I recently bought acondenser mic for my studio. While doing a vocal track I noticed sometimes thesound was really boomy. Is this normal? Is somethingwrong with my mic?
It sounds like you are experiencing a phenomenon known as the proximityeffect. It’s normal behavior for most types of directional mics. If you understand this effect you can use it to youradvantage. The ability to work a mic is a good way to find and use differentsounds.
Most mics simply tend to emphasize the lowerfrequencies present in a sound as it is brought closer to thesource of that sound. This effect is most pronounced with cardioid orbi-directional mics. Because of their design, omni-directional mics don’t havea problem with this phenomenon.
Without going into too much detail, the effect is basically related to thedifference in sound pressure between the front and back of the microphonediaphragm. The largest pressure differential is provided by bass frequencies.This difference in sound pressure is mainly caused by a small delay betweenwhen those bass frequencies actually hit the front and back of the diaphragm.This phenomenon causes an interaction between these slightly delayed sounds,emphasizing the lower frequencies of the sound source.
The end result is: The closer your mic is to the sound source, themore the bass frequencies are emphasized. This is important informationto remember when placing your mics.Â
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