Members Tomm Williams Posted July 18, 2013 Members Share Posted July 18, 2013 From what little I have used a figure 8 , it seems apparent that the rejection at the sides is quite substantial. Are there differences between makes/models where the rejection may be even greater? I understand of course that it is still figure 8 but perhaps there is a model out there that is known for the widest rejection within that pattern Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Reson8tor Posted July 19, 2013 Members Share Posted July 19, 2013 Quick Figure-8 primer. There are two main categories of Figure-8 mics -- ribbon mics and condensor mics.Ribbon mics come by it naturally. There is a thin strip of aluminum foil suspended in a magnetic field, and you get everything off the front and back sides of the foil. You get *nothing* off the sides of the foil, because it just can't vibrate that way. Simple physics.Ribbon mics are great for using the side null for rejecting nearby instruments. I use 'em all the time that way, in the studio. For live sound, not so much, because you've got that back side pickup to deal with. However, Royer, AT, and others do sell ribbon mics designed for live use, with more robust ribbons (normally they're a bit delicate) if you want to try them. Okay, now condenser mics. These use a second diaphragm and some electrical tricks with phase to shift the pickup pattern, which is why one LDC mic with variable pattern can do anything from cardioid, to figure-8, to omni, or anything in-between with some mics. You can get large diaphragm, and even a few small diaphraghm mics with figure-8 patterns, but the side rejection null is never as tight as it is with a ribbon mic. Ribbons are the kings of side null rejection. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Tomm Williams Posted July 19, 2013 Author Members Share Posted July 19, 2013 Pretty much what I wanted to know Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members twostone Posted July 19, 2013 Members Share Posted July 19, 2013 Might check out Fab Dupont who's uses a live stage as his recording studio with a lots of ribbon mics. Since bands don't perform live in isolated rooms, but on a stage. Guy is awesome because he knows exactly where to place ribbon mics for rejection and records and you'd never know it was recorded live on a stage. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Dogoth Posted July 21, 2013 Members Share Posted July 21, 2013 Reson8tor wrote: Quick Figure-8 primer. There are two main categories of Figure-8 mics -- ribbon mics and condensor mics. Ribbon mics come by it naturally. There is a thin strip of aluminum foil suspended in a magnetic field, and you get everything off the front and back sides of the foil. You get *nothing* off the sides of the foil, because it just can't vibrate that way. Simple physics. Spot on.I'll add that RCA and maybe EV? back in the day made a few ribbon mics that had a variable back side port which did allow you to adjust the pattern some what. My guess is they probably sounded best when full open in figure 8 pattern. Just a little trivia :-).If you get a really HQ dual digaphram condenser, the capsule tolerances as well as the electrical component tolerances are much tighter and the "8" pattern can be nearly as good as a ribbon (but you PAY for that).I read an article about an engineer who would use two figure 8 mics at 90 degrees (one pointed at guitar and one at vocals) and could get almost perfect isolation for recording both simultaneously. Perfect for multi-tracking a singer songwriter type. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Scodiddly Posted July 21, 2013 Members Share Posted July 21, 2013 The big thing about a figure-8 is that the backside has inverted polarity (aka "flipped phase"). So the side nulls can be (in theory) infinitely deep. In reality the side nulls are still very deep, very useful for keeping out unwanted sources. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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