Why does one microphone sound different from another?

O

openminded

New member
I got an Audio Technica 4047 mic and an Audio Technica 4053B mic. One is much longer than the other one but they cost about the same.

I set both up to record dialogue between two people for a video I was shooting and the 4053B sounded MUCH better than the 4047.

The 4047 sounded like I was in a soundproof studio and nothing else was around. When playing the video with the 4047 audio, it didn't fit right at all.

But the 4053B sounded so natural and made me feel like I was actually there. It didn't sound closed off and isolated like the 4047.

Why such a big difference?
 
They're just two different kinds of microphone.

Two things affecting the output of a mic are how the membrane moves, and how the microphone translates that movement that to an electric signal.
If the membrane is heavy it's harder to move. If it's smaller it more accurately reflects high frequency activity.
If it's encased inside a large grill then it has it's own personal tiny reverb chamber. Adjust the angle of the grill and you adjust the reflections different frequencies.
Those two mics also have different polar patterns which will make a difference.

A million and one things effect how a microphone sounds. Google up on the fundamental principles of ribbon/moving coil/capacitor mics, if you're really keen. ;)

PS. I've no idea if you're just starting out or what, so forgive me if I'm patronising you,
but you know one is end address and the other is side address, right?
 
The actual pickup[ pattern of the mics could be a lot different, even the pick up between different model mics that say they have the same pattern could actually be different due to the design. This is why they design different mics for different jobs.

Alan.
 
Well, hypercardioid isn't cardioid…

Plus, cardioid doesn't really tell you much about how a mic will sound.

Shure sm81 has a small light diaphragm which moves freely, and it's a capacitor microphone.
It's a clean sharp detailed accurate microphone.

Akg d12 has a big old heavy thick diaphragm with a coil of wire glued to it. That whole assembly moves in a magnetic field to produce voltage.
It's a sluggish dull thumpy microphone.

The two designs, sets of materials, and intended applications are completely different.
Just because they share the cardioid polar pattern doesn't mean they capture audio in the same way, see?

Read those stickies….There's a lot of good info around here.
 
openminded said:
Well that's what confuses me, they're both cardiod mics.

I think the 4053B is a hypercardiod but still.
Click to expand...
Then they're not both cardioid. One is hypercardioid. It's a major difference. Not only is the hyper tighter "in front", but it actually has lobe at the back, with the most rejection actually to the sides of the behind of the microphone.

It almost seems counterintuitive. We would normally use the hyper mic to increase isolation, but you seem to be getting less isolation out of it than the wider mic. I'd guess it's because you had more of the "room tone" in that rear lobe. If you point both mics directly away from the same source, you will hear more of that source in the hyper.
 
ashcat_lt said:
We would normally use the hyper mic to increase isolation, but you seem to be getting less isolation out of it than the wider mic.
Click to expand...

Good call. That's why I asked how he's addressing the mics.
If you treated the 4053b as side address by mistake it'd certainly give roomy results. :p
 
Assuming the mics were pointed toward the talent, a big variable in this kind of phenomenon is the room.
The position of the mic makes a huge difference in the recorded sound due to the room’s effect on the sound.
This is off topic but kind of relative. I watched a vid the other day where a guy put two mics on a guitar cabinet.
He played a metal guitar track thru the cabinet and moved one mic away from the cabinet and the sizzle disappeared due to some cancellation interplay between the mics.
To the OP remark about “sounded like I was in a soundproof studio”, that mic must have been in a reflection free zone or very close to one.
I suspect the mics alone were not the primary factor.
:-!
 
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