Microphone Accessory Guide

This channel provides information to those interested in architectural acoustics, electroacoustics, psychoacoustics, and 3D audio. This is a summary of Chapter *10. Microphone Accessories* from the materials provided. Except for handheld use, microphones are used with various types of accessories for stable installation, wind and vibration isolation, and electrical adjustment. *1. Stands & Mounts* *Desk Stands and Flush Mounts:* Traditional desk stands are gradually being replaced by gooseneck types or flush mounts (such as boundary microphones) that are embedded in conference room tables. *Stands and Booms:* They can be adjusted to various heights ranging from 0.5m to 5m. When connecting large microphones or heavy boom arms, a stand with a wide base and an appropriate counterweight are essential for safety. Telescoping handheld booms with retractable lengths are commonly used on film and video sets. *2. Stereo Mounts and Installation Mounts* *Stereo Mounts:* These are devices that allow for stereo recording by mounting two or more microphones on a single stand. Types include articulated mounts that allow for free adjustment of angle and spacing, dedicated mounts for ORTF, XY, and MS formats, and mounts for the *Decca Tree (using three microphones)* used for recording large-scale orchestras. *Permanent Installation and Cable Mounts:* In music schools and performance venues, the aerial wire suspension system (3-point winch system) using winches and pulleys is useful. For recording choirs, the hanging mount system, which uses clips attached to the cables themselves to adjust the angle, is also utilized. *3. Wind Screens and Pop Screens* *Wind Screen:* Microphones are much more sensitive to direct airflow (wind) than to human speech, and gradient microphones, in particular, are more susceptible to wind noise. To prevent this, foam screens are typically used, while *furry shrouds* are used for outdoor broadcasting or film shooting, offering excellent wind-blocking capabilities. *Pop Screen:* Used in studios to disperse the strong air pressure from plosive sounds ('p', 'b', etc.) produced when vocalists or announcers speak. They are usually made of a thin nylon mesh that effectively blocks only plosive sounds without losing high-frequency sound. *4. Shock Mounts* *These are essential accessories for blocking floor vibrations or physical shocks traveling up the microphone stand.* * It is a structure where the microphone body does not directly touch the frame but is suspended from **rubber or elastic bands**. Standard shock mounts for large microphones are tuned to the 8–12 Hz band, which is lower than the audible frequency range, to block vibration transmission. *Caution:* If the microphone cable is pulled too tightly, vibrations will travel through the cable and be transmitted directly to the microphone, rendering the shock mount ineffective. You must secure the microphone to the stand with a service loop in the cable directly below it. *5. In-Line Electrical Accessories and Power Supplies* These are devices that connect to the middle of the cable or to console input terminals to supplement electrical characteristics. *Turnarounds:* These are adapters used when the male and female polarities of an XLR cable do not match. *Polarity Inverter:* This correctly reverses the phase of a signal that has been twisted due to wiring errors or other causes. * *Loss Pad:* Provides attenuation of 20dB to prevent strong signals from overloading the preamplifier. In addition, there are transformers for low/high impedance conversion, low-frequency (LF-cut) filters to compensate for the proximity effect of dynamic microphones, and *Auxiliary Power Supply (Auxiliary Power Supply)* that provides 48V separately when the mixer lacks a phantom power function. Blog: blog.naver.com/odeum1 Business and Consulting Inquiries 📧[email protected] ☎️02-702-7059