I'll speak for myself here:
The majority of the costs associated with my kit centers around flexibility. Since I never know what the job will entail until I get the call, I need to have most of the frequently used tools already in my kit. Things I may only need once or twice a year I'll rent.
Starting with microphones:
A quality shotgun is an essential part of my kit and something I use on nearly every shoot. This is a buy once, cry once item. I currently swing a Sennheiser ME-80 which, because I use a quality mixer with lots of clean gain, I can get away with, but if I had to do it again, it would likely be a 416 or MKH70 (I'm not a Rode fan). Now add a quality shock mount and wind protection. I chose the Rycote Wind Protection System which includes a blimp, windjammer, and lyre suspension system. Again, buy once, cry once, and most people would agree that the rycote system isn't enough wind protection, then there is just too much wind. So, at the very least, the shotgun and supporting hardware will set you back about $1,400.
Add:
Hyper for indoor work. Low end, Oktava MK-012, high end, the sky's the limit. Best case, about $300.
Boom pole: I bought my first aluminum pole used for $80.00
Lately there's been discussion on whether a mixer is an absolute necessity. As a sound for hire guy, in my case, it is. My mixer, a PSC Alphamix, provides far more routing options than I could obtain with a multi-track recorder alone. The 3 led input meters for each channel give me visual prompts on the levels coming in, which when used with the input trim control, allow me to condition the incoming signal as I wish before sending it downstream. In my case, downstream is to the iso outputs into my Tascam DR680, and also to the main outputs of the mixer, which feed channel 5 and 6 of my multitrack, as well as to up to two camera feeds. Those camera feed outputs are sent via betacables with breakaway and confidence return which means, from my mixer, I can toss my monitor switch on the mixer and check that up to two cameras are getting my signal. My mixer, which runs on a NP1 battery also powers my recorder, so I'm only worrying about one battery. So, to sum up this little section:
PSC Alphamix I bought used (included portabrace bag) $1000.00
Betacables for camera feeds $250.00 each
NP1 batteries (3 will keep me going 24x7) 125. ea x 3 = $375.00
NP-1 quick sequential charger (used) $150.00
Tascam DR680 = $800.00
Cables for iso feeds = $30x4=$120
For wireless, I chose Sennheiser G3 because of cost. I added Tram TR-50 lavs and have recently been using Oscar Soundtech lavs which I must say work pretty well and cost about half of what the Trams do.
Right now I carry two wireless, and rent more if needed:
Sennheiser G3 $600x2 = $1200.00
Tram TR-50 $230x2= $460.00
OST 802s = $90 x 2 = $180.00
For monitoring, I use M-Audio IE-30 in ears, but also carry a pair of Sonys for the camera op or director. The in-ears cost me $250 and I think the Sonys were right around $100.
This is the kit I currently use. As work picks up, I would very much like to upgrade my shotgun and hyper, and will likely move to the top shelf this time and be done with it. But that move will cost me another $3000.
So, right now I've got about $7k and it still falls short of some jobs. To name a few, I don't have TC support, I only have two channels of wireless, and I could use better shotgun and hyper microphones.
In order to support a variety of sound jobs, flexibility is the key, and it's the flexibility that adds to the cost of a recordists kit.
On any particular job, it is rare that my entire kit is being utilized. So, for any particular job I could get by with less, but I had built a kit based on what I have encountered on jobs and included tools that I use most often.
I hope this helps.
Can you share what you think should be on a recordist's low-budget sound cart...
...but that will still deliver good results? And this is supposing that you can't afford or don't have access to a qualified professional or hobbyist.
Alcove Audio and others have written that something like the Zoom H4N really doesn't t cut it quality wise when you're serious about quality sound for your film.
So, how far up do we need to step to get into the good-quality-audio-zone? Not sure, but let's say keeping it under one-thousand dollars, or maybe with a one-thousand dollar cost ceiling. Can you plug products that do measure up?
Or is that just not enough? If not, what is the minimum? Two-thousand? What products measure up in the plus-one-thousand dollar range?
Is the recorder enough? Is a mixer necessary? Something else?
Thank you for any guidance. =)
