Apologies for the lack of new material but the mobile and the studio are so busy at the moment that weve just not had time to put any new stuff up. We have some great new sessions waiting to go up and a sneak preview of a fantastic new compresser but thats all to come!!!!! In the meantime have a read about the first in our series of great mics under £100
Condenser
microphones are often seen as the more refined cousins of dynamic
microphones and traditionally they were more expensive than dynamic
mics. They have a higher output and better frequency response
and are generally regarded as studio recording microphones, though
for some recording jobs such as drums, dynamic mics are hard to
beat. However as a rule of thumb, for a really detailed, complex
sound, vocals and acoustic instruments, a studio engineer will
invariably use a condenser
microphone. In this design the diaphragm acts as one plate
of a capacitor, and sound vibrations produce changes in the distance
between the plates creating an electrical current. However, to
work, condenser microphones need a power supply to charge the
plate, and this is commonly provided as 48 volt phantom power
from a mixing desk or from an internal battery. Originally the
design was based around a valve or vacuum tube but as transistors
appeared in the 60s so companies like Neumann
replaced their valve microphones with solid state versions and
valve microphones virtually disappeared for a number of years.
However with old vintage valve mics exchanging hands for huge
sums, in recent years there has been a renewed interest by manufacturers
and now even the cheapest Chinese brands have a valve mic in their
range. On the down side condenser microphones do suffer from problems
with condensation caused by humidity or water vapour in the air
which can condense on the diaphragm if you bring a cold microphone
into a warm studio. Also a vocalist working very close to a mic
can cause condensation from breath producing nasty crackles and
fizzing noises. A correctly positioned pop shield usually avoids
this in all but the coldest studios, and it is well worth while
allowing a condenser microphone to warm up to room temperature
before use.
Recording
Many condenser microphones are designed to provide several different
pickup patterns which may be changed with a built in switch
and most multi patterm mics have 3 patterns: omni, cardioid
and figure-of-eight though some mics like thesE
Z5600 have a constantly variable pattern
moving gradually between all the main types. In all multi pattern
microphones the capsule is made with two diaphragms, and by
changing the level and polarity of the polarising voltage on
one of the diaphragms, every possible pickup pattern can be
created. Another approach is to have a modular approach with
exchangeable heads with different pick up patterns that screw
onto the mic pre amp (body). AKG have produced a lot of mics
in this format and their current Blue Line series has 4 different
interchangeable heads: a cardioid, a hypercardioid, an omni
and a figure of 8. It’s a system that other companies
have used and the Reelsound mobile has just bought a pair of
Hebden
Sound 3000 condenser mics with exchangeable
omni and cardioid capsules. There is also a general distinction
made on the size of the diaphragm with large diaphragm mics
generally seen as vocal mics and small diaphragm mics as instrument
mics but again there is a huge cross over and the careful placement
of any decent condenser
microphone can produce great results.
