[ale] OT: Where can I learn about microphones?

Fri Feb 10 18:00:59 EST 2012

On Fri, 2012-02-10 at 16:04 -0500, Richard Bronosky wrote:
> We have several of the Blue Snowball mics and they aren't good for
> more than 4 feet of pickup. It is the shortcomings of the Blue
> microphones that has started this whole exploration. One of the rooms
> we use is about 60ft x 40ft.

Ah...  Crap....  What????

60' x 40' is a huge room to deal with (and in some ways worse than much
larger rooms like an auditorium).  That's about the size of the UUCG
(Unitarian Universalist Church of Gwinnett) sanctuary up here in
Gwinnett where I'm the head AV tech.  Mic'ing and running audio with a
room that big is a major PITA especially since you have to deal with
speakers (as in "loud speakers" of the 8 ohm kind not the two legged
carbon based life form kind ) and audio return and feedback.

Microphones depend heavily on environment.  Are you looking for wired or
wireless?  Hand held, desktop, or lapel?  Central speakers or
distributed speakers.  Centralized speakers (the two legged carbon based
lifeforms this time) like presenters or people all over the room.

If you're interesting in a situation with a few speakers with handheld
microphones and/or lapel microphones, maybe one of these would be up
your alley...

http://www.amazon.com/Pyle-Pro-Wireless-Microphone-Lavalier-PDWM8700/dp/B005BSOW32/ref=pd_cp_MI_0

http://www.amazon.com/Pyle-Pro-Wireless-Microphone-Lavalier-PDWM8900/dp/B005BSOW82/ref=pd_cp_MI_0

Those darn things are CHEAP compared to a lot of units (wired and
wireless) and, per channel, dirt cheap compared to single channel units.

A room that size is just large enough and just small enough that you
really have to pay attention to nasty things like speaker phasing and
interference.  In that sanctuary in a static speaker phasing test, I
walked from one side of that room to another through 400HZ and 800HZ
pure tones through multiple sharp nulls (which were in the exact correct
spot - confirming the speakers were phased CORRECTLY - node in the
center) testing all 8 speakers.  Smaller, you don't need to worry about
that stuff.  Larger, the nulls and interference are washed out by other
effects and reflections.  Even a dead (anechoic) room would have these
effects (and, in some cases, worse than one rich in reflection).

A room that size is NOT a trivial undertaking.  What I'm saying here is
you do not need to learn about microphones for a room that size.  You
need to learn about acoustics.  If it's just for teleconferencing (THAT
SIZE?????) you can get away with one of those audio setups above.  If
this is a performance, major presentation, or production type effort -
get professional help.  Make no mistake about it, this is a black art.
We (my tech team) make enough mistakes as it is (although nobody seems
to notice but us) and I've got some pretty good, very talented people.
It's not easy and it's far from intuitive.  Trying to explain what we do
to some of the people around UUCG, their eyes just glaze over.  Sigh...

Regards,
Mike

> On Fri, Feb 10, 2012 at 3:08 PM, James Sumners <james.sumners at gmail.com> wrote:
> > http://www.soundonsound.com/search?url=%2Fsearch&Section=7&Subject=35&Summary=Yes
> >
> > Since you said you want analog mics, you basically just need to look
> > for XLR mics. You could also pick up a mic that does both XLR and USB;
> > I'm going to be get getting one of these at some point --
> > http://www.bluemic.com/yetipro/
> >
> > On Fri, Feb 10, 2012 at 14:51, Richard Bronosky <Richard at bronosky.com> wrote:
> >> I need to learn about microphones so that I can build some
> >> teleconferencing kits. We have about a dozen different USB mics and
> >> they all suck. Every meeting is full of complaints that the remote
> >> attendees can't hear. I want analog mics and a mixing board. Probably
> >> a USB digitizer. (I _might_ consider a USB mixing board if it is very
> >> _very_ excellent.)
> >>
> >> I want to consider many options:
> >> 1. single condensor mics
> >> 2. multiple condensor mics
> >> 3. stationary directional mics
> >> 4. human operated directional mics
> >> 5. robotic directional mic or mics - either voice tracking or IR baton
> >> tracking (I may have to build that one)
> >> 6. several lavalier mics
> >> 7. any other voodoo
> >>
> >> --
> >> .!# RichardBronosky #!.
> >
> >
> > --
> > James Sumners
> > http://james.roomfullofmirrors.com/
> >
> > "All governments suffer a recurring problem: Power attracts
> > pathological personalities. It is not that power corrupts but that it
> > is magnetic to the corruptible. Such people have a tendency to become
> > drunk on violence, a condition to which they are quickly addicted."
> >
> > Missionaria Protectiva, Text QIV (decto)
> > CH:D 59
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> 
> 
> -- 
> .!# RichardBronosky #!.
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-- 
Michael H. Warfield (AI4NB) | (770) 985-6132 |  mhw at WittsEnd.com
   /\/\|=mhw=|\/\/          | (678) 463-0932 |  http://www.wittsend.com/mhw/
   NIC whois: MHW9          | An optimist believes we live in the best of all
 PGP Key: 0x674627FF        | possible worlds.  A pessimist is sure of it!
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