Recording Supercardioid Condenser Microphones

Not all microphones are created equal. Not only can they use a variety of different capsule technologies to "hear" soundwaves; they also come in a range of polar patterns that describe the shape of the area they generally pick up. One of the most common patterns is cardioid, which listens to an area directly in front of the mic, and the recording supercardioid condenser microphones in this section can be thought of as close relatives to those mics. Compared to a cardioid, these models pick up a narrower space in front, meaning better rejection of sound from the sides, but with a small amount of sensitivity directly to the rear.

The pattern of a supercardioid microphone is great at isolating room noise and nearby instruments in a live performance setting, and often resists feedback better than a cardioid mic. It does narrow down a singer or musician's range of motion a bit, but the tradeoffs can definitely be worth it and there are plenty of excellent microphones here to hammer that point home. Take the Rode Microphones Video Mic Pro for instance: it's a camera-mounted microphone designed for field recording, and the supercardioid pattern helps it zero in closely on a video's field of vision. Even in the studio there are great applications for mics like these, with state-of-the-art models such as the Neumann TLM 49 Condenser Studio Microphone being more than ready to prove it.

Even if you're looking for a more exotic or specialized microphone, you can probably find it from the likes of the Shure MX202 MicroFlex Condenser Microphone with Inline Preamp, the Crown MB3 Mini Boundary Mic, the Crown PCC130SW Boundary Microphone and others. So no matter what sort of recording need you have to fill, if it calls for a focused polar pattern with side rejection and room noise attenuation, one of these recording supercardioid condenser microphones could easily fit the bill.