Re: Neumann U-47 Buying advise

In article <eu38s1toonqe43h4fp75t36beh2boq5urm@xxxxxxx>, <1@xxx> wrote:
>
>"Sounds approaching the microphone (large diaphragm) head-on will
>reach all parts of the diaphragm at more or less the same time, but
>sounds coming in at an angle will reach one side of the diaphragm
>before the other so some of the higher frequencies will combine out of
>phase, causing a deterioration in high frequency response for sounds
>arriving off axis...

Right. This makes the pattern on larger diaphragm mikes bizarre at
high frequencies. At the very least it's beamy, so the high frequency
response drops off at the edges. Sometimes it's much weirder than that.

>Another drawback of a large diameter of diaphragm is the microphone's
>physical size, which may interfere with the very soundfield it is
>trying to capture, particularly at high frequencies when the
>wavelength of sound is shortest...On the positive side, the lower
>resonant frequency of a large diameter capsule, makes it more suitable
>for use with bass instruments."
>
>Is he all wrong about this or am I interpreting this incorrectly?

He's mostly right about this, but all this stuff has to do with high frequency
response, and has nothing to do with bass response, which is what the
subject is. There's no reason for the bass response of a large diaphragm
mike to be any better than that of a small one; there is only reason for
the pattern at high frequencies to be worse.

The remark about the lower resonant frequency, however, is incorrect.
Small diaphragm mikes may well have a lower or higher resonant frequency..
the resonant point has little to do with the diaphragm size and a lot to
do with how it's tensioned.
--scott


--
"C'est un Nagra. C'est suisse, et tres, tres precis."
.

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