Jump to content

Directional Lavs


Richard Thomas

Recommended Posts

Just wondering how many of you own/use directional lav mics? I'd expect they might get better results in more hostile environments. 

I've found a hardwired Crown GLM-200 (hypercardioid, similar shape to a Tram) in the cupboard, which I used to use for instrument amplification.  It's a bit awkward to mount on a person so that the diaphragm is pointing towards the speaker but it sounds good (not as nice as DPA's though).

 

Wondering whether it's got a place in the kit...

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Unless the intention is to help control feedback when feeding a voice through speakers, I've never known directional lavs to be a good choice.

 

Fidelity suffers, wind sensitivity increases and microphonics increase with directional lavs. Microphonic problems also increase when the mic is place on someone's chest, like lavs for film/video usually need to be.

 

Crown developed some directional head-worn mics for live stage performers (developed at the request of Garth Brooks, who made the mics famous). However, these mics had to be positioned directly in front of the mouth, and directly away from the speakers to be affective. While this worked well to get a loud speaker volume without feedback, it is not a good choice for recording the natural sound of a voice.

 

For what might occasionally be a small amount of improvement in reducing ambient noise, there is usually much more given up, which is why 99.9% of lavs used for film/video voice recording are omnidirectional.

 

GT

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Yep, I use a Countryman B2 for difficult PA situations where I have people having a roundtable discussion, and (by client request) we can't use traditional cardioid mics on floorstands or deskstands. But they're clipped on the outside of the shirt or coat, plus they have an integrated windscreen. I think it's fair to say this is a speciality mic; I wouldn't pick them for normal dialogue in a controlled situation. In certain circumstances, they work very well, but their directional nature makes them very susceptible to wind noise. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I tried out a Sennheiser MKE104 which is a directional lav that was bought to plant/resolve PA concerns. It's basically a a MKE 2 with some porting that allows some directionality to it.

The sound was less than stellar and I've tried to incorporate it into some setups through the years but always have found it lacking as opposed to a CUB or other choices.

Scott Harber

Link to comment
Share on other sites

If anybody wants it, here's a list of most of the cardioid or supercardioid lavs that are out there that I made notes on -- I think most are still current products:

 

Audio-Technica AT831

Audio-Technica AT898

Countryman B2

DPA 4080 / 4081

ElectroVoice RE92

Sennheiser ME4

Sennheiser ME104 / ME105

Shure WL51

Shure WL91

Shure MX150

Shure MX185

Sony ECM66

 

Out of these, I've only used the Countryman B2 and the Sennheiser ME4. I know Lectrosonics used to offer a cardioid lav, but I don't see it in their current catalog. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 1 year later...
  • 2 weeks later...

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
×
  • Create New...