Help with Hiss Removal / Basic Audio Problems

Question

Hey guys.  I have a Panasonic HDC-TM700 with an attached Azden High-performance (SMX-10) Stereo Condenser Microphone.  I use it to record a person talking about 6 feet away in small room.  However the audio always sounds horrible on playback.  By horrible I mean there is always a loud hiss, and they sound so flat.  Since I have to do this on a weekly basis now I am hoping somebody here can give me some pointers on how to fix these issues.  I assume it a fairly issue fix in Adobe Audition CS 5.5 (which I have).  I start my production in Premiere Pro CS5.5 and then export the audio to Adobe Audition for editing.  My problem is ive never been a sound guy so I really don’t understand what all the filters and settings do (in Premiere or Audition).  I was able to “capture the noise” and have Auditon “remove it”.   That does an ok job of removing the hiss… but then the already flat voice left over, sounds very tinny.  
So is there any advice or direction you can give me on what settings to use or apply to get audition to make the audio sound better?  Or is there anywhere (for beginners) to learn how to use the settings?  I think my problem is that I don’t understand the basics of audio like what EQ or a compressor does, and how the settings effect things.  But everything I read is so technical and it just confuses me more. 
Or are there any other microphones (under $200.00) anybody could suggest that would be able to be added to this camera that could get me better audio for my situation?  
I would really appreciate any advice, or a point in the right direction.  Thanks guys.

Answer 1

I'm afraid my answer isn't going to make you happy.  A microphone mounted on a camera six feet away from a speaker isn't ever going to give you the results you're after.  Audition may be able to help a little but the real trick is to get the mic much closer to the speaker, especially in a small room which is going to sound hollow and boomy.  Effectively what you're asking is like "if I shoot on a wide angle lens, how can I zoom into a closeup in editing without losing resolution".  Sound is just as unforgiving.  When I was working as a sound guy for video, the trick was always to get the mic in as close as possible without getting into shot--even with a thousand dollar mic, I couldn't just stand by the camera and get good results--well, at least not without a long fish pole!
How you do this is going to depend on the details of your shoot.   You might try a shotgun mic on a fishpole boom--the cheapest shotgun I know is the Rode NTG2 but this with a fishpole will blow your $200 budget.  (There's also the NTG1 but this needs phantom power and I'll assume you can't provide that.
Or, in a static situation, there are various clip on lavalier mics you could try--Sennheiser do at least one within your budget (or used to--haven't checked lately) that can be powered with a little button battery.
Either way, though, the trick is to get the mic much closer to the subject.
For material you already have, the only suggestion I have is to do your hiss reduction in several small steps rather than trying to do it all at once.  This should result in the remaining voice sounding less "processed" but it's still not the same as getting the recording right to start with.