need an omni to record discussions in a room

[peabody]

Can people please recommend a good omni for recording voices in a room. I need to record a conference. Budget under $1000.

Thanks!!!

[joeq]

If the purpose is to make an accurate record of what was said, like for business or town meeting or legal proceedings, I like PZMs. Because they only pick up reflected sound there is less muddiness with sounds arriving at different times.

"reach"

a pair is well within your budget

[gainreduction]

AKG 414, clean and reliable.

[peabody]

For the pzms, i know the old realistics are pretty nice, but i don't have time to run down a pair. What pzms that are easily available would you recommend? Crown?

Thanks for the replies.

[joeq]

yeah the crowns. Tecnically PZM is a brand name of the Crown Corporation
anything from another company must be called a Boundary Mic or some such

I have the PZM-30 which I have used for drum room and even orchestra.

[James Lehmann]

You can grab a matched pair of the excellent little Avenson STO-2's omnis for $500. Useful in the studio too - search this Forum for a heap of good recommendations.

[Jonk]

$1000?

Good lord! For a conference?
Are you spending somebody else's money or something?

Wait, I forgot, this is gearslutz.

[jajjguy]

i strongly recommend you record in stereo. when people are talking over each other, it will be much easier to tell the voices apart and understand everyone if you record in stereo. especially if you listen on headphones, the voices will appear to be coming from different directions.

[joeq]

Originally Posted by Jonk

Are you spending somebody else's money or something?

this is a good point. If these are going to be "your" mics, then research some of the suggestions and think not only about this conference but about how you can use these mics every day.

If these mics are part of some kind of installation in a conference room, then go for the PZMs. They really will give you better speech intelligibilty than most omnis. The PZM-11 fits into a flush wall plate panel for a low profile. It looks like a light switch.
It also has a LF roll off to reduce HVAC rumble and increase speech pickup.

[Midlandmorgan]

I use a Shure 391-O tabletop omni boundary mic for such things...priced at about 1/10th of your budget, sound pretty decent...I got mine from BSW

[peabody]

Thanks! Sorted.
and yes, of course, it's not my money!

[djui5]

The Schoeps PZM is absolutely incredible sounding, and can pick up even the faintest sounds from across large rooms. A pair is defeniatly worth looking into.