Audio-Technica ATR-6550 Video Camera Condenser Shotgun Microphone

• 2-range settings: normal and tele
• 3.5mm connector plugs into video camera
• Designed especially for use with video cameras
• Freq resp: 70 Hz-18,000 Hz
• Imp: Normal 1000 ohm +/- 30% and tele 2200 ohm +/- 30%

The ATR6550 is a GREAT $50 mic. If you are going to interview others, or recording in a room with echo, USE THIS MIC! The video explains my reasons for choosing this one...

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I've used this mic on three different types of shoots so far and it's performance is pretty impressive for the price. Of course if you are an audiophile and you are comparing this to a top of the line $1600 sennheiser I'm sure you will find plenty of things to gripe about, but if you are looking for an affordable, immediate step up from your on camera mic, this works great.

I shot a scene in front of a courthouse a few days ago, and there were so many buses going by that I ended up screaming out most of the dialogue it was a little bit deafening. The performance of the mic on its regular mode was OK, but on telephoto mode it completely blocked out the sound of the buses (which were behind the camera).

Later that same day I followed a guy around on a busy street at night while he was performing some magic, and the sound (also on telephoto) was really good. I was far enough back with the camera that I couldn't hear a lot of what he was saying, but the mic picked it up clean, good volume, and intelligible.

Two warnings, make sure the mic wire is not touching anything or bumps into anything because it will get picked up on your audio. And if you are in a slightly loud environment use the telephoto. In fact, I'm sticking with the telephoto permanently for now on. I'm leaving 4 stars because I have only used the mic a few times and I don't know how it will hold up, but so far I am very happy with my purchase.

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The Audio Technica ATR-6550 is a Great Mic to Record Vocal and Guitar for Youtube. I bought 2 ATR-6550's, a stereo "Y" and the 12' extension cord because the mic only has a 3' coil cord. I set the camera on auto, plug directly into the camera and record. The mic also cuts out the echo in the room. See for yourself. Search Youtube for "A Country Boy Can Survive the on crack version". (it just means it's really jacked up lol)

For a $50.00ish mic with a lifetime warranty, you can't go wrong.

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This is a good option if you want to use shotgun techniques with a consumer video camera. It gives sound that, after compression for youtube-level playback, would be difficult to distinguish from a professional mic. The sound is comparatively thin, it generates a small amount of internal noise, and its cabling is subject to indoor electrical noise, so it would knock a project out of contention for broadcast quality. But it pairs well with inexpensive camcorders and is an improvement over on-camera mics, especially if you don't mount it on the camera. It balances in a shock mount better than others in this price range.

Its cable is 3 feet long and coiled, and it's hardwired to the mic, so it picks up more electrical interference than a straight cable of the same effective reach. Simply having a jack would allow the option boosting the signal closer to the mic before a long cable run from a boom, for example.

But its biggest flaw is that it's unreliable. Mine had a bad internal wire connection and failed in its first hour of use. I've seen this happen with other sub-$100 shotguns. Audio-Technica has a generous lifetime warranty, and it's great to be able to trust the manufacturer to make it right; but one needs to be able to trust the gear itself. I wouldn't take this mic on a shoot without a backup, and then it's not such inexpensive option.

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Listen to this test and decide for yourself if this mic is what you are needing. If you purchase this mic, you will need to buy a mono-female to stereo-male adapter to go directly into your camera and that part runs regularly for 3 bucks everywhere, radio shack ect. I used this on a T2i with no onboard volume control. I am going to run a juicedlink pre-amp on this mic and I think it will clean up nicely...