Specifications

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Principal Microphone Characteristics
a shotgun microphone should generally be kept fairly
close to the intended sound source.
5. The usefulness of shotgun microphones for stereo-
phonic recording is limited by the fact that their polar
patterns differ at low vs. high frequencies. X/Y stereo
recording with two shotgun microphones cannot really
be recommended, but M/S stereo recording with a
SCHOEPS CMIT 5 with a small figure-8 condenser micro-
phone or capsule (such as the SCHOEPS CCM 8 or MK 8)
mounted on it can produce very good results.
When mounting a figure-8 microphone or capsule on
a shotgun microphone, one should be sure to place
their diaphragms one directly above the other, remem-
bering of course that the diaphragm of a shotgun
microphone is at the base of the interference tube, not
at its tip:
6. A shotgun microphone requires a larger windscreen
than, for example, a small supercardioid. On a boom
this adds extra weight and an additional wind load.
7. Speaking more generally, inexperienced users tend
to expect greater ”selectivity” than a shotgun micro-
phone has to offer. A shotgun microphone cannot
exclude the sound of someone's voice by aiming it at
a person standing right next to them, nor can it com-
pensate for a recording distance that is much greater
than normal for an ordinary microphone. In fact, when
placed too far away the sound quality of a shotgun
microphone will probably be distinctly inferior to that
of a good supercardioid, since it will be working in a
diffuse sound field where its response falls off at high
frequencies (as explained earlier).
The above points are intended to clarify the choice
between a shotgun microphone and another highly
directional type, the supercardioid. A direct comparison
under ”real world” conditions is often a surprising and
revealing experience.
** Reverberation radius (”critical distance”):
A sound source generates a certain level of direct sound energy
which diminishes strongly as a function of distance. If the sound is
occurring in a room, some amount of diffuse sound energy will be
built up by repeated reflections from acoustic barriers (mainly walls).
The level of diffuse sound in any given part of the room will depend
less on the distance from the sound source than is the case for the
level of direct sound. In the theoretical ideal case, the level of diffuse
sound would be the same everywhere in the room.
The distance at which the reflected sound reaches an equal level to
the direct sound is called the reverberation radius. (”Radius” is used
because we assume that sound from a point source will spread out in
a spherical manner
M/S arrangement with shotgun microphone
(shown here: CMIT 5 with CCM 8 and KMSC clip.)
The membranes of the two microphones must be
aligned one above the other; the black line indicates
their location.