What is the best polar pattern of a microphone?

Cardioid and its variations are known as ‘directional’ patterns because they can be pointed in the direction of sound sources. The traditional cardioid pattern is perfect for a solo presenter talking into a mic. It’s the most common microphone polar pattern you’re likely to find in your search for a mic.

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What is the polar pattern of a microphone?

A microphone’s polar pattern is the sensitivity of how well the microphone receives sound relative to the angle or direction of where the sound originates. In simpler terms, a microphone’s polar pattern is how well the microphone can capture sound from various directions.

What are the three basic microphone polar patterns?

Before we get into some specific benefits for the stage and studio, let’s review the basic polar (or pickup) patterns. There are three basic types: omnidirectional, unidirectional and bidirectional (also called figure-of-eight).

What are the most common microphone polar patterns?

A polar pattern graph shows the variation in sensitivity as you move 360 degrees around the microphone. There are a number of different directional patterns available. The three most common patterns are omnidirectional, unidirectional, and bidirectional. Omnidirectional microphones have equal response at all angles.

Which polar pattern should I use?

What polar pattern is best for vocals? If you are recording a singer, cardioid is the standard polar pattern. There may be times when you want a different polar pattern for a special situation (recording a live-session, a singer that likes to move around a lot).

What is a mic polar pattern?

The name is derived from the Greek word of “heart” as the polar pattern is similar to it.

A cardioid microphone has the most sensitivity at the front and is least sensitive at the back.

This isolates it from unwanted ambient sound and gives much more resistance to feedback than omnidirectional microphones.

Why do microphones have different pickup patterns?

These are great for use during interviews when a microphone is fixed but the subject creating audio is moving.

Ambient sound is easily picked up using an omnidirectional microphone.

They are sometimes used on set while filming if an actor needs to move their head. This way the crispness of the voice will not be lost.

What is a super cardioid polar pattern?

The supercardioid polar pattern, like the closely related hypercardioid, is known for its increased directionality over the standard cardioid pattern and its rear lobe of sensitivity.

How to read a polar pattern chart?

Polar Luminous Intensity Graph: The diagram illustrates the distribution of luminous intensity, in candelas, for the transverse (solid line) and axial (dashed line) planes of the luminaire.The curve shown provides a visual guide to the type of distribution expected from the luminaire e.g. wide, narrow, direct, indirect etc. in addition to intensity [1].