MXL FR-304 Professional Shotgun Microphone

Comments about MXL FR-304 Professional Shotgun Microphone:

A good shotgun mic when you're strapped for cash and in a pinch. It connects quickly and delivers a decent sound. The major drawbacks are three fold and not too extreme: the AA battery is nearly impossible to remove once placed inside the tight lower compartment; the red battery indicator light flashes even when the mic is set to "mute/off" mode; the audio signal comes in a little low so it needs to be boosted on the recording device, which in turn brings up the noise level. I recommend this mic only if a better, more expensive mic is out of the question.

Comments about MXL FR-304 Professional Shotgun Microphone:

I've borrowed and used this mic several times on run-and-gun shoots, for interviews and for short film shoots.

The price is great--it's why the local public access TV studio bought a couple of them. They're on a really tight budget. But next time I'll advise them not to buy these, because the sound quality is bad.

Truth be told, I didn't notice the poor sound quality until I did a side-by-side comparison with the built-in mics on my Tascam DR100 recorder. The DR-100 sounds much better, with the FR-304 sounding muffled by comparison. For interviews at least, I'll be mounting my DR-100 to a mic stand or a C-stand and recording with those mics rather than using the borrowed FR-304.

Comments about MXL FR-304 Professional Shotgun Microphone:

On the outside, it looks great. You need to use it with phantom power, though, because the battery is next to impossible to remove once you put it in there. I had to use my micro screwdriver to press against the top of the battery and convince it out of the battery compartment. The housing fits snugly around a AA battery, so it has to be moved past the plastic housing with some quick force.

The mic I received does not work at all on battery power. And it does not work with my consumer gear which requires a powered mic, or with my XLR to USB cable. You need to be going XLR to XLR at all times. If not, do yourself a favor and go with a different mic. The pickup pattern sounds fine and does a great job of rejecting noise outside its pattern. But for me, the device "just has to work" with multiple pieces of equipment and this one does not.

Comments about MXL FR-304 Professional Shotgun Microphone:

A great shotgun mic for independent filmmakers who are under a budget and can't really afford the more expensive stuff, it's a great mic that gets the job done for really cheap

Comments about MXL FR-304 Professional Shotgun Microphone:

I use this mic for video work.
Pros: The price. It's cheap.
Cons: You get what you pay for. The audio sounds muffled and doesn't ring clear.
Conclusion: For the price it's not bad but if audio quality is your main concern go with something more expensive.

Comments about MXL FR-304 Professional Shotgun Microphone:

This has turned out to be a terrific microphone to replace the broken one on my Sony Prosumer camcorder. It picks up sound much better than the mic it replaced. I'm just confused with the power settings, as there is no on & off button. Consequently, even when you're in a save-power mode (it runs on a AA battery), the light still blinks as if it's in use. None of the three settings turns that light off. So I don;t now how much my battery is being drained, if at all. That makes it dangerous to go out and shoot with this mic unless you're confident you have a full battery. Overall though, I really like this mike.

Comments about MXL FR-304 Professional Shotgun Microphone:

The pick-up on this mic is extremely poor. Its rough and Aggresive Polar pattern only worsens the quality of the mic.

I would only recommend use of this mic to be used with a Field Sound Mixer Setup. Other than that, the pickup would be too low to use in Production.

Comments about MXL FR-304 Professional Shotgun Microphone:

I use this mike to record on location. It works quite well. Sound is clear, but bit too high (easy to correct in post). Good choice for budget productions. Excellent starter shotgun.

Comments about MXL FR-304 Professional Shotgun Microphone:

I bought this microphone honestly because I needed a microphone for interviews on a documentary that I was working on, and I saw that it was only [$], and I said to myself "even if this is awful, it's all that I can afford" and it ended up being perfect!

Comments about MXL FR-304 Professional Shotgun Microphone:

The mic itself is good for what I do as a film maker but there are a couple of downsides to it. First off this mic is directional which means where ever the mic is pointing it picks up the sound which I was expecting for but I was expecting to pick up sound at further distance, which it didn't. Second the mic is phantom power and battery power also, my Sony HDR-FX7 doesn't have XLR connectors so I have bought the BeachTek DXA-4 for my Sony HDR-FX7 when I connect it to the adapter it didn't power my mic. How ever even though it is in fact battery powered I have a little bit of problem with it. I use 1 AA battery which it requires to turn it on it's easy to insert it but it's hard taking it out because of the tight space that it has. My finger nails hurt when I tried taking it out so I had to use a flat object to take the battery out. Finally third of all there is no off button on the mic which makes my battery waste power from it's juice the only way to turn it off is too take the battery out.

P.S. The mic comes with a black windscreen and holder in the package.

Comments about MXL FR-304 Professional Shotgun Microphone:

I just used it for ADR and will be using it for a feature film. Sound is a bit muddy but easily fixed in post. Great for the price!

Comments about MXL FR-304 Professional Shotgun Microphone:

A good shotgun mic when you're strapped for cash and in a pinch. It connects quickly and delivers a decent sound. The major drawbacks are three fold and not too extreme: the AA battery is nearly impossible to remove once placed inside the tight lower compartment; the red battery indicator light flashes even when the mic is set to "mute/off" mode; the audio signal comes in a little low so it needs to be boosted on the recording device, which in turn brings up the noise level. I recommend this mic only if a better, more expensive mic is out of the question.

Comments about MXL FR-304 Professional Shotgun Microphone:

I've borrowed and used this mic several times on run-and-gun shoots, for interviews and for short film shoots.

The price is great--it's why the local public access TV studio bought a couple of them. They're on a really tight budget. But next time I'll advise them not to buy these, because the sound quality is bad.

Truth be told, I didn't notice the poor sound quality until I did a side-by-side comparison with the built-in mics on my Tascam DR100 recorder. The DR-100 sounds much better, with the FR-304 sounding muffled by comparison. For interviews at least, I'll be mounting my DR-100 to a mic stand or a C-stand and recording with those mics rather than using the borrowed FR-304.

Comments about MXL FR-304 Professional Shotgun Microphone:

On the outside, it looks great. You need to use it with phantom power, though, because the battery is next to impossible to remove once you put it in there. I had to use my micro screwdriver to press against the top of the battery and convince it out of the battery compartment. The housing fits snugly around a AA battery, so it has to be moved past the plastic housing with some quick force.

The mic I received does not work at all on battery power. And it does not work with my consumer gear which requires a powered mic, or with my XLR to USB cable. You need to be going XLR to XLR at all times. If not, do yourself a favor and go with a different mic. The pickup pattern sounds fine and does a great job of rejecting noise outside its pattern. But for me, the device "just has to work" with multiple pieces of equipment and this one does not.

Comments about MXL FR-304 Professional Shotgun Microphone:

A great shotgun mic for independent filmmakers who are under a budget and can't really afford the more expensive stuff, it's a great mic that gets the job done for really cheap

Comments about MXL FR-304 Professional Shotgun Microphone:

I use this mic for video work.
Pros: The price. It's cheap.
Cons: You get what you pay for. The audio sounds muffled and doesn't ring clear.
Conclusion: For the price it's not bad but if audio quality is your main concern go with something more expensive.

Comments about MXL FR-304 Professional Shotgun Microphone:

This has turned out to be a terrific microphone to replace the broken one on my Sony Prosumer camcorder. It picks up sound much better than the mic it replaced. I'm just confused with the power settings, as there is no on & off button. Consequently, even when you're in a save-power mode (it runs on a AA battery), the light still blinks as if it's in use. None of the three settings turns that light off. So I don;t now how much my battery is being drained, if at all. That makes it dangerous to go out and shoot with this mic unless you're confident you have a full battery. Overall though, I really like this mike.

Comments about MXL FR-304 Professional Shotgun Microphone:

The pick-up on this mic is extremely poor. Its rough and Aggresive Polar pattern only worsens the quality of the mic.

I would only recommend use of this mic to be used with a Field Sound Mixer Setup. Other than that, the pickup would be too low to use in Production.

Comments about MXL FR-304 Professional Shotgun Microphone:

I use this mike to record on location. It works quite well. Sound is clear, but bit too high (easy to correct in post). Good choice for budget productions. Excellent starter shotgun.

Comments about MXL FR-304 Professional Shotgun Microphone:

I bought this microphone honestly because I needed a microphone for interviews on a documentary that I was working on, and I saw that it was only [$], and I said to myself "even if this is awful, it's all that I can afford" and it ended up being perfect!

Comments about MXL FR-304 Professional Shotgun Microphone:

The mic itself is good for what I do as a film maker but there are a couple of downsides to it. First off this mic is directional which means where ever the mic is pointing it picks up the sound which I was expecting for but I was expecting to pick up sound at further distance, which it didn't. Second the mic is phantom power and battery power also, my Sony HDR-FX7 doesn't have XLR connectors so I have bought the BeachTek DXA-4 for my Sony HDR-FX7 when I connect it to the adapter it didn't power my mic. How ever even though it is in fact battery powered I have a little bit of problem with it. I use 1 AA battery which it requires to turn it on it's easy to insert it but it's hard taking it out because of the tight space that it has. My finger nails hurt when I tried taking it out so I had to use a flat object to take the battery out. Finally third of all there is no off button on the mic which makes my battery waste power from it's juice the only way to turn it off is too take the battery out.

P.S. The mic comes with a black windscreen and holder in the package.

Comments about MXL FR-304 Professional Shotgun Microphone:

I just used it for ADR and will be using it for a feature film. Sound is a bit muddy but easily fixed in post. Great for the price!