How rich does this voice over sound? I'll tell you, tray-reach. But why does it sound so fat? Well, it's this new lav mic I've got on, and hang on. Where's it gone? I don't appear to be wearing one. Then where's the microphone? Oh, hang on, it's there. And come on, you didn't really think this is the sound of a lav mic, did you? The reason I felt compelled to make this video was down to the amount that you see visible microphones in the shot, you know, on YouTube videos all the time. In fact, I don't want to see this just sort of dominating the frame, so let's get rid of it again. And when did it become normal or even acceptable to have a big ugly, sure SM7B just sort of dominating the frame? Because, you know, what I honestly think there are benefits to going with, you know, other methods like this and using some other microphones. By the way, I do respect these guys so much. They are some of my absolute favourite YouTuber friends, but there's a better way I believe. Let me show you. I've time stamped everything in this video so you can just skip around to the bit you want. And it would really make my day if you could just take a second to hit that subscribe button. I'm on the long winding path to 100,000 subscribers, so, you know, if you could, that would really just make my day and it would mean a lot to me. Thank you so much in advance. This video is not sponsored, but it is made possible by my Patreon backers the way that works. Is any funds from Patreon? I put back into the channel, I buy gear, I do reviews, and then I give the gear to my backers via a giveaway. If that's of interest, it's a great way to support the channel plus that you can win some cool stuff. Link below. Let's start by talking about the short SM7B. You see them dominating so many videos. By their very nature, you kind of need to be very close to them. So they end up kind of blocking the subject's mouth and, you know, they're and part of their face. And I don't know about you, but I find that really distracting. SM7Bs also have a very particular sound that works on certain applications. I personally love them on electric guitars, and yes, I know it was used on some of the vocals on Michael Jackson's thriller. But, you know, personally, I find the sound can be a little bit sort of narrow sounding. Don't get me wrong, it is a great mic, but, you know, for me, a little bit narrow. Then there's the question of value. And the original short SM7B is going for around £350 at the time filming, which is not bad, but bear in mind they are notoriously low sensitivity, which means they need a ton of gain and fuel lips to be basically touching the mic as I mentioned. This is why so many people add a cloud lifter to boost the signal, and that basically adds an additional £150. A better option, in my opinion, is the newer SM7B, which has a built-in active circuit, so you don't need a cloud lifter to boost the signal to a usable level. It's around £450, so it works out better value when you factor in the need for a cloud lifter with the original. Whilst both of those are really good options to have and good tools to have in your kind of mic toolkit, I don't think they are necessarily the best value for money, especially when you look around and see what you can get in the kind of condenser mic world. First up is a microphone that I've owned for a long time, and that's the Audio Technica 80 2020. At only £89 full retail price, this is a mega bargain, and I've seen it for around £50 used, dear lord. So I should put my money where my mouth is, shouldn't I? Right? I agree. Well, I've actually already switched over to the 80 2020, and this thing sounds pretty great, and you know, if you get it used, it's just 12% the price of a short SM7 DB, and that's just phenomenal value for money. The one thing I'd say, make sure you get some sort of shock mount for it, because it doesn't come with one, but otherwise crazy. Let's switch back anyway. To me, the 80 2020 sounds so much more fat on the low end and crisp on the high end compared to the SM7B, and it's a absolutely bargain. However, if we are sticking with the budget of £450, the same as the short SM7 DB, then without question, my recommendation is the Audio Technica 80 40 33 A, and this is one mic I've owned in the past, and I wish I'd never sold, because it sounds beautiful. What's awesome is the price. On Audio Technica's website, the official RRP is £425, you know, you wouldn't pay that. You get to a retailer, it's £360, even then it's a bargain. However, because the mic's been out for a little while, you can get it used a good version for around £200, and this mic, to me, sounds as good as other mics that I've heard that have been, you know, a couple of £1000, so it's an absolute steal. Don't get me wrong, I really don't want this to be an SM7B bashing video. It's a mic that I've owned in the past, loved it. It's, you know, I think it's a really good mic, so just, you know, please, bear that in mind in the comments. I just think that there are other options that are better for this application, and here are a few. First up, we have the AKG C214. This is basically almost the same as the legendary AKG C414, one of my favourites, without the bells and whistles, such as Switcher Polar Patterns. The price is awesome too. Then there's the warm audio WA87. The idea with this is it's meant to sound like an older Neumann U87. I'm not sure if it's 100% nailed it, but it does sound good, it's super versatile and well priced. Then there's the slate ML1. This is meant to emulate the sound of a variety of classic mics using DSP. It's a cool concept, you can change the mic type after recording, and the price is pretty great too. Which would you choose for this budget? Anyway, now let me show you how I did this. Experienced video guys will know already, but you know. So once my shot is set up, I roll the cameras for around a minute without the microphone, but with me in the shot so that the planar focus is where it should be. Then I can stop the camera, bring the microphone in, and hit record. In editing, it's just a case of some very basic masking where I place a little section of the clean shot over the top of my main shot. Deplicate it for as long as I need and then make it a compound clip. I know what you're saying, but half won't someone notice? You haven't yet. So the only thing is that I have to bear in mind whilst filming is I can't obscure this, I can't put my head here, for example, otherwise you know, you won't see it and it will kind of reveal the illusion. But this basically lets me get the mic as close as I like. I'm probably getting a little bit of proximity effects, which is nice for the low end, and I'm getting a really strong signal to kind of room tone ratio. So that's really good and that brings me on to my next point. You might make the point of, well, I have to use an SM7B really close because my room isn't treated. And I would say that with this setup, it being this close, as long as you're recording in a normal room and not an actual echo chamber, it's going to sound great because of that really strong signal to room sound ratio that we've got going on. Anyway, now let's take everything we've learnt in this video and grind it down and make an espresso of tips to take away. Well, wouldn't you agree it looks so much cleaner and more engaging, not having a mic dominating the shot? I would. You also don't necessarily need to spend out for an SM7B when there are so many other amazing options for quite a bit less. Don't forget to film a short clean plate without the mic in the shot. Next, position your mic nice and close for some rich proximity effect and some low room tone to signal ratio. Be sure not to have the mic obscuring you in any way. This includes hand movements. If you move your head, just be aware. Follow the steps for masking the microphone out of your shot. Definitely use some feathering to blend your mask into your main shot. That's it. Anyway, that's it for now. I just hope you found this interesting and helpful. I want to hear from you. Do you agree? Are you going to give me some hate for bashing the SM7B, which I will say again, I really like that mic. So be kind. All the comments definitely pop them down below and I'm down there as much as I can I love to hear from you and yeah, I'll get back to you. I've now made hundreds of videos about videography and audio of which the algorithm has chosen this video for you to watch next and the one below is my most recent upload. Until next time, let's help each other out and shoot better video. See you next.