Gear / Technical Help > Microphones & Setup
AKG 568 vent position.
ts:
Moving this question I asked in the yard. Pokahu says point the vents up. I point sideways. If you position the XLR ends like you would on any other mic the vents are pointing down, which makes sense for ENG work. So for what we do, what’s the best position? I suppose it’s also a matter of taste. Up would mean less crowd noise, down could be disastrous and sideways maybe neutral. What say you?
Gutbucket:
Orientation of the vents in the interference tube matters for some shotgun microphones and doesn't for others. For those where it does, it usually means a somewhat broadening high frequency pickup pattern toward the side with the vent openings. More of a tone-flavor air and brightness thing than a major difference in off-axis rejection. But there is no need to speculate about whether a particular shotgun mic has this attribute, nor rely on the hearsay of other tapers who may be using a particular orientation simply because that's how they've always done it, the justification for doing so seems rational and they report making sick tapes that way! Better to figure it out what's really going on for yourself and get a feel for the specifics-
Plug in the mic, don headphones, hit rec/pause, and turn up the gain. Speak into the microphone with it oriented perpendicular to your face (90 degrees off-axis). Continue speaking and listening while rotating the mic around it's primary axis but always keeping it pointed the same direction. While doign this, listen for any change in timbre of your voice. Note if the change of timbre corresponds with the orientation of the vents or not. If it does change, make mental notes about how, in which way, and in general develop a ear for what is happening.
Once you have that kind of empirical knowledge of how your specific shotgun mic behaves, you can then think about how you want to use that trait to your advantage. Also question those assumptions! Check them by trying different rotational orientations in the otherwise same setup over the course of a few outings to determine if your assumptions works out the way you envisioned them or not. Rinse-lather-repeat.
Walstib62:
https://www.soundonsound.com/sound-advice/q-how-do-shotgun-mics-work
Good article on the subject. There may be an "ideal" physical orientation of the tube vents in a given setting, but it would seem largely guesswork without knowing what frequencies are present at all sides of the mic at any given time. (And which of those are desirable or undesirable)
pohaku:
My understanding has been that you don’t want to orient the vents downwards over the crowd. I use up, unless the room has a low ceiling. If it does, then I orient the vents to the outside. Gutbucket’s approach makes sense and is certainly more empirical than making assumptions about how the mic might interact with a particular room.
ts:
--- Quote from: Gutbucket on June 21, 2018, 03:13:07 PM ---Orientation of the vents in the interference tube matters for some shotgun microphones and doesn't for others. For those where it does, it usually means a somewhat broadening high frequency pickup pattern toward the side with the vent openings. More of a tone-flavor air and brightness thing than a major difference in off-axis rejection. But there is no need to speculate about whether a particular shotgun mic has this attribute, nor rely on the hearsay of other tapers who may be using a particular orientation simply because that's how they've always done it, the justification for doing so seems rational and they report making sick tapes that way! Better to figure it out what's really going on for yourself and get a feel for the specifics-
Plug in the mic, don headphones, hit rec/pause, and turn up the gain. Speak into the microphone with it oriented perpendicular to your face (90 degrees off-axis). Continue speaking and listening while rotating the mic around it's primary axis but always keeping it pointed the same direction. While doign this, listen for any change in timbre of your voice. Note if the change of timbre corresponds with the orientation of the vents or not. If it does change, make mental notes about how, in which way, and in general develop a ear for what is happening.
Once you have that kind of empirical knowledge of how your specific shotgun mic behaves, you can then think about how you want to use that trait to your advantage. Also question those assumptions! Check them by trying different rotational orientations in the otherwise same setup over the course of a few outings to determine if your assumptions works out the way you envisioned them or not. Rinse-lather-repeat.
--- End quote ---
Some shotgun mics having venting all around and some don’t. The 568’s have venting on only one side of the tube, while some high end mics like Neumann KMR 81’s and lower end like Nak CM 304’s are all around the tube. I can see how rotating the tube may have an effect on mics with half tube venting but don’t see how there would be any difference on tubes with all around venting. Although I do remember back in the day some CP4 fans saying “spinning the tube” made a difference. :P
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