RODE NT1-A Microphone & SignVideo ENG44 Field Mixer into Panasonic HPX170

[MusicianDeBoy]

would there be a difference if you plugged in the mic into a mixer or an interface?

[yobhsiFehT]

Just a quick comment from an objective third party, if you will, I'm just researching the mic, but I thought the mixer sounded better than direct. Just a TIIIINY bit more open and dynamic, if you ask me... which no one did... but just sayin:)

[dvestore]

@yobhsiFehT We appreciate your comment and found the same results upon close examination with studio monitors here.

[JBr33zyMusic]

Hey man i really hope you respond to this! Im looking into getting the new Rode Microphone bundle so what Phantom Power should I buy? Please respond ASAP!

[a1a2a2qwer]

hi the Rode NT1-A vs. Rode NT2-A... what's the difference?! NT2-A costs more but is there really a need to get the NT2-A for someone who is simply trying to record vocals?

[girotube]

LOve Rode Mics...!

[Nosmoth76]

thanx for this. I wish they did this for all mics.. I have an NT!A & NT2A & I test out pre amps on different interfaces too...the differences were only slight by my ear (& that will really depend on how good your monitors are & therefore how much they can reveal) Perhaps maybe next time mic a vocal or an instrument solely by itself? good vid tho..

[dvamateur]

Honestly, I am not sure why the manufacturers charge $1K or more for 4-channel field mixers. I mean, they're all analog (sans the Sony DMX), and I got two 16-channel Behringers for $100 each. Is adding battery power to a mixer making it worth like it's been made out of gold? I just don't get it... I mean, don't get me wrong, I got the Sony DMX-P01, and Edirol R-44, and I am salivating over the Fostex FM-4. But why the price curve is so steep for a batter powered analog mixer?

[dvestore]

@dvamateur Thanks for your comment. I'm betting that the price difference is because Field mixers take a beating. The cases need to be built tough and the internals need to be able withstand a blow - not to mention a bit of weather proofing. There are certain laptops and cell phones that are also built "military grade" to hold up in rugged conditions. Check eBay for used Shure FP33's and look at the condition that they're in, the Behringer wouldn't last out in extreme environments.

[576ito1080p]

@dvestore im sure you could build a field mixer out of the Behringer/Alesis type mixers and run them on batteries,to be honest you are paying for the name in many OEM electronics, even the Sound devices field mixers are basically Low noise preamps,control of gain,monitoring,and output switching other than that even a basic mixer with a few tweeks using close tollerance componants will work.and cheap to boot

[skaylars]

Hey,

cool vid!

I got a question, do you know which preamp for around 200-250$ matches the best to those microphones?

[th4002]

Hello dvestore.

You must know than HD video in youtube have the same level encoding (128 kbyt) on mp3 compressed.

It's the same compressing on every format video, wich can be 360P (flv), 480P(mpg4) or better.

So, listen the video on higher definition is not very... useful.

[Albigatnz]

hahahaha exactly the same!

[outithewoods]

hello Guy,, we all love SD mixers and recorders but heres a demo of whare i use some of my kit i would not want to do that with an SD kit and mics :0)

[woodlanduk]

hello Guy: what about using these mics in the field rather than in a studio i cant find any videos to compare field recording kit it all seems to be in a studio ,Bedroom or garage does nobody record the real world anymore?

[dvestore]

@woodlanduk thanks for asking take a look at a few of my other videos, there are plenty of examples of using mics outdoors. The RODE NTG-2 and NTG-3 and RODE SVM all have outdoor examples. Best of luck in your recordings.

[creationdreamdotcom]

The biggest problem I have with this and PCS mixer is the line out level is low, which forces you to use a camera gain of 7 negating the mixer's cleaner amplifiers, for that reason it would be a better test using a prosumer camera in the $2-5k range. I can't see someone buying a mixer to get better sound. More likely they need it to mix more than 2 sources and want something that won't introduce noise and gives easy gain control of each channel.

[Chadfish]

Guy - a better way to compare with a song playing is to just let it roll, and switch between them without going back and playing the same segment. You'll immediately hear the change in the ambiance without a jarring cut that goes back to a place where the instruments are doing something different.

That being said - the voice sounds pretty similar on both. I think the music sounded a little fuller with the mixer.

[jupiterbroadcasting]

Like mentioned before, YouTube does kind of mess with the audio, but if you watch it in HD you get 128kbps MP3 in Stereo.. Not amazing, but decent!

The bass was the biggest difference on my speaker system.

Direct hit harder, but lacked depth. It was just a sharp hit. The mixer version the bass seemed to have context.

Prolly not worth the cost, agreed. But I do like having those extra controls..

-Chris

[MichaelBradus]

Although the audio is compressed quite a bit on youtube, I don't think there is a significant difference at all. I'd say direct is good enough for anyone.

[MobileMediaProducts]

I desperately need to know HOW you set up those mics. Could you PLEASE show us the gear you used and the positioning of the mics!!!!!

[dvestore]

A Manfrotto C-Stand with arm holds a spud with male 3/8" threaded into the included NT1-A shockmount. A simple XLR cable is plugged in directly to the camera. On the 2nd NT1A is the same scenario only plugged into the ENG-44 mixer with the same kind of XLR cable. You'll want to listen with headphones and experiment as to the placement with your source.

[MobileMediaProducts]

Hey, Guy, Mark here, correct me if I'm wrong, but in the video, the two mics were hanging from the ceiling? When you say "arm" do you mean boom? I understand "spud" but it looked to me like you have both mics pointing at a central "spot"? Did you use two stands, two booms, two spuds? Actually, I'm more interested in why you replicated the Sony PCM-D50 positioning of the NT1-A's, and how you set that up. Can you elaborate? Or send me a picture? Thanks, Mark C.

[dvestore]

The C-Stand you can see in the right side of the frame. Google "C-Stand Arm" and you'll see what one looks like. I'm using two heads on one stand. Each head holds a spud which screws into the mic's included shockmount. The positioning of the mics was just to get them close to picking up the same sound. The PCM-D50 can do an X/Y stereo pattern, we're only doing mono here. You only hear one mic at any one time. Hope this helps.

[MobileMediaProducts]

Thanks, Guy, that helps. I'd love to see the "heads" you're using. Are they a Manfrotto product? I have a pair of those mics, and the problem I've been running into is the shock mounts that came with them don't fully articulate (360 degrees). Instead, they only move in one direction (along one plane), which makes setting up what you used in this video difficult. Before this, I was trying to use them in a Blumlein Pair setup, and finding a stand to accomodate that ended up being impossible!

[oneeyedgeek]

I don't hear any difference.

[dvestore]

Thank you for commenting. We really wanted to hear a significant improvement to justify the expense, that was why we made the video, to help people understand. In this case, a mixer is not worth the money. Now if you were running around chasing someone with a boom mic, you would want the mixers fine adjustments to closely control those levels and avoid overloading the signal and clipping. See more in the show notes, you might want to watch the version which is less compressed.

[CrustyCurmudgeon]

This may not be a very critical test, and I'm speaking of how YouTube encodes and handles audio. I don't really hear any significant difference.

[dvestore]

Thanks for your comment. YouTube does compress the audio a bit more than Vimeo. See the show notes for more info.