Man-Cave: Microphone mysteries revealed
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Saturday August 26, 2023
David Mellor
David Mellor is CEO and Course Director of Audio Masterclass. David has designed courses in audio education and training since 1986 and is the publisher and principal writer of Adventures In Audio.
By the way, I like your Sennheiser 416 best.
@fernandozegarraaudio8144: @AudioMasterclass, David really good video, but using a shotgun microphone is one of the best results you can do to minimize the reverberation of the room, it is not cheap and I understood that the purpose of this video was to use something more earthly and without so much equipment, The original idea was to make a Podcast-type video using the iPhone that would have speech intelligibility and the best sound as its best feature. Using the Sennheiser MKH 416-P48U3 is like cheating, since you not only need the microphone, but also the interface, the Apple camera adapter and the iPhone camera.
But hey, the result is very good, I see that you like Sennheiser, we could try the MKE 200 or its kti the MKE 200 Mobile, it may be a minimalist configuration but it will still require at least the 3.5 TRRS microphone adapter mm to Lightning, but it would be fewer devices and cables.
See: https://assets.sennheiser.com/img/27020/product_detail_x2_desktop_sennheiser-mke-200-mobile-kit-product-shot-01.jpg
@richardheumann1887: i like your videos. They are very informative and helpful to audio noobs like me.
@MrFuzzyGreen: Why is he performing as if I'm at the back of the room.
Also, don't call yourself an insightful video. You can't self-review and pat yourself on the back in the video, it's an unpleasant look.
@tactileslut: I like what I like too and if the cable falls out I expect I'll like it tomorrow instead.
@grahamwoodward2950: Why not place the mic next to the camera?
@eenvriendelijkgebaar: Been binge-listening to your channel. Thank you for (in)directly pulling me towards rationality and simplicity, as in good enough.
@molecularaudiocanada: Your Sennheiser arrangement sounds rather fantastic
@peters7949: RS&T are all good, but my preference is S.
However T is easier to rig & can be masked in the camera, so for practicality T is the one I would choose.
But as was clearly demonstrated the Sennheiser short shotgun is far superior, as it should be given the relative cost compared to the cheep clip mic you were using.
@thorbennielsen3845: T👍🏻
@bahathir_: Hi,
If you are using USB audio interface, you can change the mic gain level for optimum recording level. Most of the audio ingerfaces have some sort signal level meter.
@andymouse: I think the joke was subtle, the way you moved your head suggested you are not whom you seem and in fact you could be anybody ! that's my guess
@MAMDAVEM: I use the Shure MV88+ Digital Stereo Condenser Microphone mounted on a small tripod for my music when recording with my iPhone. I have been very happy with this setup.
@rabb1tjones921: I like the Sennheiser. I have owned many of their microphones and headphones over the years. I just bought their in ear monitors a few days ago.
@watchtheskies: I just did a search for 'lightning to XLR' and it came up with:
RODE i-XLR, (XLR Adapter For iOS Devices)
@AudioMasterclass replies to @watchtheskies: It looks like a good option. At £145 however it would take a long time for my man cave videos to pay for it. DM
@taidee: I like the MKH 416 setup, since you're not heavily editing and putting things on the screen for Mancave videos, having the mic in view is not an issue at all.
@AudioMasterclass replies to @taidee: I might do that. For my more formal videos I've tried it both ways and I prefer the mic not to be in view. But for my man cave, it's one less thing to have to do. DM
@paullongtailpair3812: Dear David, your right i'm into electronics all my life mainly audio equipment. In the past i was employed at a dutch company called TransTec wich was a distrubutor of consumer audio and professional audio and video equipment. That is why I know a few thing concerning microphones mainly de DPA brand ( actually the music and theatre department of Bruel&Kjear ). I have tried to find the full specs of the Pixel French microphone but, as expected, nothing available only rudimentary specs and a picture of the mic without noisecap what shows the in my opinion strange design for what is concerned as a proper omnidirectional microphone. Your video "I try some more Man-Cave mic setups" demontrates that it is very hard by listening alone what kind of microphone is used, always a good lesson. I'm convinced that the Pixel Frinch isn't a good microphone, you rightfully send it back. One more thing: why is the diopter label still on your glasses? Best regards, Paul Longtailpair from the Netherlands.
@AudioMasterclass replies to @paullongtailpair3812: I'm surprised by the number of comments on the sticker. The long story is that my plan to be able to identify easily all my different strength glasses, +1 to +4, hasn't quite come to fruition yet. When it has, I promise the sticker will be removed. DM
@stevemawer848 replies to @paullongtailpair3812: @@AudioMasterclass I colour-code my glasses using the resistor colour code! So red for +2.
@AudioMasterclass replies to @paullongtailpair3812: @@stevemawer848 I'll be needing brown, red, orange and yellow then. Just need to find suitable stickers. DM
@stevenewtube: I love this sound of the 416 the best. I’d like to hear it from about 2 inches further away, a bit of the cave is not so bad and it will sound less direct or more natural. IMHO.
@TucsonBillD: Shure makes a small condenser microphone with a Lightning connector which plugs directly into your iPhone. It is controlled by a free app available through Shure. Control is available (once Shure’s app is installed) on your iPhone. It’s not expensive (here in the US it sells for around $100 or so. Price in the UK probably differs but not by much. Shure makes a second generation iteration but the original should work swimmingly for you.
@marshall1864: Is the remnant diopter sticker on your eyeglasses some kind of plea for. . .wait for it. . .Help!?
(See what I did with the callback, there?)
@gabrielgodwin9953: Haha! I clearly remember being told, "You can't use all these different adapters! It'll ruin your sound!" I, of course, did it anyway.
Now that you've got all the kit, why would you not use the best microphone at hand?
@soundssimple1: All our ears are different, all options will sound different to different people of different ages. Ask your audience their general 'ear age' and then adjust your broadcasts to suit the majority ? It doesn't really matter what sounds 'best' in the AUDIO WORLD, ( whatever that is ) it only matters what sounds appropriate to the listener, all 44.7 thousand of us. ?
@evanmcdonnal: I actually find the Sennheiser to be a bit over aggressive in the way it captures some of the consonant sounds. That or maybe it's audio or input level is just much higher than the other examples. With regard to the positions I liked T and I found that mic (cheap as it may be) to be tamer with regard to your consonants. I did listen in headphones that aren't terribly forgiving to the top end though. The other pair I often use for musical listening are gentler in the top end so I might end up changing my outlook if I were to change headphones.
@stephenwong9723: Why prescription label on your glasses?
@danender5555 replies to @stephenwong9723: because cheap
@dagadoon: Sennhauser for sure
@anahatamelodeon replies to @dagadoon: Yes, all the way through I was wondering what he was using for this video, because it was so much better than all those from the previous video. All most no room sound at all.
@dustinrue replies to @dagadoon: Same
@andymouse: I think I said "T" last time and now the posh MIC sounds great too. Is there no 'APP' for your level meter ? or anywhere you can pinch a bit of signal and have an external level meter ? Gonna go and try to suss this joke out ...cheers.
@AudioMasterclass replies to @andymouse: I did try an app - ProMovie - which has a meter. However the meter sometimes works, sometimes doesn't. Then I'll get a warning the level is -65 dB or something, but on playback the sound is fine. Pinching a bit of signal, as you say, wouldn't fulfil my need, which is to have confirmation that audio is being recorded. There probably is the perfect app in the app store but I haven't found it yet. DM
@shipsahoy1793: Again?!😂
@Charlie-UK: The Sennheiser mike, sounds great, as you would expect being a professional microphone. The quality of retail microphones can be abysmal, as you have so amply demonstrated...
@adskn: It's great you've found the right kit to have Audio Masterclass standard of audio in your mancave videos...and it's been a fun journey for all of us along the way.
@MrNicknayme: +2
@ronschauer839: Sennheiser, best by far (I am fond of their headphones as well).
@nikolaki: Right! You can get on and start making your man cave videos a proper.
Sound quality using the sennheiser is great with the dingle dangle dongle.
@paulphilippart7395: OOO I like a nice shotgun mic,yep stick with that its great,T was good enough if you dont want the faff.
@RichSDet: I’m at the point where I don’t care about the sound . It’s your editing software that is bothersome you are blurry and not nearly as well defined in your editing software fix that first please! thank you
@richclips replies to @RichSDet: Blurred? I think you should adjust the focus control on your TV ;) or maybe switch off all of the terrible automatic picture modes that modern TVs have, noise reduction , dynamic stretch, etc, which only make the incoming image more orocessed. I'm watching on an OLED, and the image is in not blurry, unless of course you're referring tongue in cheek to the anaglyph style, slightly added noise and mild film weave effects that have always had been applied for good fun and differentiate each example :-) maybe you're watching at 144P... Can you read the +2.00 on David's glasses? :-D Enjoy.
@CaptainJack2048: Honestly, I'm enjoying the process so much, I'm not really paying attention to which technique is the best. This is really fascinating, and fun. I like the way you're applying experience and training to solve the problem in a clear methodical way. I enjoyed the reference to theater experience, takes me back to my theater days.
For what it's worth, I'm always forgetting to take those annoying little stickers off of my reading glasses. Perhaps we can start a fashion trend and leave them on all the time. 😀
@1loveMusic2003: get a hat with a higher front and it would look ok. The hat you had looked like a deflated balloon. Haha
@sr3d-microphones: My SR3D Basic binaural mic can be plugged into an iPhone with an adapter, and if you use the correct app with it for shooting video, you can adjust the levels too. The default video app doesn't let you adjust the audio levels, so any mic could possibly clip without any gain control.
edit:
pro camera app for iphone is about £7, used to use Filmic Pro - now filmic legacy as they charge a subscription service now :/Both apps allow for mic level adjustments with stereo or mono external inputs.
I also have an XLR mixer for my XLR mics that can be used with the iPhone.
@AudioMasterclass replies to @sr3d-microphones: If I can throw in an element of doubt here I would imagine that with any mic that plugs in directly, the analogue to digital converter is in the mic. Therefore if it clips there's nothing that level adjustment in the app can do about it. The key question though is, "Does it work?". If it works that's fine and no-one needs to worry. DM
@sr3d-microphones replies to @sr3d-microphones: @@AudioMasterclass Interesting, I'd not thought about that before, although making recordings often with the little Zoom H1n's and the iPhone, I find the iPhone with the default video app has let me down a few times, in not so loud environments too, I'll be sure to check out the differences between the default app and a paid for app in the coming weeks in the workshop.
The capsules I use in my mics are the Primo EM272, which I'm sure you're aware are really quite versatile capsules and not prone to distortion.
I think if Apple were to make a change in their default video app for audio levels, it would make it quite a great way to make videos on the iPhone without any extra expense of 3rd party apps.
Apple, so I've heard, are changing an option on their video recording app so that you can lock the white balance of the video in Septembers IOS 17 update, or something like that, so this is something that I look forward to, though, I'll be using the Zoom H1n for the recordings from now on unless my recent 3rd party video app does the job just as well.
@sr3d-microphones replies to @sr3d-microphones: @@AudioMasterclass
I just did a quick test.
The default video app on the iPhone seems to have the levels quite high, and the 3rd party app I used I could lower the levels down quite a bit so that when making a loud "ahhhhhh" into the mic directly, there was no distortion. I lowered to about halfway on the levels, and this seems quite good for moderate binaural recordings. I would suggest that you try the 3rd party app "Pro Camera" which has a black background and white camera icon in the middle looking to the right, for about £7, so well worth the small charge - without a subscription I may add.
I think it would be a good investment for anyone who wants to add an external microphone to their iPhone setup, for binaural audio, or standard recording techniques.
@frogandspanner: My ex's mother used to keep the M&S tags on the clothes she wore so she could subsequently return them. Is that what you are doing with your specs?
@AudioMasterclass replies to @frogandspanner: At £4 a pop from eBay return isn't going to be necessary. DM
@ac81017: There's your problem mate, bloody Iphone. Change to Samsung/Android, much easier, much better picture and sound quality. 🙂
@richclips replies to @ac81017: Haha, yea that's why high end iPhones are used to capture elements in many TV commercials music videos and Films. They are considered best in class. Personally I am an Android user though, much better bang for bick :)
@MichaelSchuerig: Whilst the tour was interesting, still I'm wondering. Wasn't the solution of using a proper mic with an audio interface pretty obvious to begin with?
@AudioMasterclass replies to @MichaelSchuerig: Getting it into the iPhone was the issue. Of course, once the answer is known then it’s easy, but still there’s the issue of knowing whether it’s working or not. DM
@MichaelSchuerig replies to @MichaelSchuerig: Agreed. I was assuming that it was common knowledge that the Camera Connection Kit (and similar third party contraptions) is the way to do this. Apple will use USB-C connectors on future iPhones, so this won't be an issue anymore.
@jimc9823: Sounds great!
@writenamehere0000: I liked the iPhone sound the most.
@Chiefelgin: sound is awesome, almost sounds the same as a normal video.