FAQ

Microphone types

What is the difference between hyper-caridioid and omni-directional microphones?

When and microphone pickups up sound it does not always pickup the sound from all directions equally, this is by design. An omni-directional microphone will pick up sound from all directions so it doesn't matter in which direction it is pointed. Microphpne that pickup sound in one direction more than in other directions are defined by the relative sensitivity in the different directions. These polar patterns, as they are called, are quite well defined mathematically however often the micropphne does not fully meet these mathematical definitions so are often simply called directional microphones.

Accusound supply a directional microphoine that closely meets the definition of a hyper-carioid polar pattern. Simply put this means the microphone will pickup sound much better at the front compared to the back but also if in a reverberant or non directional sound filed will pickup less ambient sound that a simple carioid polar patternmicrophone. The reason Accusound supply this pattern is because you benifit from the difference between from and back response but you also benefit from better imunity to feedback as less ambient sound is pickedup.

For a fully explanation please see our information pages on microphones.

What is a contact microphone?

A contact microphone is one that use vibration of an instrument to pickup its sound. Capsule microphones use the air vibrations, as set up by the sound waves, to pickup the sound, contact microphones use the vibrations set up in the instrument to pickup the sound. A contact microphone will generally be able to produce higher amplified levels before feedback than a capsule microphpone but they can also sound a little harsher than a capsule microphone. They are very good in noisy atmospheres, either due to other background noise or from other very loud instruments. They can be used along side capsule microphones to get the best of both worlds. Accusound manufacture a number of "combined" systems which use one or more capsule microphones along side a contact microphone, these are available for most instruments.