My college teacher showed some of your content in class. Now you’re in my recommended. Huh.

That is the best diagramming of the difference that I have seen. Very excellent and organized presentation.

Love these videos. I use them as refreshers to make sure I never forget the basics of my work!

Audio University..the best channel for sound engineers..👍👍👍

I'm a singer songwriter who is just getting more into recording my own music, and this was extremely helpful info. Thank you so much!

Hey Audio University, love your channel, thanks for informative and meticulous content as well as your dedication to help and educate people who are in audio. Wish you all the best and the continous channel growth🙂♥️

i really like the real time use of other mics, it really helps put whats being explained.

Excellent video, straight forward, yet explaining complex topics relatively well!

Excellent review, Kyle. Thanks for sharing.

I have an SM58 I found in the basement of a hotel at which I used to work. I checked the serial number and it's from the 1970s. Still works perfectly.

I believe you. The sound of your voice in this video is excellent, and the level is perfect as compared to many other sound/ audiofile videos on youtube.

Excellent comparison and informational video. Clear and well-thought-out delivery.

well done young man! well articulated and information packed... valuable information packed.

I love your channel bro. You are definitely educated in audio. Thank you so much. If I learn anything in audio, it’s definitely you I trust, thanks again for your service.

Thank you. We just bought 4 x AT2040 after going through a number of videos including yours

Love your content. Straight to the point

I am pretty experienced with audio engineering, just came for a recap / see if I forgot anything or could learn anything new and I always love a great comparison video. This was probably the actual best video for explaining the differences on a fundamental level and showing the differences in a nuanced way. I'm sure many people listening through their phone speakers won't hear much of a difference but I just hope they can understand that this is a different use of different microphones than usual. It really matters a lot what you start with when recording music that will then be post editted and cleaned up. You may only hear that one mic sounds obviously crisper here... clearly has much more audible super high treble... but that may sound obviously better in this context... but that may not be what you want to use on a dark folk acoustic song snare drum... for example. OR it may be exactly what you want on it to liven it up without changing the magical guitar tone or whatever. It's incredibly important what the intent is. And it's so so important to inform beginners that when in doubt... always record higher fidelity than you may think you need. It is much... much easier to degrade a sound or change a sound to a darker or less dynamic sound than it is to feign or edit something to be "better" than what was captured. If you effectively reduce or eliminate as much mixing as possible when in the "micing" phase... you have done your job well. Mic choice and placement and knowing the intent could result in you barely needing to do anything in the mixing stage if you nail it. Of course that's almost never the case... but you can get damn good to the point where you only need to do basic mixing later like basic volume or low end roll off for plosives etc. The better it is at the source... is the less of a chance of fucking it up later.

So basically, only perform a mic drop when you've got a Dynamic mic

Thanks for the explanation. After watching a few videos explaining the difference, I've learned a dynamic microphone is better for live use, dj gig or maybe live podcast. Condenser for studio recording.

Great video! I'll def check out some more of your stuff, love the topic

This is an excellent video! Thank you!

Imagine - one day, there will be a mic holder that recognizes the microphone, knows it orientation and polar pattern, knows what you want to record, knows the layout of the environment you are in and adjusts the microphone for you. One day. Today, be nice if microphones had their polar pattern printed on them. Idea for you - do a set of stickers for microphones with their polar pattern on them. Might make a merchusic store revenue for you. I'm donating that idea to you, alas can't afford anything else. Keep up the great content.

Interesting video. I learned a lot more about mics from this video. I use an AT2035 for voice over work in the videos I’m making and really like the warm sound. I also have a Deity shotgun mic that I use on my camera, but ice never liked the result for voice overs. Thanks for opening my ears to this topic.

This video is so helpful! I can't thank you enough 🔥

Good video! Made me make my mind up and get an NT1, thanks !

I'd like to defend the AT2020! I'll agree that it's not the best general purpose mic but I've found the it works very well for field recording or live/streaming unamplified music when the mics are placed some distance away from the instruments or singers (usually 10-20 feet) so it captures the sound as an audience member would hear it. I've used it for piano, chamber groups, choir, and organ and gotten very good results I've used some other more expensive mics in these settings and haven't really heard much difference. So, I'll continue to take these less expensive mics out in the field rather than risking my more expensive mics! It's not a mic that I would use on a guitar cabinet, drum set or for any close mic setting however.

Not that I'm going to be able to afford it any time soon, but wow… That OC818 is one Impressive piece of work!

Most straight forward video on the internet

Well said bro Really gaining knowledge everytime while watching your videos

This is a great, and concise video. Thank you 🙂

Thank you very much for the info your tutorials always very helpful Good bless you

Dude, what a cool voice you got. Perfect for a microphone video 👏👏

Excellent explanation! 👍💯

This is probably the best explanation of anything I have ever heard. I might know too much about microphones now. 😂

Respected sir, Your videos are really helpful for me... Thanks Love from INDIA❤❤

Great video! Thank you!

very well done thanks

Hey thanks for the informative audio facts and hands on audio performance great for beginners like me

The Shure Condenser sounds so GOOD!

I don't always drop the mic, but when I do, it's with a Shure SM58.

Excellent video!

Seeing the OC818 as an example feels so good (as an austrian Guy who also likes audio stuff)

Thank you very much for this.

Yours seems to work very well and yield an excellent sound

Great video! The sound example with the 4 mics towards the end is one of the best reasons to watch this video. It makes the difference more visceral to the ear.

You missed one quite important factor, imo, that way too few ppl know and talk about. It is the impulse response, aka the fact that condencer mics have a resonance, because of the tightness of their membranes. The best way to explain it is that the condencer mic capsule essentially is a tiny drum, which has a resonant frequency. Usually this is in some high frequency(2-8khz more or less) , where exactly, depends on the mic. Since most manufacturers do mitigate this resonance, its not a single frequency, but more like an area. But there still is a resonance to it. Mic manufacturers might even call it some fancy nice sounding name(presence, airy highs etc), rather than what it really is. So yeah.

Julian was the one who originally convicted me to improve my own sound setup, went from tiny pc speaker and a astro A40 setup to presonus E5xt speakers, audient id4 mk II audio interface and the xm8500 mic (punches well above its weight for its price), excellent video for someone who has limited knowledge of condenser mics,

nice video! thanks!

You have a splendid voice to go with any microphone. Thanks for the education about microphones.

You have to try the shoes on to see if they fit! Great video! I wish I could try before I buy. ~🌺

Great job thank you.

The AA OC818 is about $1000 so I'm not surprised he didn't drop test it, besides that great video i still don't know everything about audio but its been 4 Years since my mum gave me her NT1-A and when i got it had no clue how to actually use it vs today, i almost bought a new mic because it sounded bad when ever i used it.

Great explination!

Very nice information 👍👍

This video contains a lot of gems!!✨🙏🏽

Great ❤ video, Kyle.

Excellent Video. I now know more.

As a singer in a live setting you absolutely need the higher SPL or you start clipping in the red at volume 4 on any decent PA system. Try comparing Neumanns or Alexis tube microphones to the less expensive ones you compared. It’s akin to the difference between a Lamborghini super car and a production corvette. Tubes however seem to work even better in the studio.

Very good!

Thanks for this vid I own a sm7b and a akg p220 and I’ve been wondering

Very good recording quality thank you, like

Very nice presentation. I think I'll go with the dynamic mic

I’d honestly recommend this channel, to any musician, podcast, voice actor or anybody else. Very educating. Straight to the point. Very formal No useless info And everything worth knowing.

Thanks alot Prof 🙏🙏🙏🌸🌸🌸🌸

Thank you so much!

This was great presentation thank you! I still have no clue which to get because I'm still learning. But going to watch this a couple more times. I wish I could give 2 thumbs up

Great video

I have a humble Xonar X5 audio interface that allows me to record with studio quality and it only has one mic input which is for dynamic ones. I have it as a backup in case I have a problem with my Blue Yetti. The Blue Yetti is a budget condenser microphone. Since I only record one source, i.e. my voice, I use the cardioid setting with minimum gain and dicreased input on the so that I have to speak closer to the microphone and louder as well. Thus, I diminish background noise and ambient reverberation. If I choose to use a dynamic microphone, I will probably try to reproduce these settings. Thanks for this video.

I love the DB version of the SM 7B. It gives you so much more clean gain than the original. It seemed like when I had the original 7B no matter what I did I couldn't get the gain I needed. I also couldn't hear myself very well with the audio interfaces that I would record with unless I would turn up the headphone gain and that meant I would have to turn up the music and my headphones in order to hear the microphone much clearer. I had a fet head and it was fine for the 7B but it's nice to have a microphone that has better preamps built-in

Thank you

Thanks 🤗

Excellent teacher

I love dynamic mics for vocal productions but condenser mic works well for certain instruments as well dynamics. But you you really have to understand which mic is best for you, as in the after edit product you've recorded is easier to edit for you. I own a sm57 and a sm7b but I plan to upgrade here soon as well.

nice love it

I’ll always remember Mr. Willaford he taught me the basics of mic use and singing.

You have excellent voice.

great channel

Thanks!

Nice video, thx for explaining for the ‘common man’ Question, I am trying to shop around for a microphone for compatible condenser mic for Sony RX0 II(it has I believe TRS 3.5mm) planned to use for recording nature sound & interviews close proximity (~10 feet distance), hope you can recommend one (-US$200), I would prefer Not to have additional power source carried with to feed the ‘phantom power’ need Of the mic, I like Shure SM models, but issue is additional power required

Dynamic Mic = Speaker, running in reverse. Condensor Mic = Capacitor. Easy to remember because of C/C similarity.

Pretty simple and accurate video, not falling for the usual memes and myths so it's great. One thing tho, regarding the polar pattern, comparing an open Cardio condenser to a RE20 is not really fair, as RE are known to be closer to supercardio (it shows on the specs sheets) as they have a special technology that makes their microphone pretty focused and that virtually eliminates the proximity effect (you can pretty clearly see the feedback vents on the mic). In reality and by rigorously testing it, you'll find that most cardios behave the same way, regardless of the tech especially in real world use and that sometimes some cardio SDCs actually leave dynamics in the dust regarding off axis rejection. An important thing to note is that background noise rejection is not a thing, it's impossible for a mic to reject background noise unless they have some sort of expander behaviour, which is never the case and would be a nightmare anyway. The feeling of rejection is almost entirely due to 1 - frequency response and 2 - polar pattern, 1 can be easily matched from condenser to dyn (not the other way around) and 2 is not really bound to a certain technology. But in the end what makes a real difference is just getting closer to the mic, it's like zooming on a picture

just wana put this out here. i have an old basicly broken condenser mic from dropping so take that in consideration. they can take some beating but not as much as other microphones iv used.

waooooooooooooooooooo, thanku sooooooooooooooooo much for amazing & very importent information, god blessssssssss u brother

Hi, thanks for the video. What kind of mic would you suggest for deeper voice? Condenser or dynamic?

Durability is Key when performing live every weekend. I have an old SM58 ,I say old cause I bought it used 30 years ago and it is my workhorse... also it has more output than the new ones , yes lot more . I really dont know how old it is but it's a Bad Ass .... Good Show 👍

Your audio from the re20 sounds great, could you show us what processing (eq/compression etc) you do for your audio production?

Excellent

I've had a couple of sm58s since 1978. The price hasn't changed much. Approx £100 then and now!

Oh man, the EV RE20 sounds so good on voices…

Thank you for this comprehensive overview. But there is one thing I don't understand: Dynamic mics are often said to reject off-axis sound better - like you demonstrated in your video at 04:00. Yet I didn't find any proof that this behaviour has anything to do with the type of transformation from acoustic energy to electric energy. I'd rather suspect it to be a design feature of the individual microphones. Because dynamic mics are more often used in situations which profit in strong off-axis rejection (like live shows, high noise environments, etc) the designers of these microphones may have favored a stronger directivity whereas condenser mics are mostly used in well controlled studio situations in which fidelity (eg. an angle invariant frequency range) is of more importance.

when i was shopping for a mic years ago, i didnt know much, but i was looking at the "self noise" numbers and settled on an nt1a because it was drastically lower than even more expensive mics. is there a reason for that? is the nt1a just a jem? or am i missing something?

do you have any tips for diy recording, like how to make the best out of built-in microphones on smartphones?

Depends on the usage, in an ambient room, take the Dynamic, in a special treated room with zero ambient, U can use a dynamic, or a condenser. A SM58 sounds a little muffled if you hold it to your mouth (close mic), if a little from your mouth, it sounds way better. You have to find the sweet spot from that MIC. You can learn MIC techniques, close MIC or FOR podcasts I would use a SM7b, problem with this MIC the output is low, and you have to use a very transparent MIC Pré or a TritonAudio FetHead class A Pré amplifier, and maybe a few mods for your kind of voice/ instrument, for the fethead you also need Phantom Power 24 or 48V, just as Condensers 48V from your console or MIC pré. Condensers are not made for close MIC, heck you can even destroy the capsule from the MIC, always look good to the max db's pressures these can handle, these are also very sensitive, a shock mount and a popfilter is necessary. But the sound is much better than a dynamic MIC. I use the best of both worlds, like the Lewitt LCT 440 PURE $220. That's a very low price for a quality Condenser MIC.

Great mic. Sm58.

I used an SM58 for years, but what killed it was that I forgot to turn off the phantom power before plugin it in. Could be that it was worn down, and the phantom power was the enough to trow it over the edge. My SM57 have survived the times I have forgot it though but that mic is used primarily for recording guitar cabs.

Got a Behringer XM8500 but hocking it up just to the mainboard and pulling gain all the way up, it still was pretty much useless like that. Turned out it´s an old 250Ohm version so no way it will sound good without an amp inbetween. Scored a Presonus interface (a Firestudio mobile) for free recently because headphone jack was havining some issues, what sucks it´s firewire so now I have to get my 775 P5 SLI board up running which is the only working mobo I have with firewire to test this thing out and see if I can fix those issues and it´s worth buying an expansion card.

at 0:55, a varying capacitance on a charged capacitor will produce a varying voltage, not an electrical current. Voltage = Charge / Capacitance

Nice

Great video; really enjoyed it. Driving a lot of the popular dynamics these days (RE20 and SM7B specifically) basically necessitates that Cloudlifter though. Pairing those two really cuts back on how much preamp gain you need to feed the dynamics and makes them a lot easier to work with in the less-than-perfect environments we often find ourselves recording in. I love the RE20 because it's so much more forgiving when you go slightly off-axis. Lets me dodge a lot of flubbed takes because of plosives or whatever.

It would seem that the 'signature' or audio characteristics of a mic could be better indicated by a standardized response graph by frequency & attack responses