Best mic for sellotaping to the back of a car for exhaust?
Discussion
Selotape!?
No mate. That wont work at all. A decent mic mount will be £50 if not more. There are many mics out there for the price you'd like, but I have to be honest, on a (Potentially) high SPL source such as a car exhaust, you might find that cheaper mics struggle to capture the sound in a decent way.
You also don't need to worry about mono/stereo mics. As this will make little difference. Most mics are mono.
What car is it?
Where are you located? I can record it for you depending on what sort of recording you want?
EDIT - Notice you are in Hitchin, I'm in Hemel and I work in the Audio/recording industry
if I can be of any use?
No mate. That wont work at all. A decent mic mount will be £50 if not more. There are many mics out there for the price you'd like, but I have to be honest, on a (Potentially) high SPL source such as a car exhaust, you might find that cheaper mics struggle to capture the sound in a decent way.
You also don't need to worry about mono/stereo mics. As this will make little difference. Most mics are mono.
What car is it?
Where are you located? I can record it for you depending on what sort of recording you want?
EDIT - Notice you are in Hitchin, I'm in Hemel and I work in the Audio/recording industry
if I can be of any use?
Edited by Jazzy Jefferson on Friday 8th August 11:33
Edited by Jazzy Jefferson on Friday 8th August 11:35
I can stretch the budget, it's only going to be plugged into a zoom h4n so not the best sound recorder in the world. I'd rather buy once and buy right, so I appreciate your candor 
It's the E46 M3. It measured 116db at a 5000rpm static test...
I'll be doing some drive by recordings too, though the Zoom can just about cope with these with the built in mic.
It's the E46 M3. It measured 116db at a 5000rpm static test...
I'll be doing some drive by recordings too, though the Zoom can just about cope with these with the built in mic.
jon- said:
I can stretch the budget, it's only going to be plugged into a zoom h4n so not the best sound recorder in the world. I'd rather buy once and buy right, so I appreciate your candor
It's the E46 M3. It measured 116db at a 5000rpm static test...
I'll be doing some drive by recordings too, though the Zoom can just about cope with these with the built in mic.
No worries.It's the E46 M3. It measured 116db at a 5000rpm static test...
I'll be doing some drive by recordings too, though the Zoom can just about cope with these with the built in mic.
I was going to ask how you intend to capture the sound, but you got that sorted. Zoom H4 does the job nicely :-)
You would probably benefit from a shotgun mic. Have a look at an ATR6250 from Audio Technica. It's certainly within budget. However you'd need a decent mount for it if attaching directly to the car.
Bonus is, its stereo. Of course this will use both inputs on the H4N.
Failing that, if you'd like to buy right the first time around, For the money, you cant go wrong with a Rode Shotgun, NTG1 or NTG2. This is more likely to be in the £150 area, but in the realms of mics, its fairly cheap.
Whatever you decide, drop me a line, I am sure a cheeky discount can be arranged
I do all sorts of location recording, music mainly, but sometimes more 'challenging' stuff.
Certainly wouldn't sellotape to an exhaust. You may as well burn up your money to save ruining the mic on the first outing!
A cheap mic won't take the high sound pressure level of that close.
If it were me, I'd be recording it at a distance to reduce the SPL, and not recording straight on at it either for the same reason and to stop contaminants firing into the mic.
What inputs has the recorder got?
My gut reaction is you are not looking at needing the most high fidelity recording in the world, your main concern is a mic which will take the SPL. Also, the best 'close up' mic will probably not be the best drive-by mic.
Certainly wouldn't sellotape to an exhaust. You may as well burn up your money to save ruining the mic on the first outing!
A cheap mic won't take the high sound pressure level of that close.
If it were me, I'd be recording it at a distance to reduce the SPL, and not recording straight on at it either for the same reason and to stop contaminants firing into the mic.
What inputs has the recorder got?
My gut reaction is you are not looking at needing the most high fidelity recording in the world, your main concern is a mic which will take the SPL. Also, the best 'close up' mic will probably not be the best drive-by mic.
Justin, I didn't plan to take it directly to the exhaust, more at the number plater level between the pipes to try and capture the sound. I'm aware wind noise will be an issue, hence the question.
Rode sounds like a good plan, thanks. Added bonus it'll double up as a hot-shoe mount on my SLR
While I have a captive expert audience, I've 2 more mic questions if you gentlemen would be so kind.
1) The best lapel mic setup (under £100) for presenting to camera without the mic being obvious, kind of like what Harris wears during drive shoots
2) A half decent solution for my girlfriend, who works in musical theatre, to be able to record herself singing for good quality playback to help her training.
Rode sounds like a good plan, thanks. Added bonus it'll double up as a hot-shoe mount on my SLR
While I have a captive expert audience, I've 2 more mic questions if you gentlemen would be so kind.
1) The best lapel mic setup (under £100) for presenting to camera without the mic being obvious, kind of like what Harris wears during drive shoots
2) A half decent solution for my girlfriend, who works in musical theatre, to be able to record herself singing for good quality playback to help her training.
jon- said:
Justin, I didn't plan to take it directly to the exhaust, more at the number plater level between the pipes to try and capture the sound. I'm aware wind noise will be an issue, hence the question.
Rode sounds like a good plan, thanks. Added bonus it'll double up as a hot-shoe mount on my SLR
While I have a captive expert audience, I've 2 more mic questions if you gentlemen would be so kind.
1) The best lapel mic setup (under £100) for presenting to camera without the mic being obvious, kind of like what Harris wears during drive shoots
2) A half decent solution for my girlfriend, who works in musical theatre, to be able to record herself singing for good quality playback to help her training.
Ah... if you have an SLR, look at the Rode Video mic, and Videomic pro. Comes with the mounts for SLR cameras. There's also a version available for £80 I think. They aren't as good as the NTG series, but obviously have a slightly different use in mind.Rode sounds like a good plan, thanks. Added bonus it'll double up as a hot-shoe mount on my SLR
While I have a captive expert audience, I've 2 more mic questions if you gentlemen would be so kind.
1) The best lapel mic setup (under £100) for presenting to camera without the mic being obvious, kind of like what Harris wears during drive shoots
2) A half decent solution for my girlfriend, who works in musical theatre, to be able to record herself singing for good quality playback to help her training.
Lapel mics - The issue is connectivity. Most need phantom power and most run via wireless mic systems. However for your application, this is pointless.
A good Lapel mic would be something like an AKG C417, they should be around £80 off the top of my head. A cheaper, but still fairly decent option is a Trantec LP2. But this is at the cheaper end. The problem is, you still need a device to allow it plug in and work with your Zoom H4n.
The easiest choice is Audio Technica Pro70, as it ships with said device, allowing a simple XLR lead connection to your zoom recorder.
Simple and effective vocal mic - SE 2200a for a couple of hundred quid. Or the cheaper, yet still good, SE X1 mic.
Do you use the Zoom H4n for all your recordings, or do you have a PC/Mac set up to record onto as well?
I've just got the Rode Videomic Pro for DSLR video, and it's really very good.
I've had a great relationship with Rode stuff over the years, even by sheer co-incidence selling a vintage mic to the owner in Australia...!
With regards to a cheapish vocal mic, we've got Rode NT1 and NT1a from about 2000-2002, about ten of them, all being used a hundred times a year. Still going strong.
I've recorded those back to back with Neumann TLM103s which are 5-6 times the price and you'd have to have a very trained ear to pick the Neumann.
I've had a great relationship with Rode stuff over the years, even by sheer co-incidence selling a vintage mic to the owner in Australia...!
With regards to a cheapish vocal mic, we've got Rode NT1 and NT1a from about 2000-2002, about ten of them, all being used a hundred times a year. Still going strong.
I've recorded those back to back with Neumann TLM103s which are 5-6 times the price and you'd have to have a very trained ear to pick the Neumann.
jon- said:
It's the E46 M3. It measured 116db at a 5000rpm static test...
.
What the f.
k have you done with the exhaust? 116 db is LOUD. I've had 2 M3 E46s - When I took them on track they were low 90sFYI for every 6 db it is twice as loud, so yours is reading more than FOUR TIMES as loud as a standard M3.
I got thrown off track for being too loud in my R500 and I was on one of the few 'loud days', and I was 104db
BTW If you car is 116db, it is just short of Concord at take off.
Edited by GetCarter on Sunday 10th August 13:40
I used a Hama lavalier yep microphone to produce this video
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Hama-LM-09-Clip-On-Omnidir...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BwFdJEWxtr8
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Hama-LM-09-Clip-On-Omnidir...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BwFdJEWxtr8
GetCarter said:
jon- said:
It's the E46 M3. It measured 116db at a 5000rpm static test...
.
What the f.
k have you done with the exhaust? 116 db is LOUD. I've had 2 M3 E46s - When I took them on track they were low 90sFYI for every 6 db it is twice as loud, so yours is reading more than FOUR TIMES as loud as a standard M3.
I got thrown off track for being too loud in my R500 and I was on one of the few 'loud days', and I was 104db
BTW If you car is 116db, it is just short of Concord at take off.
Edited by GetCarter on Sunday 10th August 13:40
We measured it at a pistonheads meet against an e92 with straight through (no cats) to a remus back box. Mine was 3db louder.
It's a bit much tbh. But I've just written the "for sale" advert for the car, so it won't be my problem for much longer.
These 2 videos give you an idea.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NxRfpohJHEA
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vOv2g5qTpvA
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