Samson C01U ok in the field?

[JDMjosh]

Gearing up to do some test shoots soon. And mic and audio is coming together now..

What I DO already own, is a Samson C01U USB studio condenser mic.. what I DON'T have immediately, is money for a good shotgun mic. It's a priority in the near future, but I'm not sure I can acquire one immediately.

My big fancy idea is, use this mic, on a boom, with a DIY deadcat, recording directly to a laptop (recording program undecided) and transferring the audio to my pc later for syncing. I will be shooting indoors and out, and can rig up some windblockers if necessary..,

I know i'm probably committing a great many recording sins here, but I'm afraid it's the best I can come up with at present..

My questions are thus:

A) How insanely horrible could the audio end up and what must I be sure to do to produce the very best I can with said equipment..

B) What program can you suggest for quality recording from said USB mic to laptop? Recording only, the editing and effects, etc will be messed with later..

Thanks again, in advance..

Josh

 

[Alcove Audio]

It'll be (comparatively) crazy heavy - 1.1lbs; most shotguns and hypercardioids for production sound go approx. 9 ounces or less (the NTG-3 is 5.75 oz.). Because it's an LDC it will be extremely vulnerable to even the gentlest breeze, much less wind, and also very susceptible to handling noise. It will be difficult to mount on a boom-pole effectively.

For some reason recording audio seems to eat up laptop batteries, so have lots of extra batteries and change them at about 60%.

 

[LasVegasIRA]

I've used that exact condenser mic on two different shoots. Neither time did it do very well. It picked up EVERYTHING and made the sound on both shoots unusable. (yes it took me twice to figure that out...)

I would guess if you use a deadcat, set your levels well, and have someone constantly monitor it, you could be fine for your indoor shots.

But I wouldn't use it for anything outdoors. The omni pattern is just too sensitive for that. You'll have wind, birds, crickets, car horns, kids, traffic, etc... all with as much presence as your dialog. You could probably hear the sun set if you wanted to. There are a lot of shotgun mics you can pick up for not that much. I would try going with something else...

Either way, good luck with it!

 

[JDMjosh]

...you could be fine for your indoor shots.

....You could probably hear the sun set if you wanted to....

Either way, good luck with it!

Understood, how freakin sweet would that be and thanks!

so have lots of extra batteries and change them at about 60%.

Will do, Thanks for the input! Really appreciated..

I will experiment then, I suppose but I guess getting a shotgun mic will be top priority...

 

[Dreadylocks]

I've used it for VO and ADR and Vegas is right. It picks up everything. The best success I've had with it is to record in a closet full of clothes hanging all around and using a pop filter in front of the mic. Even then there was still a lot of room tone :/

Better than the on-camera mic, though, right?

Oh, and the program I use to record is Acid Pro. Works well, automatically makes the wav file once you stop recording so you don't even need to save the project file if you don't want/need to. Taking the time to name the files after every take is annoying(you don't have to but you should), but maybe not if you have an assistant or something...