How To Make Any Microphone Invisible (And Improve Your Audio!) 

I'm confused... What mic did you use in this video? It's grey, so it doesn't look like a Shure SM7 (B or DB)...

Any microphone can sound that good using EQ. Obviously the microphone you're using was EQ'd

All condenser microphones produce self-noise. Dynamic microphones are completely void of self-noise. If the dynamic microphone is low, impedance balanced back to a low noise preamp which most preamps today are, you can turn up the gain to equal the gain of a phantom powered condenser mic with less noise.

They still do.

Well, I don't think it's that. It's the "authenticity" you would feel differently if some of the creators you watch put more into production value. You would not feel that close to them. It's the opposite of "he is legit." It's more like, "Yeah, I could do that too if I wanted to."

I won't watch people without a mic in the frame.

@@splitguy6813 No its actually all to do with Podcasting and radio presenter style content, where the person is in one room sitting with a mic infront of them talking, think Joe Rogon or Alex Jones, nearly always had the mics sitting in front of them exactly the same as a Radio presenter. Now an obvious factor is also that most of these mics are desktop mics and designed to sit infront of the face, cameras where never a consideration at any point.

@@HOLLASOUNDS Well, that doesn't change anything. My point was, technically, none of them has to have these microphones, and they usually have even backup boom mics or lav mics when they add cameras anyway. It's about selling that authenticity even if you have the money for a vastly better setup. And I am not generalizing. But, for example, why are LTT videos still done in a set kitchen? Why isn't it some appropriate space to do so? Because it's less intimidating and doesn't seem like they are a 100M+ company. And I don’t see anything wrong with that strategy. It's just dishonest to say, well, people are having these mics because they are lazy. They usually internalize their ideal presenter when they want to create something, and that idol has money to do an amazing studio but chooses not to do so to seem grounded. MrBeast, for example, is spectacular, and he is not trying to hide production value, but someone like Ryan Trahan has way higher margins on each video and can produce them faster. But he wants to sell you the idea of "you could do that too." That is his product. And I sometimes watch them and am entertained because he doesn't always have a crew and seems authentic. But then, he can certainly afford more than a 20 bucks lav mic and a cameraman to follow him anywhere. So, a visible mic is shorthand for authenticity. It's something like "I am still the guy from Mom's bedroom, even if I have studio employees, etc." I am not saying that everyone with a mic in their shot is or isn't lazy or thinks about the appearance of it. But most people who have the money for a better setup are choosing subpar gear to seem more approachable and normal, even if they are millionaires.

Glad it's not just me! This trend bothers me as much as people holding a smartphone horizontally directly in front of their mouth and talking loudly at it, whilst the other half of their conversation blares out of the speaker for all to hear. I suspect both trends are related. I have no idea why either is a thing.

@@hdmediaprouk I think you answered yourself: it's a thing, solely because it's a trend. I think the majority of people who do it don't hear how badly their audio sounds as a result of doing it…but…it's a trend, so "I guess I'm supposed to do it now."

Hey the majority goes through TikTok which ruins audio quality anyway, so if it's loud it works I guess!

😂😂😂 seen to much of it

he he

Now for 'the lords work', I'd love to get this type of audio from my parish priest's badly positioned lav.......

Thomas, your mic is gorgeous, don't hide it =)

I definitely agree that there are benefits to having the mic in frame. Take this video we are commenting on for example, because I could clearly tell the audio was recorded with a really good mic that's close to Harv (it sounds awesome), not seeing it in the frame almost makes me feel like there's a disconnection between the visual and the sound. It almost feels like his audio was dubbed.

@@JamesZhan Excellent points. You know your stuff!

Surely you could add a directional cone behind the mic to get rid of a lot of room reverberance ?

I always took the hand held lapel mic as a good sign that they don't have a clue what they are doing, don't take them seriously

@@paulstubbs7678 that just sounds elitist. I’ve seen well respected content creators with high quality content hand-holding a lav mic. They absolutely do know what they are doing. Things are just changing.

Great mic. Used it on a number of documentaries. The Schoeps CMIT 5 U is also another great mic, too. So many options to choose from.

Headphones are not used in live situations? Man, if you are doing any tutorial where sound comes out of the speakers, headphones are a must for monitoring. Also headphones are used to communicate between musicians/ engineers, across rooms… like on Joe Rogan podcasts he is receiving instructions from other team members. Or if you have to replay a video, not just for mic feedback, but the fact that sounds worse if you record what comes from the speakers. The reason the mic and headphones look comes from is radio.

@@julian-multimanI don't think he said headphones are not used in live situations.

depending on your setup you can even key in the mask live

In fact, better is the Austrian AUDIO OC 16

Only commenting because I like your user icon. Go Tigers.

I use the 440 Pure. One of the best and brightest mics I have ever used.

I've checked the 400 Pure and I liked it too, but then someone recommended the OC16, not one but several trusted professionals, and I did test it out. Loved it, bought it. If I hadn't tried the OC16, I was definitely buying the 440 Pure. Just my view. @@majordrumkill

I was hoping this would be mentioned as an alternative because it's a superb mic. Very happy with mine.

That’s good for radio, not for video where microphones should be off camera for a cleaner look

That's why they don't.

Finally someone with brains! And when you position yourself and compose the frame, you realize you can get very close with mic. I just hate these big ''vocal microphones'' that cover half of the face. An film they usually capture sound with shotgun micss,which are often a few feet from talent's head, but the sound is still good. Actually, in average film the sound is better than 99.99% of YT videos. Well, truthfully, most of RU-vidrs don't even know what sound is and how things works, they just saw it somewhere....

This is the way. I'm all for using what you have, but suggesting that people get an LDC and do this is not great.

@@fifi23o5 thanks, i was pleasantly surprised with just how good the audio was, once everything was setup i can get surprisingly close using a standard microphone stand that's on my desk (it looks kinda funny, but i have the space between my speakers and the back wall for the legs) while still being out of shot and another advantage is i don't have to be pretty much glued in front of the mic stand to get a good take/audio, wish i'd bought it sooner

Shotgun mic is what I was thinking about all the way through this video. No need to cut a separate clean shot. I'm a professional sound engineer including boom operator on live television, and you'd be suprised how close you can get a mic and still be out of shot. I have a Sennheiser MKH 416 which is easily one of the best sounding mics I own. It is over the budget mentioned in this video, but well worth saving up for - the difference between this and many of the usual suspect cheaper shotgun mics is night and day to my ears - it's not an accident it's been the de facto industry standard for decades.

@@hdmediaprouk Exactly. It all depends on the shot though for sure. I ditched my big RE20 very recently and swapped it out for a small SDC on a gooseneck pointed straight at my mouth about 5 inches away just out of frame of my computer camera. Couldn't do that with an LDC because it's too large and heavy.

It's annoying when you watch some asmr video, with two big fat black mics left and right as the babe leans over to each one to either whisper to you or chew on the sponge...

It's naff and a wee bit pretentious. Not to mention the lack of forethought that is required to compromise on radio studio mikes shoved in peoples faces, on a video production. It displays a singular lack of imagination in simply following the herd...

Agree, using SDC, shotguns or better yet wireless lavs, are for convenience and workflow shortcuts.

It is one of the most commonly used microphones

+1 for the Roswell K47, excellent mic for voice over.

I have the AT2020 USB and I don’t hate it and have used it for ten years since I bought it as a broke college student