It ain’t much but it works 🤷‍♀️

  • Ech@lemmy.ca
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    14
    arrow-down
    1
    ·
    3 days ago

    Condenser mics are just the overall technology used to capture sound. They don’t all have the same polar pattern (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microphone#Polar_patterns).

    A bit of digging suggests this is a Samson C01U, which has a supercardioid pattern centered on the bar, so it will pickup the largest spectrum pointed right at the source as OP has it, though it would also pickup on the sides fairly well.

    • Sneezycat@sopuli.xyz
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      6
      ·
      edit-2
      3 days ago

      Sorry, but this is just wrong. All mics of this type I know of are oriented towards the grill, not towards the bar, I don’t know where you got that info from.

      Just to really make sure, you can check on this disassembly video (around the 6 minute mark) that the capsule is oriented towards the grill, and you’ll get the least pickup from the bar (which is the side).

      Well, technically the least pickup is behind the bar and not straight, but you’ll get very muddy sound from the side anyways, since you lose most high frequencies.

      Source: I’m an audio technician.

      • Ech@lemmy.ca
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        4
        ·
        3 days ago

        I looked up the user manual (https://samsontech.com/products/microphones/usb-microphones/c01upro/) which says to point the bar at the mouth when recording vocals for best sounds.

        to achieve the fullest sound, the vocalist should aim the microphone center line towards their mouth.

        Manuals aren’t infallible, though, or maybe I’m misunderstanding the wording. If you’re familiar with the internals, then I’ll take your word for it.

        • Jentu@lemmy.ml
          link
          fedilink
          English
          arrow-up
          5
          ·
          3 days ago

          I don’t think the center line and top bar are the same thing. It’s probably just referring to the center of the front. Hypercardioid mics don’t perform well off-axis. The line after the quoted one is talking about plosives and how you can rotate the mic if they become an issue, assuming the diaphragm is pointing at your mouth.

        • Sneezycat@sopuli.xyz
          link
          fedilink
          arrow-up
          4
          ·
          3 days ago

          I think by the “center line” they mean the 0º angle of the polar diagram, but the wording could definitely be better. I’m sure about it though, cause the capsule is oriented towards the front of the mic (where the “samson” logo and the led indicator are).

    • butmingus@piefed.social
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      7
      ·
      3 days ago

      Sorry, probably oversimplified there. You’re right that the term condenser just refers to the element.

      I had a very similar looking Samson condenser with that shape (grill on top with the bar splitting in half) and it had the element parallel to the body of the mic. So assuming it’s similar to mine was, yes it’ll probably work fine as mounted. But I’d bet if OP tilts it “upside down” and rotates 90deg one way or another (speaking into the grill, not the bar) they’d find much better signal/noise.