parabolic microphone review

Again, aim was important.

If you have a great idea you’d like to share with our readers, send it to Partner with us to reach an enthusiastic audience of students, enthusiasts and professional videographers and filmmakers. However, there is an important tool that is used to bring wildlife subjects into greater focus: the parabolic microphone. From the recording, you would think they are much closer. Parabolic field recording is a specialized practice.The market’s gear offerings reflect that. JonyJib’s JonyShot parabolic microphone comes right in at the middle at $1,320 without electronics, which is what we got to test.

Yet, due to the JonyShot’s size and reflective surfaces, the device lends itself to more conspicuous activity. The hardware is mostly metal and thick plastic. The parabolic was able to focus quite well on their distant cries.I rotated around the tree so the road was behind me:Overlook the poor recording location for a moment. I’ll discuss my thoughts on the reflector, what it got right, where I feel the gear could grow, and share field recordings I captured in an urban ravine on a mist-filled morning.Wildtronics offer no less than 7 parabolic reflector dish microphones. There will be ambient city noise.

A plastic disk mounts at the back of the dish and allows connecting the handle, microphone mounting apparatus, and windscreen frame. A small group of them had nested in some tall trees.My first attempts weren’t too great; there was a road behind the tree:All the same, the nest was easily 15 meters distant and 10 meters in the air. It’s best to choose one with low-self noise. An added bonus would be that it also comes with a 3/8-inch mount for tripod placement, so you won’t have to deal with the pains of holding a six-po…

The information provided by JonyJib explains that audio can be picked up as few as three feet and as far away as 500 feet, depending on the weather. You can also purchase the dish ÃÂready to go’ with microphone, preamp, headphones and cable for $1,995.The JonyShot parabolic dish is more ideal for picking up the smaller sounds that go unnoticed by human ears. After a while, a few Blue Jays woke. JonyJib creates the JonyShot parabolic mic, which has a diameter of 24 inches and weighs six pounds. You’ll notice you can hear smaller details, such as stepping on the branches, and wing movement. These are from some insects closer than 2 meters:If you envision recording in a more natural environment without city drone, you can imagine how results would improve. Just the same, the results were interesting.A soft insect bed lay over the entire ravine. The dish I received was transparent, a better choice than the optional “black ops” version if you’d like to see the targets you’re aiming at. Attached to the framing is a mic mount, which will accept most lapel, handheld or shotgun microphones. When this noise nears the level of the subject, you’ll hear more noise from the gear than the bird you’re trying to record! I began by recording some isolated car passes:One thing that is apparent from the recordings is the lack of handling noise. A parabola in mathematic and scientific terms is a smooth curved plane in the shape of a cone. You can expect better results in the wild. The entire apparatus can be covered with a stretchable windsock across an optional windscreen frame.Once assembled, however, your patience will be rewarded. It also does a great job at blocking sounds from outside this range.

Others might think that the dish was built and is used by aliens for scientific experimentation. With a bit of EQ and de-noising, we can approximate how it would sound in the wild:And here I’ve touched up the medium distant bird calls:Obviously, your results will be much better in a quieter location. Consider instead the detail. It’s astounding how much detail the mic picked up from so far away.Now, there’s a tone in there, and some city rumble. It was as if we could hear the rubber expanding and moving whenever the ball touched the ground.ÃÂ On the other hand, whenever a player was talking, the bass sounds didn’t really round out the audio and it was like listening to audio through a tin can telephone.One downside to using a parabolic dish is working in an area of high winds or even breezes. Your aim can wobble a bit and still capture a satisfying recording. It’s clear the background is pretty grimy. All the latest video techniques and gear reviews, sent straight to your inbox.