ABSTRACT
Improving a broadcast facility's sound by choosing the right microphone is the direct result of knowing enough about microphones to make the right decisions. The combination of studio acoustics, type of microphone, directional characteristics, and preamplifier plays a role in the selection of the microphone that sounds best for any given situation. This chapter describes the basic types of microphones, their construction, and how their different characteristics can be used in various applications for best results. The four attributes of a microphone most broadcasters need to consider are self-noise, directionality, sensitivity, and ruggedness. Microphones can be typed according to their electric-generating element: Ribbon, Dynamic and Condenser. There are several broad categories of polar patterns to which most microphones' directional characteristics conform to some extent or another: Omnidirectional, Bidirectional, Cardioid and Supercardioid. The Blumlein miking technique employs coincident crossed bidirectional elements and, like the M-S, responds to amplitude differences to achieve stereo separation.
