note to self:
(1) Supercardioids are a variant of a hypercardioid (and often not distinguished from them) but usually reckoned to reject sound best at 150°. They have an exaggerated version of the cardioid pattern with greater emphasis on picking up sound directly in front.
(2) Subcardioids or wide cardioids are versions of hypocardioid (less than cardioid) patterns - slightly more directional than an omni but no more than that. They are most easily distinguished by their rear sensitivity - anything from 2-18 dB lower compared to their front sensitivity.
^^
My bold emphasis.
Picking nits, because everything builds on basic concepts and that’s were nitpicky details in definitions count most, trickling down to everything else, or working up the food chain, depending on your perspective. Apologies for derailing with technical applied theory stuff-
All patterns are differentiated by the specific aspects of their sensitivity to sound arriving from the rear and sides (the far off-axis regions), not differences in sensitivity to sounds arriving from the front. Supercards can also have 18dB lower rearward sensitivity compared to their on-axis response.
*Trick question: Using
any of the ‘standard’ stereo mic setups (ORTF, DIN, DIN-A, NOS), and keeping the same config but just switching between capsules, which provides more rejection
to the rear as well as the sides: cardioids or supercardioids?
The answer is supercardioids. Surprised?
I find it helpful to consider a relatively wide window of on-axis sensitivity (what you've referred to above as "emphasis on picking up sound directly in front") of all patterns as being effectively equal. The conceptual difference between various patterns (at least in their directional sensitivity, there are other differences that influence the sound of any specific microphone) is then determined primarily by how it handles sounds arriving from well away from the front- meaning the far sides, far above and below, and from the rear. Thinking about it that was is helpful because the sensitivity of first order patterns really doesn’t fall off very quickly until significantly off-axis. The on-axis sensitivity is, in a practical sense, pretty much unchanged within a 90 degree forward facing 'acceptance angle' window for any pickup pattern.
The significant difference in directional sensitivity between patterns is the nature of pickup outside of that forward facing 90 degree window. It’s the nature of the back and sides that effectively define the sensitivity pattern, not the front part.
What then becomes important is how to differentiate those differences in back and side sensitivity and to determine which of those aspects are most important.
In practical usage in a stereo configuration, usually the most important aspect is not if there are rear lobes and where the lobes and nulls point, but the general difference between sensitivity to sound arriving from
all directions as a whole compared to the sensitivity to sound arriving on the forward facing axis. In other words, thinking more in terms of ‘front’ verses ‘everywhere else’, rather than 'rejecting' specific directions. That’s why I posted the trick question above. It strikes me as conceptually analogous to what is perhaps the most important acoustic phenomenon in recording to my mind- the
direct/reverberant ratio.By that measure, a hypercardioid is the most directional first order microphone pattern because it offers the least sensitivity
as a whole outside of that ~90 degree wide forward facing window common to all patterns. The most important aspect of the mk41 compared to other patternsis it’s increased directionality in a general sense and its well behaved off-axis response, rather than lobes and null angles. Those things matter, but not nearly as much.
Of course none of that helps choose between mk4, mk41 and mk5.
*More later on this in a separate thread since I frequency see comments by tapers with misunderstandings or fears about the ‘rear lobes’ of supercards used in stereo arrangements.
