Audio Technica AT3035 - Yard Sale Waste of Time?

CamVader

CamVader

I picked up an AT3035 cardiod capacitor microphone today for $20.00 US. I actually saw it yesterday with a $80.00 price tag and went back to see if it was still there. It was.

It has the shock mount and nothing else. I haggled and stated there is not even a way to test this mic with the person running the event and we arrived at the $20.00 price. So I took it home and tried it out. It appears to work perfectly.

So far so good, right? I want to use this thing on a boom for interiors, but it is a discontinued model according to google, retailed for about 200 bucks new, and I couldn't find anything related to its intended (new) indy use. Is there any track record on these mics in the independent film community? I'm trying to determine if trial and error is even worth my time.

It's cool looking, so it can make for a good prop with a desk stand if all else fails. Thoughts?
 
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It's a budget-priced large diaphragm "studio" mic meant for vocals (singing and VO) and instruments. The current equivalent is probably the AT2035, the only difference as far as I can see is that the -2035 has a higher OHM rating.

You could use this for VO, ADR, Foley and sound FX work; it's much too big and heavy for using on a boom.

Good deal for $20!!!
 
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CamVader said:
I'm trying to determine if trial and error is even worth my time.
Click to expand...

If you spend two hours on your day off out in the field trying the
mic under different circumstances how is that not worth the time?
What if you spend three? At the end of that time you will have a
definitive answer. Maybe it won't be good for some things, but
great for others.

Seems worth a few hours of trial and error.
 
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Thanks for the responses, guys. I experimented a little using phantom power from the camera and it definately has a sweet spot about 8-10 inches away from the mic. Anything further away starts to trail off rapidly. Time to do some research on how to preamp it and match the impedence for the computer. Cool!
 
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There are quite a few inexpensive USB mic preamps; the problem is that most of them do only 16/44.1 bit/sample rates. The Blue Icicle is a good deal at $60 but only does 16/44.1. Since your application will be film/video you should be using 16/48, and preferably 24/48. The Pro Tools M-Box series starts at around $200 (PT-8 software, USB, 24/48).

If you get into firewire you'll have a lot more options. There are quite a few nice boxes in the $300 - $500 range. The TC Electronic Impact Twin ($400) is pretty nice.



http://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/Icicle

http://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/MBox2Mini/

http://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/ImpactTwin/
 
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Much appreciated, Uncle Bob (I checked out your MySpace site and now we're related) :lol:

I'm going to check out the options you presented and plan this purchase so I get what I need, not what I can afford impulsively. What settings would you use for low cut and -10db/0db pad for VO work?
 
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I never low cut when I'm recording in the studio (production sound is a whole different trip...). I would rather have the entire frequency spectrum available to me and cut it if I need to rather than trying to artificially recreate it.

It's also very unusual to need a pad on singers and VO. Loud sound FX are recorded with different mics.


When it's time to splurge on some serious audio interfacing it's always a challenge. Firewire is definitely faster and cleaner, but a lot pricier. Then deciding how much in the way of and what kind of input/output you would like. Then there's the quality of the mic pres...
 
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