Pressure zone microphone for budget applications such as recording conferences and speeches.
The Crown Sound Grabber II is a Pressure Zone Microphone that works great with camcorders, picking up clearer sound than built-in microphones. Other uses include "no-fuss" music recording just place it on the floor near the musical ensemble. Because the PZM is placed on a flat surface, it doesn't suffer from comb-filtering issues that occur with spot or room miking when sounds bounce of walls, ceilings, or floors. Powered by a 1.5V AAA battery, the Sound Grabber II includes a permanently attached cable with a 1/8" phone plug. The microphone's unbalanced output connects directly to a miniature cassette recorder. A 1/4" phone-plug adapter is provided.
The Crown Sound Grabber II is an updated version of the original Sound Grabber. It utilizes the same Pressure Zone Microphone technology in which sound waves reinforce themselves in the area nearest a flat surface, usually referred to as the “boundary.”
Top recording engineers all over the world are using professional versions of the Crown PZM (Pressure Zone Microphone) to improve the quality of their recordings. The Sound Grabber II is one version of that technology, designed to meet the needs of the home or business recordist and bring the benefits of PZM technology within the reach of many more people. Because of this new technology, Sound Grabber II offers you the opportunity for vast improvement in the quality of your recordings.
The Sound Grabber II will pick up sounds at distances you never thought possible with a clarity that other microphones, simply cannot match, due to the limitations of their construction. The Sound Grabber II does not need to follow the action, since it has a wide-angle pickup pattern. So long as the mic “sees” the sound, in whatever direction or angle, it will pick it up clearly; it does not need to be between you and the other person. Speakers or vocalists can move freely around the Sound Grabber II without their tone quality changing due to the effects of comb filtering. (Comb filtering is the arbitrary cancelling or reinforcement of frequencies due to physical qualities of the environment in regard to placement of the mic in the space.)
Tip: Two PZM mics back to back make a great stereo pair.
