Today I am a man (or at least, I sound like one)

I wanted to film some interviews using my Sony TRV103, a digital Hi-8 camcorder. The built-in stereo microphone was inadequate because voices sounded soft and hollow and it captured surrounding noise at the same volume as the voice. My Internet research suggested that an external microphone was the answer.

Initial Impressions

The ATR20 by Audio-Technica (www.audio-technica.com) cost about $22 at my local BestBuy store. It's a little over eight-inches long, weighs a nice 5.3oz, and includes an attached 16.5-ft cable. The cable ends in a 3.5mm mini-plug, which fits most devices such as my camcorder, but a 1/4" plug adapter is included for more serious sound systems. There's also a small desk stand and an On/Off switch to activate the mic.

This dynamic mic picks up sound unidirectionally in cardioid (hear-shaped) pattern. If you superimpose a heart on the spherical head, that's the shape of the sound pick-up: mostly from the sound, with very little from the sides and none from the back. (It's easier to understand this pattern if you see the diagram on their website.) In contrast, my camcorder's built-in microphones picks up sound omnidirectionally, from anywhere around the camcorder.

It's all about the sound

When I plugged the mic into my camcorder, I was amazed at the improvement in sound recording. Voices sounded rich and solid, with a deep bass. For example, on camera I sounded like a real man, instead of a teenaged boy. More importantly, the mic only picked up sound from the front (where my mouth was). It mostly ignored ambient sounds (such as birds and cars) that I sometimes heard outside my "studio" (spare bedroom).

By the way, the website recommends that the best mic position for recording voices is to the front and slightly above the mouth. I used a makeshift boom to place the mic in such a position for my interviews. The website contains a wealth of information about mics, sounds, and recording. I only wish I'd read it earlier.

Disadvantage or My Ignorance?

At first I thought the mic was defective because it recorded sound on only the left channel. A call to Audio-Technica support revealed that this mic recorded in mono and not stereo. This was the prefered type to use with voice and instrument recording because a stereo mic would tend to pick up more ambient sounds.

Since I was processing my video and sound through Adobe Premiere Pro, I could use the program to lay the mono sound on both stereo tracks. If you don't have such an editing program, you'll need a $3 mono-to-stereo adapter to record sound on both stereo tracks.

Some literature describing the mono sound feature would've been nice. The package contains no documentation except for what's described on the box. I also wish the package contained some clip or other way of attaching the mic to a stand. As it is, I used rubber bands to bind the mic to my boom.

Audio-Technica produces other microphones at higher price ranges and with better specs. (For example, the ATR30 is twice as expensive but with a slightly wider frequency response range.) However, the ATR20 improves recording quality at an excellent price.

Technical Details

ELEMENT: Moving coil dynamic
POLAR PATTERN: Cardioid
FREQUENCY RESPONSE: 80 - 12,000 Hz
OPEN CIRCUIT SENSITIVITY: -59 dBm +/- 3 dB, 1 kHz at 1 Pa
IMPEDANCE: 500 ohms +/- 30%
WEIGHT: 5.3 oz (150 g)
CABLE: 16.5' (5.0 m)

© 2006 by alocsin