Best handheld mic.

[Foggy]

I have recently returned from driving around europe filming my first documentary.Now I am home I need to film some street interviews and will require a handheld microphone.

I use a tascam dr-05 for audio recording and have used it as a mic before too but it doesn't look great on screen.

I am planning on either plugging the mic straight into the tascam which can sit in the pocket of the presenter, or get a wireless setup that plugs into the tascam so I can at least visually monitor the audio.

Any advice is hugely welcome, I have a budget of around £100.

Cheers.

 

[Alcove Audio]

Your biggest issue is that you are using a high impedance audio recorder and a decent handheld interview mic (even a cheapie) will be low impedance requiring phantom power.


Oh, BTW, the "best" handheld mic is about $350.

 

[Will Vincent]

Oh, BTW, the "best" handheld mic is about $350.

With current exchange rates the 100 pound budget is most of the way there..

 

[Foggy]

Thanks Alcove, I should have said best within my budget.

Does this mean I will need a new sound recorder?

 

[Alcove Audio]

There are lots of cheap mics out there; just remember that you get what you pay for.

The Rode Reporter - US$129

Audio-Technica AT8004L - US$90

Both are dynamic mics by decent vendors that will not require phantom power, but you will might need an impedance matcher, and definitely an XLR to minipin converter and a mono to stereo converter. I do not know if they have enough output to drive the DR-05 mic input efficiently.

If you are doing sit-down interviews you may want to consider lavs. The Rode smartLav is only US$60.

With current exchange rates the 100 pound budget is most of the way there..

About half way at todays rates. GBP £100 = US$166

 

[Will Vincent]

About half way at todays rates. GBP £100 = US$166

I was being facetious.. have to laugh about the extremely weak dollar to keep from crying..

 

[brunerww]

Hi Foggy - the minimum it's going to cost you is about:

- £118 for the Rode Reporter
- £3.29 for 1m of balanced XLR cable
- £22.91 for an XLR to 3.5mm transformer/adapter to match your mic's impedance to your DR-05

Hope that's helpful!

Bill

 

[brunerww]

Hi Foggy - I just found a better deal - there are a couple of used Beyerdynamic M58s on Amazon UK and one on eBay UK for less than £100.

Even used, this is a better mic than the Rode.

Good luck!

Bill

 

[Foggy]

Thanks folks, I went with the rode reporter in the end and for my purposes the sound quality is even better than needed,perfect!

 

[brunerww]

That's great, Foggy! Turns out I needed one for NAB, so doing the research to answer your question was helpful to me too!

I ended up buying a Sennheiser MD46 handheld cardioid mic based on this video from Guy at the dvestore.

Now I'll just have to remember to move it back and forth during interviews

Cheers,

Bill

 

[Foggy]

I'm glad it came in helpful for us both Bill! My employers are more than happy with the sound quality and the mic looks very professional on screen too.