Rode Reporter Dynamic Interview Microphone

The first mental image I get of a dynamic Omni stick mic is of NBC’s Al Roker trying to remain standing for a live standup during a hurricane. We always hear him just fine, even in 60 mile an hour winds. It’s been a while since anyone has taken a shot at this category of mic. How well would the new Rode Reporter compare?

FEATURES

The Rode Reporter is a classic hand-held, end-address, dynamic omni stick mic in a long-handled form factor. It comes in a designer box with zipper pouch and mic clip. The 10.7 inch shaft is three inches longer than the industry standard ElectroVoice RE50, allowing a few more inches of reach for inquisitive video journalists. A two-sided clip-on flag holder is provided for station logos. Unlike square flag holders, this requires the user to make sure the mic is held with the flag broadside instead of on edge to the camera so the flag can be seen. 

NYC Mic and Mic Preamp Demo Room

People within a daytrip of NYC are pretty lucky. B&H has a positively scary mic and preamp demo suite at their Manhattan location. If you are mic and preamp hungry, how can you not say yes to this?

Non-shotgun boom mics for interiors (and exteriors)

I get a lot of repeat questions about which mic other than a shotgun to put on a boom, especially when working inside. The answer is a hypercardioid or supercardioid. You can also easily use these mics outside and they work very well in outside situations with hard surfaces, e.g. streets, buildings, walls, windows.

Here's a little video that explains why. Listen with really good headphones or on good monitors.

BTW, cardioid is pronounced like cardiac, but with an oid at the end. Car-Dee-Oyed. The name comes from the root cardio and in this case refers to the heart-shaped pattern the mic makes if you're looking down over it and it is positioned parallel to the ground.

I have listened to the others including the Sennheiser 8050 and, while it is a very nice mic, I didn't care for the EQ curve on it for boom work. My choice of these mics from the best down are:

Schoeps cmc641

And get the more expensive B5D pop filter shown here.

Sennheiser MKH50

Audio Techica 4053b

Audix SCX-1 HC

Oktava MK012 HC

A Recent History of Ribbon Microphones

Audio-Technica AT 4080 and 4081

Ty Ford (written sometime in 2005)

The BBC cites 1933 as the year pressure gradient ribbon microphones were introduced. It also notes that RCA's Harry Olson applied for a patent on January 31, 1941 that was granted May 9, 1944 for ribbon microphones that converted sound pressure to electrical energy using a strip of aluminum between two magnets. 

Microphones & Preamps - The “chicken and egg” of audio.

Image by Simon Howden

Want to start a discussion among audio folk? Ask whether mics or preamps are more important. Later I'll interview George Massenburg and John Hardy to get their take on transformer as well as transformerless preamps and solid state versus tubes. That’s the the main course. But before we get to them, here’s a few appetizers.

Audio-Technica AT4050ST Stereo Studio Condenser Microphone

A nekkid AT4050ST

With a list price of $1,625 and a street price of $1,299, in this economy, you have to remind yourself that this is a stereo condenser side-address mic with two separate capsules under the grille; a cardioid and a figure of eight. Well, you can sort of see that in the picture on the left.

The AT4050ST came out in September 2009 along with three or four other significant A-T mics. In the land of microphone manufacturers, Audio-Technica is a giant. They make so many microphones that when they decide to release three or four at the same time it’s easy to lose track of them. The AT4050ST is part of Audio-Technica’s top of the line 40 Series. In that line alone there are about fifteen different microphones.