Mics for interview/broadcasting

[JazzP]

I have recently used Rode NT5 mics to record interviews for podcasting. During one session I only used 2 mics placed on the table in opposite direction (interviewer and guest sitting opposite of each other), and as the room was reasonable quiet (believe it or not: a small caravan) I had no problems to make a smooth sounding broadcast during post production.

However, during the last session we had 2 guests and the interviewer sitting in between: 3 NT5's in 90 degrees formation (see picture). The mic in the middle picked up too much of both guests and as the room was much more noisier this time the quality of the final mix was far below that of the first one (gating seemed impossible, to obvious due to the noise and crosstalk).

What kind of mics do you recommend for this kind of setup? Switch to dynamic mics? I have been thinking about using 3 MD421's as they are often recommended for broadcasting; will that work with the mics placed on the table like on the picture? Or will I get too much noise if I need to crank up the gains?

[Petrus]

I would not fault the mics first. Having the people a bit closer to the mics would help the crosstalk problem, but then even a small movement back and forth would change the levels too much (+ proximity effect with cardioids).

Having the mics horizontal and a little higher would point the nulls better (men across the table). Even more would help to have the men at the opposite ends of the table and the lady at the middle of the long side. This would diminish the crosstalk to her mic the most. Form audio viewpoint a better arrangement, but not so nice socially...

How would using a dynamic mic help any? It is the relative level between the wanted signal (speach) and noise that matters, and that is only dependent of the relative distances from the speaker and noise sources to the mic, not working principle of the microphones.

[mixedupsteve]

Can't you ride the faders?

[WVUtubadude]

Lavs?

[NorseHorse]

Nady SP-5s in the same arrangement but just a little closer and angled more horizontally as mentioned above would do you just fine.

Or if you aren't going for that isolated, interview-in-a-vacuum sound, just use M/S in the middle of the table.

[huub]

It's always hard to make a situation like this sound good, It's mostly about riding the faders...
3 headset mics (dpa or countryman) would make your life a bit easier, or closely mic with dynamic mics, no head movement allowed, radio style.. (but will not look good on video)

[chris319]

Headworn mics. Seriously.

[JazzP]

Originally Posted by mixedupsteve

Can't you ride the faders?

Yes, when we use more than 2 mics I have to ride the faders on the fly during the session (like this one), as my recording setup for these sessions is limited to two tracks (see pic here, I record onto my Zoom H4), and then try to get it all fine-tuned during the post stage. When we have only 2 persons talking during the session, than it is more easy during post as they are both recorded on separated channels. I probably have to get more accustomed to riding the faders on the fly

I will certainly try to get the mics horizontal and a bit higher at the next session as Petrus suggests (and stay with the NT5's for now), hopefully not getting too much proximity. There is a certain 'open character' to these interviews/discussions which I don't want to spoil by putting mics right under someone's nose.

Another option would be to have seperated channels available for all mics, making post editing probably easier... but that would mean bringing my laptop and AD interface in flightcase as well. Which I'd rather not do in this case, as space is quite sparse during these interviews (we're inside a refurbished mobile shop/truck)

[DannyL]

For TV work we mostly use lavs. Sony ECM 77's or 55's.

You could try placing your participants in opposite pairs and use ribbon mics, or dual capsule figure 8's.

Danny