NEW YORK – In his role as senior audio engineer for the NBA, 40-year audio industry veteran Jonathan Freed's job is to make sure that what the camera sees during basketball games, the viewer can hear – as long as the background audio doesn't distract viewers too much from what the announcers are saying.
With those goals in mind, Freed will use about 20 mics during regular season games and 26 to 30 during the post season. He recently opted to give Sennheiser's new MKH 8060 and MKH 8070 Shotgun Microphones a try. As a longtime user of Sennheiser's MKH 70 an MKH 415, he had a pretty good idea of where to use them as well.
"The microphones need to be placed discreetly in various locations so we can pick up audio for whatever the cameras are looking at," Freed said. "The short shotguns, such as the MKH 8060s, would typically be placed at the center of the court, facing 45 degrees out from the centerline – one on each side. There are four handheld cameras: one near side center, one far side center, one under the left basket and one under the right basket. These will usually get long shotgun mics, such as the MKH 8070s."
Freed added that the typical setup also includes "a shotgun mic attached to each basket stanchion aimed at the top of the key, and various surround crowd mic arrays high up in the arena. There are lavalier mics we will use as well, under each net and along the scorer's table. These will usually get long shotgun mics, such as the MKH 8070s. We also use a shotgun mic attached to each basket stanchion aimed at the top of the key, and various surround crowd mic arrays high up in the arena."
So how did the new mics perform? Freed used the MKH 70 and MKH 416 for a baseline comparison. "These are industry standards, and are indeed a tough act to follow," he noted. "I put the new mics into operation where I had previously been using the MKH 70s and 416s, and what I noticed about the 8060, and by extension the 8070, is that the capsules seemed to be more sensitive. The on-axis sound is quite noticeably more powerful and clear, and the off-axis sound is more natural. After a couple of days of getting great results in analog mode, I added the Sennheiser MZD 8000 digital module and got even better results. I instantly fell in love with the combination of the MKH 8060 and the MZD 8000 digital module."
Freed listed enhancements that include enhanced detail and clarity. "At a distance of 25 or 30 feet away, you can really tell everything that is going on in your target area. Using the MZD 8000 digital module in combination with these new Sennheiser mics, I can actually hear what people are saying from that distance. I am getting the clearest representation of what I am trying to pick up and the most natural sound."
He added that, "since the sounds you are bringing into the mix are clearer and more detailed, you can bring the levels down a little bit and still get the same impact. This is critical, because ultimately you want the announcers to stand out well on top of the mix.
"One of the things that viewers complain about more than anything else is that they can't hear the announcers well on sporting events," Freed continued. "They don't call to complain that they can't hear the ball bouncing. By getting the clearest-possible sound from the game, I can reduce the overall energy of the mix relative to the announcers. This not only makes things more intelligible for the production crew, but also the viewers at home." He added that "a higher percentage of digital mics will increase this effect even more."
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