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Gear / Technical Help => Microphones & Setup => Topic started by: Becks Dark on March 22, 2010, 07:44:26 PM
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??? What are 'omni caps"? I use Church Audio CT-11s that are cardioid and I hear that omni caps are used now. ?
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Omni Directional capsules, e.g., the little ends of the mikes. They receive sound from all directions, more or less. Cardiod are directional.
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Isn't better to use directional
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??? What are 'omni caps"? I use Church Audio CT-11s that are cardioid and I hear that omni caps are used now. ?
The Church Audio CA-11 has interchangeable caps - you can use either omni or cardioid. Which you use depends on the situation.
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Isn't better to use directional
The answer to that is like most on this board - it depends. In a chatty club where you are low profile, cardioids are probably better.
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When would you use omni over directional? My experience in taping is directional so I don't pickup the crap behind me. If omni is used how would that be better thab directional or better yet what would be the right application for that?
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Thanks for the info. :)
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When would you use omni over directional? My experience in taping is directional so I don't pickup the crap behind me. If omni is used how would that be better thab directional or better yet what would be the right application for that?
I find that Omni's work better when you're in the sweet spot, and the crowd is pretty quiet. One advantage is that you can move your head around a little more without changing the sound that is picked up.
With Omni's I wear them above my ears so that my head is a baffle. That way the right mic mostly picks up what is on the right side of my head and vise-versa. Sounds good on headphones...not as good on speakers (but still acceptable).
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When would you use omni over directional? My experience in taping is directional so I don't pickup the crap behind me. If omni is used how would that be better thab directional or better yet what would be the right application for that?
OMNI tends to be less sensitive to wind. Also when doing ambient sounds OMNI can make things sound more there. i.e. A truck driving down the road, you hear it as it approaches and as it leaves. Where directional mics might have it magically appear, and then suddenly (and rather abruptly) exit the soundscape. Also OMNI tends to be easier to place since they are less directional. i.e. harder to screw up (with the right source).
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What are omnis good for?
(1) Omnidirectional microphones can have full-strength response down to the lowest audible frequencies, while directional microphones ("cardioid" is one directional pattern from a whole range that exists, but it's the most commonly used) have less response below (usually about) 75 Hz or so.
Now, a lot of what's "down there" is often noise of various kinds, and the rooms you record in may have pretty crass acoustics at the lowest frequencies, but sometimes there is real music there, too, and in any case some people find it exciting just to have that energy there at all. It can be felt as much as it is heard. Very deep bass is one of the main things that initially sold the public on hifi back in the mid-20th century.
(2) The way you have to record stereo with a pair of omnidirectional microphones is either that you space them apart by some distance or else you put an acoustically opaque object between them. You don't really have the option of putting them close together (or even "coincident") and aiming them apart the way you can with directional microphones, since then the recording would be mono or nearly so (with both mikes picking up nearly identical signals).
As a result, the basic feel of a stereo recording is just different, because the whole way the stereo impression is created is different. And some people really go for the one way of doing it while others go for the other one, is all. If you're in this for pleasure, these are different pleasures that are available, and they're worth trying or at least knowing about.
--best regards
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When would you use omni over directional? My experience in taping is directional so I don't pickup the crap behind me. If omni is used how would that be better thab directional or better yet what would be the right application for that?
I know I tend to prefer the sound of omni's in recordings.
I like to hear the crowd when I listen to a live show.
I prefer to feel like I am there.
Then again, I listen to, and attend loud and fairly rowdy shows.
So the audience energy is definitely a part of that.
As far as the taping goes. Kind of hard to use cards when in a crowd like that.
You can't keep them pointed properly when a mosh pit could break out beside you at any time.