Hi, Pied Piper. I'm sorry, in my haste I responded to your first posting without reading your second one carefully. I don't know the Naiant microphones first-hand, but 9 dB is a much greater difference than I would expect if the two microphone types really have similar innards. If you're talking about the "X-R" series, which uses interchangeable capsules on one, standard amplifier--the specifications posted on line say that both the standard cardioid and the hypercardioid of this series have the same sensitivity (-34 dBV/Pa, which works out to ~20 mV/Pa--nice and juicy). So they should have about the same SPL limit.
I think Mr. Naiant hangs out on this board. Maybe he would like to comment.
It also matters how you determine the level differences. Peak acoustic levels can vary by several dB due to differences in the exact placement of the microphones. Averaging over time (say, a minute or longer) is more reliable.
--best regards
No worries. I enjoy your posts and I always learn something new. I am a big fan of the X-R Naiant mics and I'm surprised more people don't use them (especially since they are very price friendly).
Thanks again for the follow up!