Chapter 4 Tutorial: Polar Response

The directional response of a mic refers to its sensitivity (output level) at various angles of incidence with respect to the front (on-axis) of the microphone. This angular response can be graphically charted in a way that shows a microphone’s sensitivity with respect to direction and frequency over 360° (degrees). Such a chart is commonly referred to as the mic’s polar pattern. The following audio examples demonstrate the pickup characteristics of the cardioid, bi-directional (figure8) and omnidirectional patterns.

Do It Yourself Tutorial: Polar Response
  1. Download the Polar Response.ZIP file, which contains the three mp3 audio files for this tutorial. Or listen to the files by clicking on the links below.
  2. If you’d like to Do-It-Yourself, then...
  3. Pull out several mics from each operating type and plug them in (if you don’t have several types, maybe a friend has a few you can borrow). Try mics with differing polar patterns (or switchable patterns) and listen for yourself.