The case for handheld mics

Here’s why every field recording hobbiest should own a decent handheld dynamic omnidirectional interview mic:

1. They’re inexpensive. A really good one might be $220 new if you go for the long-handled neodymium magnet high-output ones, but most are $100-160. For a mic that will outlast you. For comparison, an AT4022, a competent but mid-range condenser omni is $350. It will need a furry at least but a baseball is much better so add $100ish for that. In fact, they’re inexpensive enough you might find yourself trying a few different ones out. They also hold their value.
2. They’re inherently wind resistant. You won’t need to get a furry or blimp for it. A foamy might be useful on really windy days, but those are cheap (Wind Tech foams are typically $7-10).
3. They work the way you thought your handheld recorder would work. You can handhold it! While recording! You can adjust things and press buttons on the recorder without clobbering the recording with creaking & popping plastic noises. There will be much much less noise from changing your grip to moving the mic hand to hand, and many applications drown what little noise there is completely out.
4. They’re small. My newest mic, a Shure SM63 is less than 5.5″ long and 1.25″ wide. The Electro Voice 635a is a bit bigger. The RE50 is 7.75″ by 2″. Compare that to a blimp – the Rode is over 19″ long and 5″ in diameter.
5. No fur to get caught in zippers. No furry to get pulled off as you pull it out of your pocket or bag.
6. They are optimized for voice. Now if you’re a hobbiest I’m assuming you’re recording your family/friends/kids/even yourself at least some of the time. There’s a reason these mics are optimized for voice and that’s because it’s easier to understand recordings made with them over an instrument mic like the AT4022.
7. They’re durable. You don’t need to worry about them. Shove it in a bag, no case is necessary. They’re designed to be used by people who simply do not care about the equipment. They’re heavy (to reduce handling noise) and feel like you could pound a nail with one. Some people have pounded nails with them.
8. Dynamic mics do not have self noise. The downside of this is the high gain required, which used to be a disadvantage when amps were noisy but these days all but the lowest end recorders have enough gain for most of these mics, and that gain is far more quiet than it’s ever been before.
9. They don’t require phantom power. So if you’ve got a recorder that has only 1/8″ inputs or one that doesn’t have phantom power you’re in luck.
10. They tend to be omnidirectional. That does away with proximity effect, which is more natural sounding when you’re handholding it and not keeping a steady distance from a source.
11. They’re mono. While there’s lots of great things to record in stereo, recording while you’re handholding the mic and moving around is a lot more pleasant to listen to in mono because the orientation is consistent. It’s very distracting to listen to recordings where people speaking are moving from one ear to another because the mic was being moved. Mono does away with this. When combined with an omnidirectional mic, it does a much better job of capturing the sound of a place when the mics can’t be stationary.