Proximity Effect
You know when you meet someone at a soiree and you just wish they’d back off a little bit? They are just too in your face? That’s kind of like “proximity effect”. The phenomenon happens when a more directional microphone, like the cardiod I discussed in my last post, is up really close to the speaker and you get this very “boomy” low end heavy sound. Great if you’re looking for that, but what if it’s affecting intelligability?
Omni-directional microphones, unlike cardiods, can pick up sound somewhat equally in all directions. This makes this polar pattern typical in lavalier microphones or lapel mics. The reception of audio in all directions works to reduce proximity effect and minimize that low frequency boost for a smoother sound across all frequencies.
Next time you’re looking to invest in a lav mic, think about the polar pattern. Remember that you’ll never make bad sound good, just less bad.