naturerecordists
[Top] [All Lists]

Re: Shotgun microphone

Subject: Re: Shotgun microphone
From: "Rich Peet" <>
Date: Thu, 03 Apr 2003 22:22:24 -0000
My 32" dish still has a cutoff shelf above most owls.

My ME-67 performed well at low frequencies but was not very
directional for owls.  It was good at droping the gain of higher
pitches off axis.  It worked best at reduction of off axis frog and
insect chorus when recording owls but was poor at determination of
the exact direction of the owl. In fact I had to not wear headphones
when recording owls with my shotgun so that I would not go the wrong
direction.

I recently used my "football on a stick" for Great Gray Owl and Saw-
whet Owls and was very happy with the result but I was not trying to
eliminate anything else off axis and was just looking for sensitivity.


Rich Peet

--- In  "gernothuber2"
<> wrote:
> Dear Pratap,
>
> Another line of thought, starting with Walt's comments: How big is
> your dish? Getting a bigger dish could increase the low end boost
> enough to make a difference. The current Telinga dish is about 22
> inches in diameter, if memory serves, and can be had for under
$100.
> If your old dish is significantly smaller (I don't know if Telinga
> used to make smaller ones), then this might help a lot. I am sure
> even bigger dishes can be had from other sources.
>
> Cheers,
>
> Gernot Huber
>
> --- In  Walter Knapp
<>
> wrote:
> > Let's note something. The mic will be just as good with the dish.
> In
> > fact, it will be better. There will be some gain even at that low
> level.
> >
> > This is certainly the case with the current Telinga Pro V. It
picks
> up
> > low frequencies, With Gain. Removing the mic from the dish lowers
> the
> > gain at low frequencies. I verified this today on random low
> frequency
> > stuff outside (including doves). I know the Telinga Pro V picks
up
> owls
> > very well as I record distant owls incidental to my frog
recordings.
> >
> > Let us look at the shotgun mic. A shotgun mic gives you no gain
> > advantage over a omni. It has a interference tube which
attenuates
> the
> > off axis sound, but on axis it's a regular mic in a tube, no
extra
> gain
> > compared to a regular mic of the same sensitivity.  You use a
> shotgun
> > mic to narrow the pickup field, not for increased reach. You then
> get
> > some gain by amplifying the mic output (including amplifying it's
> self
> > noise)
> >
> > Combine those two, and what you get is that even at low
frequencies
> if
> > the mic capsules have the same sensitivity you will do better
with
> the
> > parabolic than with a shotgun for reach.
> >
> > My question is have you tried the parabolic on the bird calls you
> are
> > worrying about? If not, try it. You might save yourself some
money.
> >
> > If you are still set on getting a shotgun, your price range could
> > probably buy a Sennheiser ME67 off Ebay or used elsewhere. I'd be
> really
> > surprised at getting a MKH 416 or 816 in good shape for that
> little.
> > Certainly Ebay prices are higher than that.
> >
> > Walt
> > 



________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________

<Prev in Thread] Current Thread [Next in Thread>
Admin

The University of NSW School of Computer and Engineering takes no responsibility for the contents of this archive. It is purely a compilation of material sent by many people to the naturerecordists mailing list. It has not been checked for accuracy nor its content verified in any way. If you wish to get material removed from the archive or have other queries about the archive e-mail Andrew Taylor at this address: andrewt@cse.unsw.EDU.AU