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What is it with podcasters' giant microphones? (piefed.social)
submitted 1 day ago by to c/asklemmy@lemmy.world
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That's something I noticed a while ago: all podcasters have those huge microphones in front of them - sometimes with a gigantic boom - that wouldn't look out of place on 1950s TV. But unlike in the 1950s, they're not trying to hide them, no no: the more visible, the bigger, the better.

I can't figure out the point of that prop. If I did a podcast, I'd try to unclutter the shot myself.

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[–] 4 points 20 hours ago (2 children)

regarding your point 1: that is actually incorrect, take for example the sm7b (the big black tubular "radio mic" that is quite popular among youtubers) it is has a cardoid characteristic, so it basically picks up basically everything to its left and right as well, which is the same pattern as the "default rock mic", the sm58. the main advantage for those bigger microphones is, that you can make them sound very clear and beautiful with less effort than a smaller (maybe even dynamic) microphone due to its higher sensitivity and more linear frequency response.

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  • [–] 4 points 17 hours ago*

    It is correct compared to your every day common microphones which are usually omnidirectional.

    And it does not pick up "everything" from the right and left: those are a little smaller compared to front.

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  • [–] 2 points 16 hours ago

    I am an actual audio engineer...most of their answers are at best an uneducated guess.

    Voices that are lower and higher, the listener would have to adjust at home...

    Or you know use your gain structure and some gentle compression to normalize the levels.

    Most podcasters use a bigger mic because they see others using the Shure Beta or the Elecrivoice RE-20. Any mic would work fine with proper engineering behind it.

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