Discrete mic'ing ......Or perhaps not.

I bought a furry for my lav mic (a dead cat's testicle?) but fear the vendor hasn't quite grasped what lav mics are used for.

I think the best option with this is put eyes and legs on it and people might think it is a spider and not notice it as much.

HTTP response: 400 | MIME changed to 'text/html'

It will be superb for those, oh so frequent, occasions when I interview people wearing black fur coats.

your picture isn't showing up.

That is such a treat to see John. I have had several of those in my audio arsenal for a long time now. They come in white, black and a great color. I use the ones called "Microcat." Yes, they are bizarre to see on someone at first, but when you need it, you need it. Sometimes there is really no alternative.

I used one of those on a live shot once back in 2005. I was working for a cable show called "Court TV." We were covering the Kobe Bryant (NBA basketball, LA Lakers) trial in Eagle, CO. It's quite common for the wind to blow at a constant 40mph down that valley. Our talent sat in a chair on top of a 12ft tall, 10ft x 10ft wooden structure so we could get a clear shot of the courthouse in the background. All the networks had similar structures, it was truly weird. There was a white EZ up tent like cover to help control lighting and then we had to supply our own lights to battle the sun. Yeah, a loosing effort, but that's why they created scrims!

Anyhow, the reason I set that scene was because someone will say, "Well why didn't you just use a boom mic over the top?" Yeah, no room and the wind was blowing over everything to begin with. I didn't want anything over her head and the network wants a lav. SO I pulled out my all black Microcat and put that over the top of the foam windscreen of a Countryman B6 lav. The live hit comes at the bottom of the hour and immediately I get screaming and yelling over the head set that are linked via Sat truck all the way back to Atlanta. "What the HELL is that on her coat? Is that a F*&#ing hamster on there? Get that thing off NOW!" SO I did, for the next hit at the top of the hour. Of course they couldn't hear the reporter over the wind rumble on the mic, even with all my low cut filters in, there was no surprising that wind noise. Again, I get yelled at after the hit was over. To which I say, "Well if you were here and not in Atlanta, you'd know that the freaking wind is blowing between 40 and 50mph and there is nothing else I can do but use the hamster! Let me do my job!"

They relented and I put the hamster back on and there were no more wind rumble sounds all that week. I did hide it as best I could, putting it against the black of her coat or sweater.

When that is all you have, you'll be happy that you have it! I've used them since then on ski shoots where I have a mic on a skier and I'm following on my own skies and wirelessly sending my sound over to the camera guy who is also on skies. Lots of wind noise there too. But that's easier to hide the hamster on or in a ski parka. They also make a newer product that uses stickies and a smaller fuzzy cover that stick over the mic and to the double sided sticky backing. That's what I used for the fuzzy I put on my 7D. Those are called "Under Covers" and they come in the same three color combos.

Nice pickup!

Lol very nice!

LMAO! That thing is hilarious! Maybe you can dye it and hide it in your beard.

The good news is that there's a product on the market that will prevent people from noticing the mic cover: http://www.beardski.co​m/

krb wrote in post #13658597
The good news is that there's a product on the market that will prevent people from noticing the mic cover: http://www.beardski.co​m/

Superb. I want one.

Ive seen them before. This is what the dead cat chased. This is a dead mouse (and no thats not DeadMau5!).

Heck, I remember when a "Lav" was the size of a Kodak film canister...

There was literally a ball and socket chain that went around the talent's neck to wear the sucker.

FlyingPhotog wrote in post #13659873
Heck, I remember when a "Lav" was the size of a Kodak film canister...

There was literally a ball and socket chain that went around the talent's neck to wear the sucker.

Ha ha dont date yourself Jay! Now a days we use em like this: LINK

Ha...

Remember, I started in the biz in the early '80s but there was still a lot of very old gear being used.

remember the Sony ECM-55 Jay? Ha! I actually have a Sony hardwired ECM-77 that is basically brand new in it's box. I've never really used it much. Maybe once... The 55 was actually a great sounding mic. Ugly as sin, but a nice sound.

Yeah, Ben, those Countryman B6 mics are actually really nice sound for a small diaphram mic. Really, really suceptable to wind noise, but I love the ability to hide them. I have 3 or 4 of them in my kit. The big issue with them is that they are really fragile. I don't really try to use them too much anymore.

My day to day mic is a Sanken COS-11. Pretty easy to hide and very robust. I have one that the brass is starting to show on the edges I've used it so much. Much like old film cameras used to show wear. I like the sound of the Sanken COS-11 much better compaired to the B6. Much fuller sound.

Have you ever worked with the Oliver Sound Tech OST-801's? From this thread over at JWSound I was thinking of giving them a try. Apparently they are pretty inexpensive too.

That looks like the old TRAM-50. The guy that created those mics died a few years back and they stopped making them for a while. I bet someone made a deal and is just licensed to make them again. So, yes, I have used them and actually own a couple. One is broken and basically dead. I never use the other one anymore. They have a decent sound, but are harder to hide in clothing and they make a lot of rustling noise via the cable. A better mic, that looks almost identical is the Sonatrim. It has a better sound with higher dynamic range, but costly and still hampered with the rustling noise issue.