Affordable Professional Indoor Boom Microphone — Rycote SC-08

Our courses on lighting and sound can be found at school.learnlightandsound.com!

In this episode we have a look at and a listen to the Rycote SC-08 super-cardioid condenser microphone. Since my primary focus is recording dialogue sound, we’ll look at this for use as a boom microphone for video production. Overall, the Rycote is much more affordable compared to many of the other popular pro-level microphones with similar features. So how well does it compare? Could this be a good starter indoor boom mic for someone getting into professional location or production sound mixing? Let’s find out!

If you’d like to learn how to make great dialogue audio for your film and video projects, please have a look at my courses including processing dialogue audio in Adobe Audition and DaVinci Resolve/Fairlight, recording sound, how to use the Zoom F4, F6, F8, and F8n, and how to get the most from the Sound Devices MixPre series of recorders. Our latest courses cover Sound for Live Streaming with the ATEM Mini and an Intro to Izotope RX. See https://school.learnlightandsound.com for more info!

Support my work creating videos by donating at Ko-Fi.com: http://ko-fi.com/curtisjudd

Gear used or mentioned in this episode (the links below are Amazon.com, B&H Photo, Sweetwater, or other affiliate links. As an affiliate, I earn from qualifying purchases):

Rycote SC08 super-cardioid condenser microphone — B&H https://geni.us/ffage
Sound Devices 888 Field Recorder — B&H, Sweetwater https://geni.us/zAryW4J

Some of my other studio gear:

Sound Devices MixPre audio recorders — B&H, Sweetwater, Amazon https://geni.us/O8e0
Sennheiser MKH50 microphone —  B&H, Sweetwater, Amazon https://geni.us/iYb065
Audio Technica AT4053b — B&H, Amazon https://geni.us/at4053bCH
Sennheiser MKH8050 — B&H, Amazon https://geni.us/mUcDk
Schoeps CMC 641 — B&H, Sweetwater https://geni.us/wi8r4
Earthworks ETHOS microphone — B&H, Sweetwater, Amazon https://geni.us/8G8UdBB
Impact Turtle-Base C-Stands — B&H, Amazon https://geni.us/8a8tt
Aputure LS 600x Pro Bicolor LED Light — Aputure, B&H, Amazon https://geni.us/EreRQa
Aputure Light Dome III Softbox — Aputure, B&H https://geni.us/AVHU1p
Amaran 300c RGBWW Single-Point LED Light — https://geni.us/uGkDX
Amaran Spotlight SE —  Aputure, B&H, Amazon https://geni.us/4DuyTz
Rosco Prismatic Glass Gobo in Cool Lavender — B&H https://geni.us/GWKt
Canon C70 Cinema Camera — B&H https://geni.us/ABYB
Canon RF 24-70 f/2.8 lens — B&H, Amazon https://geni.us/qwsEs
Panasonic GH5 camera — B&H, Amazon https://geni.us/InspOl
Panasonic 12-35mm f/2.8 II lens — B&H, Amazon https://geni.us/gr47

The outro music for this episode is from Musicbed - “Dynamo” by Virgil Arles. Take your films to the next level with music from Musicbed. Sign up for a free account to listen for yourself: https://geni.us/G7by

Copyright 2024, Curtis Judd

#rycote
#boommic
#supercardioid

Index
00:00 Please buy my courses!
00:08 Disclosure
00:18 Recorded with Rycote SC-08 and Sound Devices 888
00:37 Who is this microphone for?
01:20 Audio samples Rycote, Sennheiser, Schoeps
02:25 Sibilance sample
02:31 Transient response sample
02:35 Directionality and off-axis coloration sample
03:17 Handling noise sample
03:28 Sound quality & frequency response
04:05 Handling noise
04:46 RF shielding and immunity
05:32 Transient results - key jangling
06:01 Self-noise
06:12 Max sound pressure level
06:33 What’s included?
07:01 Warranty and price
07:16 Off-axis coloration — bass on the back
08:28 No high pass filter or pad
08:39 versus Audio Technica AT4053b
09:47 My recommendation
10:41 Summary
10:53 Please buy my courses