Which one of these settings on my Microphone should I use for vocals?

[jmflu]

So I have a behringer condenser mic that has three settings on it that look like this





I found that these are "cardioid, omnidirectional or figure eight pickup pattern" settings

My question is which one of these is best for single person vocal recordings?

And which symbol is for which setting? (I can't tell by the symbols which one is which)

 

[Steenamaroo]

Omni
That's the circle. It picks up 360 degrees. IE all around the mic.
Cardioid
That's the circle with a notch out of the back. They say it's heart shaped.
It's focused on what's in front of the mic with rear rejection.
Figure 8
That's the one that looks like an eight. It picks up what's in the circle in front of the mic and the one behind the mic.
Someone singing into the side would be rejected.


Cardioid is generally best suited to a solo vocal but if you were trying to incorporate the sound of a nice room or hall, omni might be good.

Omni is no good in a bad room.

You could use figure eight for two singers facing eachother, or as part of a mid/side or blumlein setup.

Hope that helps.