Microphone Auditions

Posted on by sleduc

The much of the information and the images below are from Recording Hacks web site.  Recording Hacks has reviews on many of the microphones we have at CHS. I have included images for the frequency response for each microphone below. Please read more at there web site.

Mr. Le Duc’s Sample Recording

With and Without Pro Microphones

iPhone Sound

Pro Mic Sound

Microphone Polar Patterns (How the mic ‘hears’)

Polar pattern images from Wikipedia by Wikimedia Commons user Galak76

(Microphones are facing top of blog page)


Omnidirectional (used to pick up ambient, public, natural sound)

Bi-directional or Figure of 8 (used to mimic stereo sound like our ears)

Subcardioid

Cardioid  (from the Greek καρδία “heart”)

Hypercardioid

Supercardioid

Shotgun (used in primarily in film)

Recording Tips

“A common problem when recording vocalists, particularly if they are more familiar with live performance than studio work, is of that they can get much too close to the microphone, causing popping, sibilance, excessive bass boost, and creating humidity problems. Very large foam windshields might help, but a separate pop shield (the nylon stocking on a wire frame idea) mounted four or five inches in front of the mic is better. An alternative technique is to rig a microphone for the vocalist to ‘eat’ with a second mic positioned something like eight inches further back and six inches higher. Normally you would record only the sound of the distant (normally a decent capacitor mic), but if you rig a conventional live-performance dynamic model as the close mic and mix in some of that mic’s signal, you can achieve a more interesting and slightly aggressive sound!”

– from 20 Tips On Using Microphones at SoundonSound.com

Studio Projects C1

Below is a comparison with a Studio Projects C1 priced at $300 and a Neumann U87 Ai legendary microphone that is priced at over $3,000.

Shure SM58

Sennheiser e609

Rode Procaster

AKG C1000S

Blue Baby Bottle

Rode VideoMicro and Canon DSLR Microphone Tutorial

Rode VideoMicro DSLR Video Microphone

  • The VideoMicro is a cardioid condenser microphone
  • A good microphone for recording audio for video
  • It mounts on top of the camera and does not need a separate power source
  • Read more: http://www.rode.com/microphones/videomicro

Zoom H4N Digital Multi-track Recorder

  • The Zoom H4N is a stereo condenser microphone recorder
  • It has two microphones at 90 degree angles from each other to reproduce stereo sound
  • It can be mounted on top of a camera or used separately to record sound effects, Foley, etc.

Olympus PCM LS-11 Video Tutorial

Olympus PCM LS-11

  • The Olympus PCM LS-11 is a stereo condenser microphone recorder
  • It has two microphones at 90 degree angles from each other to reproduce stereo sound similar to the human ear
  • Read more: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Olympus-LS-11-Linear-PCM-Recorder
  • Read the Users Manual and examine best recording setting for event
    • When you pull the Olympus LS-11 into the Mac with a USB cable, a drive titled LS-11 will mount
    • Double-click the drive and you will see the directory pictured below
    • Your recorded files will be in the DSS_FLDA directory or folder

Apple EarPod Microphone

 Resources for the Microphone Audition

  • The Script (PDF)
  • The Script (Word)