff -- hard to listen to. Perhaps I could have avoided that with a windscreen, but I'm not sure.
 
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