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Low self-noise shotgun microphone
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  • spacewigspacewig

    @matt_gh2

    What kind of recorder are you using?

  • spacewigspacewig

    Don't overlook ebay! I bought a 416T used on ebay for $350 INCLUDING the phantom power supply (MZA14TU) from sennheiser. I think no one bid because the seller was in Ireland and many people have a fear of buying from someone outside their country - their loss, my gain (no pun intended...)

  • matt_gh2matt_gh2

    Just got a Sennheiser ME66 - will be testing soon. I will post results. I'm running straight into recorder with no mixer, so this may not apply to you, but will post results anyway.

  • tonalttonalt

    Thanks for good info.

    I did some research and was surprised that Rode NTG-3 sounds pretty much same as SENNHEISER MKH-416:

    . Specifications are almost identical (SNR ratio 81dB, Frequency Response 40Hz to 20kHz etc.) and Rode is also advertised with low self-noise. And the price is 35% less in my local store, so it seems that NTG-3 is the winner.

  • spacewigspacewig

    MKH416 is a great mic.

    All mics can pick up sounds from 1.5 to 3m easily, the question is how much gain you have to apply to get the signal to a nominal level (aprox -20db), i.e. how sensisitive they are. The more gain you have to apply the more important it is that both your mic and pre-amp be quiet. You've already taken care of half the equation with the SD MixPre. For the mic, aim for one with a s/n ratio above 75db.

  • balazerbalazer

    I can only imagine that something is wrong with that test of the AT897 to show so much noise. My AT875R has a similar SNR spec, and sounds much less noisy than that AT897 test.

    The AT875R has high sensitivity, which can reduce the noise from your pre-amp. Then again, so does your MXL FR-300.

  • Vitaliy_KiselevVitaliy_Kiselev

    I have already MXL FR-300 but I'm pretty disappointed with it. When I boost gain enough so that I can pick sounds with high sensitivity from 1,5m - 2m, there is a lot self-noise in the signal.

    It is not really a surprise, while not all noise can be self noise here. As FR-300 is very good mike for recorders having good sensitivity. But it results in more noise, if you use really good preamps.

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