Microphone Setup Question

[Phantom]

I have 5 of these and they are limited on frequency. I like to never have gotten it all straight.
http://www.pssl.com/bitemdetail.tpl~waGroup1datarq~shure%20wireless~eqint_KeyIDdata~1710~UID~2006080909513410~newproduct~T~itemNumber~THS%2001

I have one of these and these automatically look for an open channel. This is the way to go if you have the money.
http://www.pssl.com/bitemdetail.tpl~waGroup1datarq~pgx14-20~eqint_KeyIDdata~39516~UID~2006080909513410~newproduct~T~itemNumber~PGX14-20%2001

We're using an 8channel giveme board with two dead channels. I'll be replacing it soon.

 

[RottenPuppets]

if you're looking for a decent and inexpensive way to get the sound into the computer for mixing / editing M-Audio makes a lot of nice products. i'm using the M-Audio firewire solo hooked up with a 8 channel mixer and have had great results.

i do most of my audio studio style tho so i can't really help on the mobile end of things but i've had good luck with mid-range priced condenser mics.

 

[mrhogg]

Yeah, I was looking at M-audio yesterday. The person I talked to at my local audio store suggested what was actually a presonus, I think, a "firebox", though there are a bunch of products in the price range, then adding in a mixer to bring in two additional mics.

Given the cost of the wireless mics, I'd probably have to go with stage mics on stands. This would mean the puppeteers would have to keep their faces pretty close to still, but it's *significantly* cheaper than buying even headset mics. (I can get 3 decent mics for $60, but only 1 headset for $130)

Such an expensive hobby...

 

[mrhogg]

That's some pretty nice looking equipment, Phantom. If only I had the money for something like that.

 

[mrhogg]

One of the differences in the two implementations is that with the more expensive soundboard route, you get to maintain each incoming track as a separate audio track, whereas with just the mixer + mics, it would all go into the computer as a single stream, and would minimize my ability to, say, amp a quiet voice after the fact.

Any thoughts on how important the multiple tracks would be?

 

[RottenPuppets]

One of the differences in the two implementations is that with the more expensive soundboard route, you get to maintain each incoming track as a separate audio track, whereas with just the mixer + mics, it would all go into the computer as a single stream, and would minimize my ability to, say, amp a quiet voice after the fact.

Any thoughts on how important the multiple tracks would be?

that's very true and why the soundboards are so much more expensive! some of the computer based systems do have multiple inputs though and if you have say a person whose always quiet you could potentially put them on input 2 or something of that nature since you'll know later on you need to boost up their volume. they also sell cards that plug in direct to the pc motherboard and have a pile of inputs coming out the back in a wire cluster. i'm not sure how many individual tracks those can process but it might be worth taking a look at.

a great site to read all of the company info on the various products is www.musiciansfriend.com they have pretty much everything a starting audio recorder would need. you probably have been there already but in case you haven't it's worth a look.

surely not the best 'fix' but it would work ok for starting up in the audio engineering portion of your project. going out and plopping down 10 grand on a 'professional' beginner setup would obviously be the best, but then there's the issue of learning all the equipment or hiring a sound guy as well.

another option if it's just video based and not live, would be to perform the show and then put the voices in track by track afterwards, like how they do it in those pixar type animated movies. in a case like that, a computer setup could get you up and running on the cheap. i've used cakewalk xl with a condenser mic to dub in my audio in the past and it's worked quite well.

 

[mrhogg]

Hey RottenPuppets,

I ended up dubbing most of the audio in episode 1. The upside to that is that I was able to get the performers to say the lines until it was how I wanted, but the downside is that I have to get them in again, it's tricky to synch up, and added, since I've got a day job, about two weeks to the post-production time.

I wish I could get a $10K production studio. That would be nice!

I suppose the multi-channel would be necessary live, where the audio might overlap, but I'm thinking, since I don't have any dialogue written that overlaps -- and can refrain from doing so, if volume levels prove an issue -- I might be able to manage with the mixing board. Plus, in that case, if I do need some dubbing, it would likely be less, and if I do, I could upgrade to the multi-track recording for subsequent episodes.

 

[RottenPuppets]

I wish I could get a $10K production studio. That would be nice!

I suppose the multi-channel would be necessary live, where the audio might overlap, but I'm thinking, since I don't have any dialogue written that overlaps -- and can refrain from doing so, if volume levels prove an issue -- I might be able to manage with the mixing board. Plus, in that case, if I do need some dubbing, it would likely be less, and if I do, I could upgrade to the multi-track recording for subsequent episodes.

you could also use mic preamps. that would allow you to boost the volume up on the soft speakers by each mic individually. and you can just buy a couple of them and put them only on the quiet people. just another option / idea to throw out there.. gotta cook dinner back in a while..

 

[mrhogg]

The mixers I'm looking at have pre-amps built in. Thankfully.