5 Boom Microphones for Indoor Dialogue: Cardioid, Super-cardioid, and Hyper-cardioid

One of the best choices for recording indoor dialogue for film and video is a super-cardioid small diaphragm condenser microphone. I did some testing a couple of years ago comparing several and finally settled on the Audio Technica AT4053b, an approximately $600 USD hyper-cardioid microphone which has worked out very well for my projects.

Super-cardioid microphones tend to work very well when recording dialogue for video indoors in reverberant rooms (echo), because they have a more natural response to sound that comes from off-axis. This is not the case with shotgun microphones.

However, many have asked whether there are any more affordable options. In this episode, we compare five indoor dialogue microphones to help you get a sense for some of the differences ranging from about $100 USD up through $600 USD.

To hear sample clips of all of the microphones recorded with a Tascam DR-60DmkII and Sound Devices 633 Mixer in .wav format, head on over to http://www.learnlightandsound.com/blog/2016/3/26/five-cardioid-boom-microphones-for-indoor-dialogue-compared

If you’d like to improve your sound recording skills for film, please have a look at our Sound Recording for Video course over at http://school.learnlightandsound.com

Visit us at http://learnlightandsound.com for more updates on how to improve your lighting and sound for video. Also be sure to subscribe to get new weekly episodes!

Gear mentioned in or used to record this episode:

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Samson C02 Super-cardioid Microphone Set

B&H Photo: http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/294039-REG/Samson_SAC02_C02_Pencil_Condenser_Microphones.html/BI/19904/KBID/12941/kw/SAC02/DFF/d10-v2-t1-xSAC02

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Audix SCX1HC Hyper-cardioid Microphone

B&H Photo: http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/242661-REG/Audix_SCX1_HC_SCX1_HC_Microphone.html/BI/19904/KBID/12941/kw/AUSCX1HC/DFF/d10-v2-t1-xAUSCX1HC

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AKG Blueline with CK 93 Hyper-cardioid Microphone

B&H Photo: http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/349107-REG/AKG_Blue_Line_Series_Microphone.html/BI/19904/KBID/12941/kw/AKSE300BCK93/DFF/d10-v2-t1-xAKSE300BCK93

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Audio Technica AT4053b Hyper-cardioid Microphone

Amazon: https://geni.us/BMLz

B&H Photo: http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/642499-REG/Audio_Technica_AT4053B_AT4053b_Hypercardioid_Condenser_Microphone.html/BI/19904/KBID/12941/kw/AUAT4053B/DFF/d10-v2-t1-xAUAT4053B

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RODE NT5

Amazon: https://geni.us/6qnHT

B&H Photo: http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/392840-REG/Rode_NT5_S_NT5_Cardioid_Studio.html/BI/19904/KBID/12941/kw/RONT5S/DFF/d10-v2-t1-xRONT5S

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Sound Devices 633 Mixer/Recorder

DVeStore: http://www.dvestore.com/guy-says-gear-reviews/audio/audio-recorders-mixers/sound-devices-633-six-input-compact-mixer-with-10-track-recorder/#aid=6242

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Tascam DR-60DmkII Audio Recorder

Amazon: https://geni.us/MbsDZxz

B&H Photo: http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1084690-REG/tascam_dr_60mkii_portable_recorder_for_dslr.html/BI/19904/KBID/12941/kw/TADR60DMKII/DFF/d10-v2-t1-xTADR60DMKII

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Zoom F8 Audio Recorder

DVeStore: http://www.dvestore.com/pro-audio/recording/zoom-f8-multi-track-field-recorder/#aid=6242

B&H Photo: http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1140426-REG/zoom_zf8_f8_field_recorder.html/BI/19904/KBID/12941/kw/ZOF8/DFF/d10-v2-t1-xZOF8

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Copyright 2016 by Curtis Judd

Ethics statement: Some of the links above are Amazon.com, B&H Photo, or other affiliate links.