Hello guys!
I need to buy a mic for ADR and need some advice on it…
Thanks in advance
Bullocks. They are as good as ever.
However, they do offer now a set of cheaper “lower range” mics, which might be what people are referring to.
I suspect it’s not true, but has anybody bought u 87 or TLM 170 recently? Are they OK?
They are as OK as they can be.
- Is there a big difference between TLM 170 and TLM 103?
Depends on your definition of “big”. In my opinion, the extra hyper cardio & figure 8 characteristics of the TLM170 are worth their weight in Gold. But that’s only me.
We have done our part of ADR and dubbing over the years, (which is a big understatement) and I have tried pretty much every mic on the market.
Now, 99,99% of all dubbing/ADR is done with a Sennheiser MKH416.
And much of the Voice Over work too.
Worth their money in Kryptonite and Platinum.
Fredo
Thank you very much for comprehensive reply! 
I agree with Fredo about the 416 but I absolutely can’t stand that mic.
I started doing music playback on film sets a few years ago (movies like The Love Guru, Red, Scott Pilgrim) and was surprised to find that every sound mixer I worked with used exclusively Schoeps mics. I was recently asked to record ADR on the set of a new A&E show called Breakout Kings so I put together a portable studio and borrowed a Scoeps MK 41 mic and it was an absolute god. (the sound mixer on set was using one too). It was impossible to distort and the post guys in L.A. were very happy with the results.
You can usually find a used one for about $800. We used use these same mics in the studio for overheads with orchestras and they’re great on acoustic guitars too.
I agree that the Schoeps MK41 might be a little bit better indoors, and/or used closer to the source than a 416.
However, the 416 makes your voices “stand out” and it has that defined film sound, two things the Schoeps doesn’t have. For me, the Schoeps is more within the range of “normal” mics, while the 416 is speetch/film/location specific. Of course it’s a matter of taste …
Fredo
In the case of ADR I don’t want the voice to stand out I want it to match the sync dialogue. Why wouldn’t you want to to use the same mic that was used on set?
Thought I’d experiment with actually posting real photos to the forum.
Here’s the crazy place they had me recording ADR last week. Worked out really well though.
I was happy to record a lot of ADRs in the similar size studio… The best sound in my life
Yes, of course the goal is always to use the same mic as was used on the set.
But it happens to be that this is mostly a MKH416.
Maybe it’s different in the UK …
But even if a Schoeps or Neumann was used, still the 416 would be the closest match you can get.
No?
Fredo
Hey wheels from your photos just wondered what your setup was PT 003 Mic? MicPre ?
I was using my Digi 003 Controller with PT 9, an SSL Alpha Channel mic pre, and a Schoeps MK 41 mic.
I had a DVI splitter coming out of my Mac so I could see the picture on my 2nd monitor and also send it to a 32" LCD TV set (HDMI) for the actors to see it as well.
2 Heaphone outs on the 003. One for me and one for the actor. Also I used my 451 mic for a talkback which was just assigned to an Aux track and I would mute it during takes.
I understand what you’re saying Fredo, we have used the 416 for over a decade for the same purpose and you’re right it matches really well.
What I was stating in my original post is that ever since I started working on big film sets with a lot of world class sound mixers I’ve have yet to see anyone use a 416 at all. I don’t even know if they own one.
