Sound Shark
Quality Audio for Educators
Quality Audio For Classroom Streaming
Presenting classes online is becoming more common every year. Streaming video of the instructor is quite easy, and using a wireless mic provides great audio from the instructor. In addition, it is rather straight forward to add a second camera to capture video of the students. The challenge, however, is to capture audio of student questions and interaction.
Passing a wireless handheld microphone from student to student creates several challenges. The act of passing the microphone wastes valuable time and stifles lively conversation. Passing the microphone also creates unacceptable handling noise.
One or more Sound Sharks can effectively capture those classroom interactions.
Quality Audio For Video Production Educators
The vast majority of high schools and colleges have video production programs. Sports at both levels are broadcast or streamed.
Unfortunately, most of these educational programs don’t have unlimited budgets for audio equipment. As a result the audio often suffers. The Sound Shark is a budget friendly product that can drastically improve the audio of your productions.
The Sound Shark can provide on-field sounds that a shotgun mic just can’t match by providing greater range and focus than a shotgun. This can greatly improve the audio portion of your video production. They are used to broadcast or stream classes, meetings, special programs, plays, and yes, even sporting events. (Please note that because of their extreme sensitivity, Sound Sharks are very difficult to use for sound reinforcement / PA systems.)
Kevin Buntman, a math and computer science teacher at Kettle Morain High School reviewed the Sound Shark for us. His evaluation?
“It’s a game changer that now our virtual learners can hear exactly what everyone’s saying, no matter where they are in the room, which gets them to be a part of the class… The Sound Shark was awesome. A great tool that has created so much better discussion in class…”
When Covenant College was faced with the challenge of streaming classes, they soon discovered the challenge of capturing clear audio in the classroom. The professors were unwilling, or unable, to deal with wireless mics. Shotgun mics, the obvious alternative, picked up too little of the speaker and too much classroom noise.
Covenant’s Audio Video Coordinator, Ben Ray, was familiar with the Sound Shark and asked to test one. The results were so good that the college purchased 42 Sound Sharks for their classrooms.
“We had to capture the voice of the professors as clearly as possible while cutting-out the surrounding ambient noise. We tested this, it did exactly what we wanted it to. The HVAC, student chatter, electrical buzz, and other environmental noise was all but gone in recordings, but the professor could be heard clearly, provided the dish of the Sound Shark was aimed properly.”
“The Sound Sharks were the true key to allowing the professors to still teach from the classrooms while being heard — both the in-person students and the remote students – effectively and clearly.”
Tom White, of School Video News, reviewed the Sound Shark. His evaluation?
“I have to say that I was blown away by the difference between the Sound Shark and the shotgun microphone. I had trouble when I was shooting because I tended to zoom in more than I needed to because it felt like the audio didn’t match the shot. It felt fake while I was shooting. The audio was too clean to be that far away.”
Watch Tom’s demonstration of the Sound Shark’s range and focus of at a high school baseball game, on the left, or read the full review here.
How does the Sound Shark compare to a shotgun mic for sports? A Sound Shark customer made this video comparison at a youth soccer match.
Does on-field sound really improve your overall production? We created a demonstration of the difference on-field sound made to the production of a high school rugby tournament. Both programs were produced by the same production company one year apart. The on-field sound, provided by a parabolic microphone, was the difference.
Have you used a Sound Shark in a unique way to record wedding videos? Share your story with us and we will send you a Sound Shark T-shirt!
To make the Sound Shark more available to educators we have instituted a discount program for education institutions. Learn more about this discount program here.