Dynamic or Condenser - Experts, Idiots or Liars?

silsila · 2025-01-13T07:25:14-0500

Surely we all know this is a horses for courses situation. Try tracking a vocal in front of a track playing through a pa and you will probably choose a cardioid or hyper cardioid dynamic mic, maybe even an omni dynamic very close. Track the same vocal with headphones for monitoring in a nice sounding room, now your choices open up and you just choose what best suits that voice, which might be an LDC, SDC, ribbon or not. Nothing will beat living through those situations and trying to get the results you are looking for and what you eventually decide on can sometimes surprise you. That’s a predictably boring response isn’t it.

What YouTube ‘experts’ advise seems to go in trends and waves, it’s definitely best to try it yourself.

OneRoomStudio · 2025-01-13T07:46:43-0500

k brown said:
In these terms mics fall into three basic categories: pressure (omni), pressure gradient (cardioid), and velocity (figure-8). None are truly 'velocity' microphones, but ribbons come the closest.

https://www.audiomasterclass.com/bl...re-pressure-gradient-and-velocity-microphones

You’re right that I misused the term “velocity,” but “pressure gradient” refers to figure-8, not cardioid. Cardioid, by definition, is a mix between pressure and pressure-gradient. It’s a derived pattern, not a “pure” pattern.

amplexus · 2025-01-13T09:20:47-0500

silsila said:
Surely we all know this is a horses for courses situation. Try tracking a vocal in front of a track playing through a pa and you will probably choose a cardioid or hyper cardioid dynamic mic, maybe even an omni dynamic very close. Track the same vocal with headphones for monitoring in a nice sounding room, now your choices open up and you just choose what best suits that voice, which might be an LDC, SDC, ribbon or not. Nothing will beat living through those situations and trying to get the results you are looking for and what you eventually decide on can sometimes surprise you. That’s a predictably boring response isn’t it.
What YouTube ‘experts’ advise seems to go in trends and waves, it’s definitely best to try it yourself.

This is the only reasonable answer. As many thousands of hit vocal recordings have been made on a gorgeous vintage tube LDC as they have a 57, RE-20….

Sometimes two or three very expensive LDC’s get set up carefully for an hour on a guitar cab, sometimes you slam a 57 against the grille and hit record. Both have yielded incredible results, and both are valid.

At the end of the day the only thing that matters is that you know how your tools sound, and you choose the appropriate tool to fit the recording you or the performer/producer/label/Zeus wants to make. “Experts” in this particular area of study can have varying- and differing- subjective preferences that inform their choices and still all be experts.

Opinions are indeed like ********- everyone has them, and periodically we should have them thoroughly checked out by an expert and if they tell us something’s wrong we’d do well to listen!

k brown · 2025-01-13T10:44:40-0500

OneRoomStudio said:
You’re right that I misused the term “velocity,” but “pressure gradient” refers to figure-8, not cardioid. Cardioid, by definition, is a mix between pressure and pressure-gradient. It’s a derived pattern, not a “pure” pattern.

True that the cardioid pattern can be achieved by combining omni and figure-8, but all single-diaphragm directional mics are technically pressure gradient types, in that they achieve their patterns by allowing sound to strike both sides of the diaphragm. The different patterns result from how much; in figure-8 equal amounts strike front and back. In common usage 'velocity' is used to distinguish the figure-8 from the other pressure gradient types (though 'velocity' is strickly speaking not entirely accurate).

FetMe?FetU! · 2025-01-13T11:17:41-0500

k brown said:
What wasn't clear about post #4?

You may not agree with it, but it was pretty clear.

I think post#4 was clear (to most members of this forum, and some would be podcasters/content creators), and although you are very much an expert, you are not the expert(s) this post is about. Or are you? Do you work for a major microphone manufacturer, or are you an influencer or both? That would be so cool (I'm being 100% sincere, no sarcasm).

The former marketing guy in me looks at post#4 and wants to make it more approachable for the masses who are asking this and similar questions. Because, in my opinion, the question is the answer (I'm oversimplifying here for another Doug Adams reference).

What I mean by this is maybe people don't know enough to ask the right question or ask the question the right way, or they need to provide more information. Perhaps the same applies to the industry experts creating content to answer this question. Depending on the environment and the specific dynamic and condenser microphones used in their testing, maybe Heil is right. At the same time, maybe Lewitt is also right within the scope of their testing. Even though for both to be right, I think they would have to clarify that their answer is only right within the scope of their tested products. But that's more complicated and does not help move inventory. It's also not as sexy as "Here's a simple answer to your question (that also serves my need to sell my products and grow my market share)." Messy.