On 9/8/2014 2:20 PM, Richard L. Hess wrote:
> On 2014-09-08 4:43 PM, Paul Stamler wrote:
>> If you can put up with a pattern that's merely hypercardioid instead of
>> short-shotgun, you might try the Electro-Voice RE16, and it works well
>> sitting on a piece of foam with the capsule floating just above the
>> tabletop ("mouse" mounting as Richard noted). I've had a lot of luck
>> using it for oral history interviews. Tough as nails, too.
>
> Hi, Paul,
>
> I once had a pair of RE-15 mics (which lacked the superior windscreen of
> the RE-16) but sold them to a radio station as I was relying more on
> capacitor mics in those days.
>
> Yes, those were good mics, but alas have not been made for years. The
> challenge today with dynamic mics is that many/most of the inexpensive
> recorders do not have a wonderful equivalent input noise (Ein) spec. The
> higher output of the condenser/capacitor mics mask this weakness. I
> suspect we're lucky to get -120 dB Ein on a portable recorder today.
True, and that's a real problem. But a few of them (mostly from Tascam)
have decent EIN numbers, and can do a good job with a dynamic mic. And
the RE16 is still in production -- they dropped the RE15, but kept the
RE16. Personally I would have made the opposite choice, since the RE16
is really good at a couple of things, but the RE15 is really good at a
*lot* of things. But E-V did what E-V did. Sigh.
One advantage of the RE16 (and RE15): virtual indestructibility. For
oral history that can be a major virtue. And I can think of very few
condenser mics of which that's true -- the SM81, maybe. But theen that
gets into the whole phantom powering issue, which dismays beginners.
Peace,
Paul
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