Gasp. Headset. Choke.
From the original Analog Industries archive. Some links and images from that era no longer resolve.
Okay, it has become apparent to me that the contortions required to use a proper microphone when doing these screencasts are inhibiting my creativity. I have decided that I would be well served by purchasing a headset mic.
Now, the issue at hand is that I know little to nothing about Proper Headset Mics, so I’m hoping any FOH engineers (or, I guess, live television engineers) that have experience with this particular form-factor of audio shit would chime in and tell me what to look for. My initial reading of reviews and such suggests that the Shure Beta 54 is probably the right way to go. It seems to have a larger element than the 53, which would be More Better. Also, the 53 is designed to be as non-intrusive as possible, and I don’t really care about non-intrusive as long as the fucking thing can hang off the front of my face.
It seems that many people that use these sorts of things for screencasts use the one that came with their Xbox or something, and they just sound fucking awful. I’d be hoping to avoid that. Anyone? Bueller? Bueller?
10 comments
I can't suggest a headset mic, but Earthworks makes great anal probes. EV RE-20 works good too.
You could just wrap a coat hanger around your neck fashioned to hold a 57.
What's your budget?
Definitely avoid the cheap Audio Technica headset, it sounds like poop. Even the promoter could tell it sounded bad! The Shure stuff is decent, if you want "unobtrusive" there's the Countryman E6, if you're feeling flush the DPA 4065 or 4066 for great sound.
My budget is not important. Quality is.
If you had to choose between the Shure, the DPA, or the Countryman, which would you choose?
-CR
The DPA. The Countryman sounds good but maybe takes a little EQ, but the DPA just sounds great.
What he said. The DPA seems to be a favorite among the teevee folks as well.
-W
yes, when i worked in tv the DPA mics were a godsend after using shures ECMs. the station i engineered for was small and thus very tight with cash, but the difference those mics made was so obvious that the owner wrote the check without hesitation.
really the DPAs are very high quality mics that happen to be quite small. when you're not using them for VO you can find lots of other uses for them... they go places other mics wont fit.
ed
another vote for the DPA: we use six 4088s for national public radio live talk shows in a reverberant room with monitors and PA, tried many other mics before and finally the show works.
Here's a thought... a headset is of limited utility for music recording. Maybe a good combination would be a DPA 4061 lav mic, with a Sennheiser NB-2 "turn a lav into a headset" adapter. Then you've got your ugly headset for recording these videos, and also a kick-ass tiny lav mic for music recording. The DPA lav mics are really useful on acoustic instruments, very natural (ok, maybe not your style!) sounding.
I'm sure if you cuise around Kip Winger's next garage sale, you will find a wide variety that have been battle-tested on the road opening for Cinderella.
DPA 4088
or fanangle something with a 4060
Comments are closed on this post.