Your opinion on my shotgun mic? (1 Viewer)

[Gnome du Jardin]

Hi!
I'm getting more and more serious in birdrecording as I love this hobby (about 2 years now).
I am getting some good recording, but they are all quite low as I hesitate to up the gain. I have difficulty accepting floor noise. I know I have to accept some level of floor noise, but in the same time, my Zoom H5 is quite noise. SO I just break the bank and buy a Zoom F3. Can't wait to try it.

As for my shotgun mic, I use a Bayerdynamic MCE 86 II found use for 150 $ CAD wich seem to be a fair price. The problem is that this mic is not available anymore and not popular in the bird recording community, so I found very few review. But the review I found was quite good and the price was ok. Every review I found talk about a very warm recording and a low self-noise. Do anybody have work with that mic? Should I go with a mic with a better sound to noise ratio? I found that my mic have a 60 f/n ratio. Is that good?

Thank you for your comments!

 

[Jon.Bryant]

Online the spec for the mic states 'Signal-to-noise ratio rel. to 1 Pa. > 61 dB. A bit weird, as it is strange to give a > value, rather than an absolute value.

Puzzled by this, I just watched a review of the mic on YouTube, where he states the mic is quite noisy with 25dB equivalent noise level.
You can simply calculate SNR - this is the constant 94-ELN, so 69dB. In general an ENL or 20 or lower (so a SNR of 74dB or higher) is considered reasonable. Shotguns are not necessarily designed for distance use, and interestingly the reviewed states that 'if you bring the mic into three or four inches, you get some lovely warmth without the boominess or mud, normally associated with shotgun mics'.

If you have a weak signal (say a distant bird), then when you apply gain, the amplified self noise of the mic may well be evident. That said, I normally find ambient noise (circa 40dB for even a very quiet environment), more of a problem than mic noise.

 

[Gnome du Jardin]

Thanks for your expert opinion, it confirm my terrain result. The rode ntg4+ is on sale on amazon canada, I just break the bank.
Damn this forum is expensive!

But with a zoom F3 and a rode ntg4+, I should have result that match my motivation and effort!

 

[Elkhornsun]

As you are just getting started take some time to investigate parabolic mic setups. They increase the sound level considerably for the mic. Youtube videos showing DIY setups. Check this for a great overview of field recording by Cornell Lab. Cornell Lab also does workshops during the year.

file:///J:/Audio%20Video/Field%20Recording/Cornell%20Lab%20on%20Audio%20Equipment.pdf

 

[Gnome du Jardin]

I investigated parabolic mic a lot, but they are way to expensive in Canada (they come from USA, shipping + tax). I've done a DIY set up. It's cool but as I take sound in forest with some hike involved, shotgun is way better for me.