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AES Barcelona 2005
Tutorial T3 - Subjective Microphone Evaluation

Last Updated: 20050331, mei

Saturday, May 28, 16:00 — 18:00

T3 - Subjective Microphone Evaluation

Presenter:
Jürgen Wahl, Sennheiser/Neumann - Van Nuys, CA, USA

Abstract:
The purpose of this workshop is to analyze the variables that make it so difficult to predict a microphone’s performance in actual applications, and to understand why microphones with seemingly identical technical specifications sound differently, even when used under the same circumstances. The tutorial will demonstrate how to concentrate on less complex segments of performance behavior. For example, when evaluating electronic performance, we can concentrate on good signal-to-noise ratio, low self-noise during very quiet passages, and minimal distortion components in the nonlinear operating range. To evaluate the microphone’s acoustic behavior we listen for the imaging of instruments, how it captures room acoustic, reverberation, ambience, and distant instruments. When we analyze the tonal characteristic of the microphone under test, we may include the natural frequency response for all instruments, the extended frequency range, the transient response, the uniform polar pattern, the detailed resolution of harmonic components, and how the microphone works together with other microphones.

 
©2005 Audio Engineering Society, Inc.