Pro Moviemaker Winter 2018

GEAR HEAD-TO-HEADMIC TEST

Rode and Sennheiser have both launched innovative audio solutions for run-and-gun filmmakers WORDS TERRY HOPE SMART SOLUTIONS NEW MIC TECH

I t’s great when an established audio company comes up with a truly innovative product that you can sense immediately is going to open some fresh doors for filmmakers. It’s positively spooky when two great rivals deliver similarly groundbreaking products at the same time, and for practically the same price. Both the Mobile Interview Kit fromRode and the Memory Mic fromSennheiser utilise a smartphone as a recording device.

The target market for both products is likely to be similar; both the Rode and Sennheiser are aimed at the single-person filmmaker looking to travel withminimum kit. This is where the similarities end, though: each product is different enough to ensure separate audiences, while the Memory Mic is for smartphone filmmakers only. However, both devices provide clever solutions to audio problems that filmmakers face every day.

SENNHEISER MEMORY MIC £169/$200 en-uk.sennheiser.com

SPECIFICATIONS Price: £169/$200 Microphone type: Omni-directional Bluetooth frequency: 2.4 to 2.835GHz. Bluetooth .1 and higher Transmission protocol: WLAN IEEE 802.11 b/g/n Frequency response: 100Hz to 20 kHz Equivalent noise level: 28 dBA SPL Power requirement: Internal battery, up to four hours life Charging time: Approximately one hour for 70%charge, two hours for 100%charge Output connection: None Analog outputs: None Weight: 30g/ 1.1ozs Dimensions: 51x37x16mm/ 2x1.5x0.6in

Sennheiser should get brownie points for its ability to deliver products that are truly different and innovative, and the Memory Mic is so out there that it’s difficult to knowhow to sum it up. While it undoubtedly does have filmmaking credentials, it also does lots more that couldmake it useful in a host of other fields. For a start it doesn’t look like a mic at all. It’s a white plastic clip- on box that can fit on to a lapel or pocket, and there’s a speaker on top, an omnidirectional condenser capsule, that’s designed to catch a subject’s words and pretty much all the sound around them as well. It’s designed to communicate with a smartphone via Bluetooth – there are Sennheiser apps available for both iPhone and Android users – but can also store up to four hours of audio internally. The rather wonderful USP of this device is that once you’ve used the app to start recording video on your smartphone and audio on the Memory Mic, you don’t need to maintain the Bluetooth connection between the mic and the phone. Your subject could literally be way off in the distance while you’re filming them, and yet the mic would still be

under their nose picking up their voice. I sent my trusty assistant way down a busy street, then filming him from around 100 yards away while he spoke to himself. When he returned

I pairedmy smartphone with the Memory Mic and downloaded the audio; a subject who was a dot in the distance sounded as though he was next to the camera position. This kind of thing could be done working withWi-Fi mics up to a point, but the cost would be much higher. This solution could get you high-quality audio at a distance and the mic would pick up a conversation every bit as well as a single voice. One thing to note is that the Memory Mic is internally powered so needs to be charged, and this is done via a USB cable. The device records 48 kHz/16-bit audio and, despite its diminutive size, it features up to four hours of battery life. It’s a strange little accessory but it works. Youmight have to think outside of the box a little to get the most out of it but there will be filmmakers out there that have just been waiting for this device tomake an appearance.

PROMOVIEMAKER RATING: 8/10 Drops a couple of points since it’s so quirky but can do things that a conventional mic couldn’t deliver. Pros: You can achieve great audio from a huge distance Cons: The Memory Mic is nothing like as discreet as a lavalier

ABOVE The Sennheiser Memory Mic comes with a clip so that it can be attached to a lapel or a pocket.

100 PRO MOVIEMAKER WINTER 2018

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