Video station for tinkering on YouTube / Need mic tips

[Digitaliserade]

Thought I'd share my little hobby station as I haven't seen something quite like it. I used to have limitied space for my tinkering so I had to build something to fit in a small office / gaming room.

This consists of an IKEA Metod kitchen cabinet, Jutis glass doors and Enhet door as backdrop (tabletop). The door sits loose on top so I can swap it out easily if I want a different background.

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Any tips for a budget mic that will pick up the tiniest of sounds, and how to mount it? I'm repairing a lot of analogue cameras and would like the sounds to pickup well on camera. I don't wanna say the word, but think of it as ASMR camera repair.

[Haraikomono]

a simple yeti microphone should give you decent quality

[berberries]

For this I'd pick up a shotgun microphone like a Rode NTG2 and pipe it into an audio recorder like a Zoom H4n. You can direct it toward your work area and bump the gain up on the H4n in order for it to pick up even the tiniest of pin drops.

 

If those are too expensive you can find cheaper alternatives of basically the same idea, but I cannot attest to the quality you will get as the Rode NTG2 and Zoom H4n are equipment I have personally used before therefore I'm able to confirm that will get you what you are looking for.

[Digitaliserade]

10 minutes ago, Haraikomono said:

a simple yeti microphone should give you decent quality

Really? I have a snowball but I'm less than happy with it. Is the yeti a big step up?

[Digitaliserade]

5 minutes ago, berberries said:

For this I'd pick up a shotgun microphone like a Rode NTG2 and pipe it into an audio recorder like a Zoom H4n. You can direct it toward your work area and bump the gain up on the H4n in order for it to pick up even the tiniest of pin drops.

 

If those are too expensive you can find cheaper alternatives of basically the same idea, but I cannot attest to the quality you will get as the Rode NTG2 and Zoom H4n are equipment I have personally used before therefore I'm able to confirm that will get you what you are looking for.

Nice, thanks! It's a bit more than I was planning to use, but it's a recommendation i'll keep in my backpocket.

[berberries]

1 minute ago, Digitaliserade said:

Nice, thanks! It's a bit more than I was planning to use, but it's a recommendation i'll keep in my backpocket.

Yup I understand its abit expensive but you can also try using something like a Rode Videomic Pro. You can get a quality extension cable to place it nearer to your work area and plug it straight into the audio input of your camera removing the need to sync audio in post. The Rode Videomic Pro in my experience is a fairly directional mic with quite good audio quality.

[Brian McKee]

I think the shotgun mic suggestion is a very good one since it's incredibly directional. But any cardioid/supercardioid microphone should work. Something like the Shure SM57 mounted on a boom arm directed towards your scene with the gain bumped up. The interface you use will need a decent noise floor so I'd suggest something like the MOTU M2 or the Tascam 1x2HR. I'd avoid behringer like the plague for a project like this.

 

Goodluck!

[Digitaliserade]

20 minutes ago, Brian McKee said:

I think the shotgun mic suggestion is a very good one since it's incredibly directional. But any cardioid/supercardioid microphone should work. Something like the Shure SM57 mounted on a boom arm directed towards your scene with the gain bumped up. The interface you use will need a decent noise floor so I'd suggest something like the MOTU M2 or the Tascam 1x2HR. I'd avoid behringer like the plague for a project like this.

 

Goodluck!

Thanks, that gave me some new terms to Google as well. New world and all that.

[Brian McKee]

6 minutes ago, Digitaliserade said:

Thanks, that gave me some new terms to Google as well. New world and all that.

It took me many hours of research for my current audio setup. If you need any help you can shoot me a pm.

[kasugatei]

Firstly, I would like to know why people are recommending Yeti, mediocre microphone even for what is intended (voiceovers) as the jack of all trades? Personally I would stay away from them, especially for this kind of a setup.
 

Since it is a indoor recording I would not go with shotgun. Sometimes reflection from the walls can interfere with shotgun’s interference tube and cause weird artifacts in the sound. Also, decent shotguns will be more expensive than decent small diaphragm condenser.

 

Speaking of small diaphragm condensers, key words would be super cardioid or even better hyper cardioid. What is means is that cardioid is directional, super cardioid even more while hyper cardioid is the most directional that you can get. However, you would need some sort of audio interface or audio recorder to connect it. Some budget friendly options are Samson C02, LyxPro SDPC-2 which are around 100 USD for a pair or if you want something that is the best bang for the buck then Oktava MK-012 with hyper cardioid capsule (some stores sell it as a movie set) is a way to go and it will set you back 200ish USD.

 

If you don’t want to buy extra interface or audio recorder then I agree with suggestion regarding the Rode Videomic pro. In that case you are skipping the step in editing where you have to sync audio to video.