Do you need a better microphone set up for you video blogs and
interviews?
Do you want a wireless solution to make free moving interviews
easier without lots of cables following you around but
finding few that fit your needs?
Are you finding that the prices being asked for these
microphones are too expensive and out of your budget?
Well, there is a way out.
In the last two years I have been using a wonderful
microphone kit
for all of my video production, and I’ve just discovered where there
is a supplier also for all those living outside of the US.
So I have
decided to share in detail the specs and characteristics of my trusted
microphone for video set up.
Hold your orders then, and read on to find out what I think is
the
must-have microphone solution for anyone wanting to produce quality
video clips, live video streaming or news reporting while keeping
expenses at the lowest level possible.
Here the technical premises, the video proofs, my personal
story and
a full video product unpacking of this little technology jewel that
does reliably what it promises to:
Ideal Solution For Your Video Needs
Indeed, if you have been looking for an ideal solution to your
video
and voice recording needs, including video interviews, personal
reporting and announcements when producing video, then you may want to
look into this wireless microphone set up I have been using with great
satisfaction for over two years.
First let me say that I am not a “pro“, or at least I am not
one
that knows everything about video. I have spent many years working with
it, but have remained always an outsider, an experimenter, a pioneer in
using new technologies to do things that you could not before.
So, my
choice and judgement is not based on technical specification sheets, but
on extended field results and personal evaluation.
Over the years I have gradually abandoned my dreams to work
and
produce with video as technology costs were always impossibly high and
the few venues to keep oneself into the business required more oil than
talent.
But believe it or not, since Ourmedia opened
its doors three years ago and YouTube
has arrived on the scene in 2005 as a truly empowering video reality, I
have taken all my gear up again and have started putting my video
production skills to good use again.
I have over 500 clips uploaded on YouTube,
nearly 1,000,000 video views, over 1,000 channel
subscribers on my two online television
channels (Robin Good TV and RGTV News).
And am feeling once again the
excitement of producing videos
that I enjoy creating and which have a purpose I fully believe
in.
Worry About Audio First
But to create good videos, anyone
with some experience will tell you, the first thing you need to worry
about is not the video, but the audio.
Yes, worrying early about how your audio is going to be
recorded is
frequently more important than getting the best framing for your shot
or making sure your picture is rock-steady when doing a moving shot.
This is particularly true when you need to
interview someone
or in any situation where you need to record with clarity the voice of
someone talking into your camcorder.
Even when it is you yourself who
needs to speak right in the front of the video-camera, having an
adequate setup instead of using by default your built-in camcorder
microphone does make all of the difference in the world.
Here is an example. This is Mike
Shea from San
Diego during some of our experimental tests with RGTV News.
He has a camcorder built-in mike:
And here below hear myself recording the
clip while on the road, but with a dedicated external mike, plugged
into my camcorder or computer.
You can definitely hear the difference.
The built-in camcorder microphones installed on
most camcorders pick up everything.
Sound from the camera own mechanics, zoom motor, your fingers and strap
moving around, ambient noise, and more get all picked up in full audio
democracy.
Under these conditions your voice never comes out clear and
professional as you have come to expect it after having watched
thousands of hours of commercial television and hundreds of films.
There is just too much noise around.
And believe me, it is not so much the need to emulate
commercial
television that makes caring for audio so important in video
production. The fact is that without the audio, it is a completely
different story.
Especially when you have someone talking, the audio is
everything. You could even take away the video and still have a
valuable content item in the audio only recording.
In fact it is not a
coincidence that so many video bloggers make an audio-only downloadable
.mp3 file available next to their published videos.
My Requirements
For all these reasons, as soon as I started to take up again
my
humble video gear, I went online looking for a microphone solution to
serve my specific video production needs.These were my requirements:
- Highly portable
- Battery-powered
- Integrating a
lavalier-type
microphone (the very small type that are attached as pins on
ties and jackets) - Capable of interfacing with my
camcorder and/or computer - Inexpensive
- Expandable to multiple units –
so that I could have multiple wireless microphones broadcasting back to
my portable base station
But the real problem for many non-US-based
video-makers
online and off, is that suppliers of wireless microphones
leverage international regulations which prohibit use of
certain frequencies for
such applications (and these vary from country to country).
They also have exclusive distribution deals that make it next
to impossible to find or
buy a cost-effective wireless mikes outside of the US.
None the less you can go
to Amazon.com and find many such products,
the good ones can only be ordered it if you live in the US.. Amazon and
its partner suppliers will not ship them outside the US.
Worst than this is the fact that
if you decide to
go down the street and ask your supposedly competent audio-shop
specialist about a portable, inexpensive (under 100€ –
roughly $130) wireless
microphone kit for your own video productions, he will likely
reply to you by saying that such tools:
a) do not exist
b) do not work in Europe
c) are an old technology
d) do not work very well
e) cost over 500 eu
f) need to be AC-powered
In fact, none of the above statements is true.
But when you do not have enough information on a given topic
anyone can make a fool of you. And so they do.
Inexpensive Portable Wireless Microphones
What instead you need to know about inexpensive portable
wireless microphones is that:
1) There are good wireless microphones that do
not cost an arm and a leg.
In fact, you can actually buy two or three of these kits while still
for less than what your audio-shop would charge for one of their
AC-only-powered professional wireless mike.
2) They can be bought from just about anywhere
you
live around the planet as long as you have a working Internet
connection and an eBay account. You need not ask any more a friend going
to New York to get you one.
3) Their quality is good at
least relative to
consumer standards and it is definitely “good enough” to make quality
audio recordings to be used for public distribution online or on DVDs.
4) There are models that work on batteries.
5) Multiple units can be combined together
easily, providing you with the ability to record two or
more wireless mikes easily and at a very low cost.
6) You need to steer clear of those super cheap
Chinese-made wireless microphones.
While there may be some good models around, I haven’t seen them yet,
nor I have read or heard reports about them.
These extremely cheap
wireless microphones ($5-15 or less) do work, but the range of
situations in which they can do so reliably is much more
limited.
These
Chinese-made microphones are very sensitive to radio disturbances from
other technologies and from the reports I have had they do bring in a
lot of unwanted background noise.
The Solution
The wireless portable microphone kit that I advise you to get
is the Audio
Technica ATR288W: VHF TwinMic™ System with
battery-powered receiver and transmitter.
This is a professional VHF wireless kit integrating both a
clip-mike
and a traditional hand-held microphone and capable of transmitting over
up to a 300′ range. It utilizes two switchable frequencies.:170 MHz and
50Hz-18kHz.
As mentioned, the ATR-288 also includes two
high-performance microphones (an ATR20 unidirectional dynamic
microphone, and an ATR35 lavalier mic with tie-clip), as well as two
portable cigarette-pack-sized transmitters and receivers, a monitor
earphone and a very useful camcorder mounting shoe.
The ATR288W
is fully self-sufficient as it uses one standard 9V battery for each
transmitting/receiving unit.
Watch me unpack my own ATR288W as two new ones I have just
ordered, came in yesterday.
Where to Find it
Thanks to a passionate Sharewood supporter Sulay, I have
recently discovered that there is an eBay shop
that not only has the very same wireless microphone kit I have been
happily using for the last two years, but it ships them anywhere around
the world at an unbeatable price.
The name of the eBay shop is Digital4Cheap.
This is really good news for
video-makers and grassroots video producers outside of North America.
In fact, nonetheless I have my own, which a good friend bought
for
me in one of his trips to New York (thanks still Ale and Peppe) and of which
I have broken a few non-critical parts, I have always wanted to add
more wireless broadcasting units to it.
Therefore, as soon as I learned
from Sulay of this opportunity, not only I went and verified that what
offered was indeed the real thing, but as soon that I was convinced, I
ordered two more for myself! Here’s my video of the unpacking.
For those of you in North America, you may as
well check
Amazon own offerings on this,
while being aware of the differences existing between the various, but
similarly labelled models available.
Keep this in mind: what changes
between a ATR-PRO88W and a 288W is the fact that in the last one you
are provided also with a second hand-held microphone. That’s the only
difference.
Other similar models in this family change the type and
technical specifications of the microphones provided in the
package.
How Much Does it Cost?
Whie Audio-Technica official suggested list price is US$249.95
you can find this unit for just around $100 at Digital4Cheap.
That does not include shipping, which may add quite a bit to your cost
indeed, but believe me, no matter what the total this a piece of
equipment worth every penny you will spend on it.
This above is a screenshot of the ATR-288W
kit being offered right now at the Digital4Cheap eBay shop.
You can click it and be teleported straight to the relevant page.
Disclosure: I Robin
Good,
carry no relationship of any kind with the company producing this tool
or with any of its resellers officials and non. I derive no income from
the sales of this product and I have no interest in writing about it
outside the one of promoting a technology I personally value.
Original article written by Robin Good for Master New Media
and originally titled: “Best
Portable Wireless Microphone Kit For Your Video Production Needs: Robin
Recommends” on Tues Aug 7 2007.
