Microphone Polar Patterns

(also called pickup patterns or directional patterns)

A polar pattern is a graph of a microphone's sensitivity vs. the angle of the incoming sound wave. The farther from center a point on the graph is, the stronger is the mic signal at that angle.

Omnidirectional:

Picks up equally in all directions.

Half-omnidirectional or hemispherical:

Picks up equally over a 180° spherical angle. This is the pickup pattern of PZMs.

All of the following patterns are considered unidirectional because they pick up mainly in one direction.

Cardioid:

“Heart-shaped” pattern that offers maximum rejection (null) at the rear of the microphone.

Supercardioid:

Has a narrower pickup pattern than cardioid, but also has some rear pickup. Note that there are two nulls of maximum sound rejection.

Hypercardioid:

Has a narrower pickup pattern than supercardioid, but also has more rear pickup than supercardioid. Note that there are two nulls.

Half-unidirectional:

The pickup pattern of PCC microphones.

Bidirectional (figure-eight or cosine):

Picks up mainly in two directions (in front of and behind the mic) and rejects sound from the sides.

Warranty and Service

With Microphone Madness brand microphones, your microphone comes with a 1 year on parts and labor. If you do need to obtain service for any reason, the helpful engineers at Microphone Madness are only a phone call away and ready to service your microphone in a timely fashion. Bulletproof Build option microphones come with a 2 year warranty on all parts and labor. Your warranty is voided if abused or if the capsule heads are clogged with hairspray or makeup! Bulletproof Builds come with a protective end cap to yield clogs.

Microphone Specifications

Frequency Response

The measure of the consistency with which it translates a given sound pressure level into a given audio signal level at different frequencies.

Polar Response / Polar Pattern / Pickup Pattern

The way in which the element responds to sounds coming in from different directions. The several different kinds of patterns include omnidirectional, cardioid, hypercardioid & figure eight.

Sensitivity

A measure of the output level at a specific SPL level.

Maximum SPL

The maximum SPL a microphone will accept before distorting.

Impedance

The equivalent total AC resistance to current flow that would be "seen" looking into the microphone’s output. Ideally, a microphone should be connected to a load whose input impedance is roughly ten times the mic’s source, or output impedance.

Microphone Types

Dynamic

Works like a loudspeaker; a diaphragm is coupled to a coil of fine wire. The coil is mounted in the air gap of a magnet, free to move about within the gap. As the diaphragm moves in response to acoustical energy, the coil moves within the magnetic field, thereby inducing a small electrical current.

Condenser

A gold plated plastic diaphragm, mounted above a conductive back plate, separated by a small volume of air, form an electrical component called a capacitor. A polarizing voltage (called phantom power) is applied to the diaphragm by an external power supply, charging it with a fixed, static voltage. As the diaphragm vibrates in response to acoustic energy, it moves closer to and farther from the back plate. As it does, the electrical charge that it induces in the back plate changes proportionally, and produces an electrical representation of the diaphragm.

Electret Condenser

Electrets are unique in that the diaphragms are permanently charged in the manufacturing process and retain a static charge indefinitely, thereby requiring no external polarizing voltage. Electrets still require external power (phantom power or an internal battery) for the internal amplifier that is necessary to buffer the high impedance condenser capsule output from the relatively lower impedance of the mic input.

Ribbon

Ribbons employ a transducer system similar to the dynamic microphone, but the diaphragm, a thin, corrugated metal ribbon, is stretched within the air gap of a powerful magnet.