In this article, you’ll learn how to choose professional and budget wireless mics – among the most popular wireless systems on the market to date. I will use those as reference and familiarize you with common distinctions as well as concepts. No prior knowledge or experience is required, so all the information given is going to be beginner-friendly. Afterwards, you will be able to make the right choice easily and in accordance with your specific…

Microphone Geeks has reviewed over a hundred different mics, and the majority of them fall into a shotgun category. There are dozens and dozens of options to work with, all of which are perfectly viable but we have decided to narrow it down to the best options in the context of budget filmmaking and video production. All of the mics listed are short shotguns that come with standard XLR or 3.5mm interface. The mics are…

Headworn mics provide unrestricted freedom of motion while cancelling a great bit of noise due to their close proximity to the mouth of the talent. They are invaluable for live shows and stage performance that involves moving around, dancing or even gesticulating. Being partly concealed they are less distracting for the audience. With both hands free, speakers also find it easier to hold audience’s attention. In order to use headworns it is necessary to have…

A lot of people buy expensive microphones for recording just to find out that they still sound awkward. The reason why this happens often has nothing to do with the mic, although a wrongly chosen model can be another significant factor. The main reason you don’t sound all right is the so-called bad acoustics. Basically, acoustics is a number of factors that determines the propagation of sound in one or another environment. This can mean…

Wireless mics typically use radio frequency to transmit the signal without using wires. They are powered by internal batteries in order to modulate the radio signal and send it to a receiver. Such receiver however, would still use short wires to output the signal further to an amp or mixer. There is a great variety of receivers using different modulation methods and basic preamp features such as active EQ, gain control, etc. Note, wireless mics…

The picking pattern basically enables a mic to pick up sound from different directions. While being more sensitive to some directions, e.g. front, a mic can be less sensitive or completely insensitive to other directions. This picking pattern can also be referred to as polar pattern, and basically it determines just that. When used wisely, it allows achieving a good amount of noise cancellation from unwanted sources of sound and record only exactly what you…

The purpose of any microphone is to convert sound into an electrical signal. This process is called transduction and it can be achieved in a number of ways. Depending on the principle used, scholars would distinguish microphones into different types. Although this list may include a dozen of different items, you’ll be most often hearing about the condenser and dynamic microphones. This pair is very flexible and can easily cover most of the uses, from…

As there are many different types of microphones and each appears to serve its own purpose, choosing the best mic may not be a simple task. Aside from the purpose of use, some mics tend to suit better for individual vocal techniques and or playing styles. In this aspect, mics can be compared to musical instruments. A good guitar player will probably have a couple of guitars at home and he will sometimes use one…