Basic shogun mic kit - will this suffice?

[Tony Koretz]

FWIW

I JUST picked up a Rode NT3 for interior work and am LOVING it. Its a bit heavy, but it sounds great, is durable, and is $250 vs the MKH50 at around $1500.

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I assume you do mean the NT3 rather than the NT3-G here. I have had an NT3 for years, and used it a lot. Definitely a handy mic, but for more versatility, and having capsules of various polar patterns that you can change to suit the situattion, is the OKtava MK-012. It is a smaller mic and will fit in the same shockmount as a shotgun mic, and is very affordable. Slightly dark sounding, but good quality. Adding something along these lines in addition to a shotgun kit is a good idea.

[Ev Shipard]

Any tips on settings for the ntg-2 with the Scarlet? I am using the new beta firmware and finding I am getting a lot of white noise with the default settings. It is connected via the Fortis XLR mount. I have tested both with the bal 48v setting and standard balanced with both a battery and without in the mic.

[Marc Wielage]

"White noise" = lots of self-noise in the microphone itself and/or a noisy analog preamp section. Try a completely different preamp and see what you hear. Gain staging (inadequate or excessive amplification at different points of the signal path) could also be an issue.

The lowest self-noise I've ever heard is from the Sennheiser MKH series, like the MKH60 shotgun. In general, electret condensor microphones are not as quiet as true condensor microphones.

[Paul Ellington]

.... By far the cleanist, best boom mic I have ever used ( DPA 4017B ), for my money sounds better than the Schoeps and Sennheiser.

[Marc Wielage]

The DPA mikes are also very, very good, at least the full-size condensors. Not as free from RF noise and other issues as Sennheiser, but still very good. I'd make the same comments about Neumann microphones. This is kind of a Mercedes vs. BMW vs. Lexus comparison.

But the Rode would be sort of a Chevy Impala by comparison -- serviceable, but not in the same class.

[Yousuf Abbasi]

From your list, I can't tell what are you running your audio through? Or are you going directly into the camera..

[Terry VerHaar]

I like the idea of a shogun mic!! ;-)

[Mark K.]

From your list, I can't tell what are you running your audio through? Or are you going directly into the camera..

As I stated in the OP, the audio is feeding directly into the PIX240.

[Marc Wielage]

Sound Devices' preamps are first-rate, some of the best I've ever heard. As far as I know, they're pretty much the same in many of their products, but I haven't used the PIX yet. I don't think it's ideal as a mike preamp, though, just because of gain-staging issues and the relative inability for a person to dynamically adjust it for different locations. For that, you need a sound mixer with ears and fingers.