Parabolic reflector microphone - Sound On Sound latest issue
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Sunday October 29, 2023
David Mellor
David Mellor is CEO and Course Director of Audio Masterclass. David has designed courses in audio education and training since 1986 and is the publisher and principal writer of Adventures In Audio.
@petercooney9156: I have several of these in various sizes. For birds. The largest is from Dodotronic (Italian) which is stereo in a batwing format losing the top and bottom of the parabolic. The stereo effect enlivens the recording, but makes finding a hidden bird difficult. If you hear it louder in the right ear the bird is to the left (left field is shadowed by the edge of the parabola).
Tip to find the focus of the parabolic - (carefully) use paper to focus an image of the sun. This is the reflected energy (whatever source) focal point. A bit rough but fine. Wildtronics make small stereo microphone which is very sensitive and works very well in a near antique* Sony 330 mm dish from (?) the 70's that I have. [* Man wearing flares in the manual.]
@AudioMasterclass replies to @petercooney9156: We need video! Send some!
@MichaelAChang: I made one from a discarded infrared heater which is an 18" parabolic dish perfect for such a project - far better than a wok or objects resembling parabolas but aren't.
@jamesmoore9511: I did a DIY (I'm cheep/broke) - first a plaster plug using a profile cut of alum sheet. Fiberglass gore segments of different lengths (control of dish thickness). Ended up with a 28" disk. check the focal length via a shiny metallic tape strip stuck to the inside of the dish (straight radius) and a laser pointer. WoW! works a charm. Thanks for the video I appreciated it.
@klasstrandberg3207: Two parabolic mike´s (telingas) aside? I can help you realize that.
@peters7949: BBC radio use parabolic mics for the cricket.
@AudioMasterclass replies to @peters7949: Ah yes, the sound of leather on willow. DM
@xxxYYZxxx: What sort of microphone works best with a dish? I wonder how cardioid vs omni vs figure 8 would sound. For stereo, could a mid side work, with figure 8 sideways and perhaps using a shotgun mic pointing forward?
@ratnaali8206: Get 💩 on her
No manners
@duncan-rmi: I am from marske. we say it 'mask', for reasons unknown. I am familiar with the sound mirrors at redcar east.
@AudioMasterclass replies to @duncan-rmi: Aha. Good job there are no sound mirrors in Chop Gate then. DM
@andreasboe4509: A problem with perfect parabolic reflectors for sound is that they create destructive interference, making some frequencies weaker and some stronger. Paradoxically a non-perfect parabolic reflector should give a more balanced sound.
@xxxYYZxxx replies to @andreasboe4509: I wonder if a figure 8 mic in the parabolic sweet spot couldn't pick up both full range facing forward, plus the "zoom" effect from also facing the dish. With mixing, the overall sound could be balanced but also "zoom in" as desired, perhaps even for solos in music. Also, a shotgun mic could hold the figure-8 mic in front of the dish.
@DrMackSplackem: I haven't read the article, but from what I can gather, they seem (I almost typed "sound") a lot like pressure zone aka "boundary" microphones, at least in terms of theory. Long ago I modified some Radio Shack PZMs for phantom power with very pleasing results, opening a rabbit hole which I entered with no regrets.
Am I missing something, or is the only difference just the shape of the boundary behind the capsule?
@redcabinacoustic-official: Have one - own one - use it for capturing sounds of sports events - field sound from football and other . . . ps love your takes, don't always agree, but enjoy anyway . . . peace
@SPINNINGMYWHEELS777: I've always made my own parabolics - experimented with different materials. I chain it with my Marantz PMD430 and a digital recorder. Always fascinating, useable results . Those prices are insane you showed.
@SPINNINGMYWHEELS777: I make and collect field recordings - here in Canada we have a rich history of this available to us - Dan Gibson's output was great and I love the early Emory Cook material .
@RowanTasmanian: Thanks so much. Your Channel is brilliant. I loved this segment on parabolic Microphones.. Just loved it.
@sidesup8286: I think your view numbers are way down. Maybe you should have been nicer. There are only so many audiophiles, and when it's too late, it's too late.
@RowanTasmanian replies to @sidesup8286: Why don't you keep your petty, negative & narrow minded opinions to yourself.
Set up your own channel. There will always be troll like critics like you, but seriously, why don't you get off your backside and do a better job.
Did your mother tell you that everyone listens too you when you make a criticism ?
Well they don't.
Please just shut up and unless you can do better, Stop being a troll.
@1fattyfatman replies to @sidesup8286: Suck it.
@SubTroppo: Stereo; summer is coming here in Brisbane & this morning we had the 'outrageous' calls of channel-billed cuckoos (I didn't hear them): https://youtu.be/oFCr_D8n6io?si=DRq0WWjCQZRMjtAi ps I can hardly hear the morning chorus anymore. Being woken by it would be a plus in my version of reality.
@marxman00: Apart from routing some speakers today .I feel ready to say.... your mic.. lose a bit of 160 hz and 3.15k and a bit of comp would be nice too .
@RagedContinuum: The discovery place in charlotte NC had large parabolic reflectors that cast voices across the large main floor of the facility. It was a neat science trick to behold for a 12 year old slacker like myself
@scottwolf8633: My 3rd semester Calculus Prof would skin me alive if I didn't state;
"In context|mathematics|lang=en terms the difference between paraboloid and parabolic is that paraboloid is (mathematics) a surface having a parabolic cross section parallel to an axis, and circular or elliptical cross section perpendicular to the axis; especially the surface of revolution of a parabola while parabolic is (mathematics) a parabolic function, equation etc."
Sorry, this extraordinarily brilliant Woman put the fear of God in me as She taught me the Laplace Transform and Convolution Integral too.
@AudioMasterclass replies to @scottwolf8633: Quick, tell Google. "parabolic microphone" = 105,000 results; "paraboliod microphone" = None. Your teacher is in despair. DM
@scottwolf8633 replies to @scottwolf8633: @AudioMasterclass LOL, Thanks, I still felt the terror of something being Mathematically incorrect vis a vis this Woman. Class 5 days/week, at a pace that made me feel after 50 minutes, I had been repeatedly beaten with a baseball/cricket bat.
@fretbuzz59: Speaking of mics ... how about rolling off some bass on yours? That's what I have to do on my end during playback; boomy otherwise.
@ronschauer839: This subject reminds me of whispering galleries. I have been to a fair number of them and they can be quite amazing. In your neck of the woods there is of course the very famous one at St. Paul's Cathedral. A nice but semi-hidden one (perhaps even unintentional, I don't know) is in the Grand Gallery at the Reggia di Venaria Reale in Torino. Yet another very nice one is at the Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago. Neat stuff...
@anahatamelodeon: Referring to previous discussion of man-cave acoustics, the 414 sounds really good, and possibly better than the sideways-on Sennheiser you were using before.
@duncan-rmi replies to @anahatamelodeon: shame it's got chocolate on it.
@NewGoldStandard: As our ears are basically reflectors, how are we able to hear really low (bass) sounds? Some noises in the lower end of our audible spectrum have wavelengths measured in the meters. How do our reflectors capture them? I guess you've sent me on a quest to learn something this Saturday afternoon. Side note, this also makes me think about the natural tendency to cup one's hand behind their ear when straining to hear something. Love this channel, thanks!
@anahatamelodeon replies to @NewGoldStandard: I think the simple answer to that is that our ears are not reflectors. Each ear is a short tube with an acoustic pressure sensor (the eardrum) at the end, which can pick up LF perfectly well. The external parts of the ear do act as reflectors, but only for high frequencies, which helps us with direction (especially vertical direction and front vs. behind)
@sr3d-microphones replies to @NewGoldStandard: @anahatamelodeon
you could expand on that there are cancellations of certain frequencies at a given angles that act like notch filtering, giving a subtle difference in tones, from angles that give a particular resonance that is completely unique, which is fixed in one position (the pinna) where the brain interprets these subtle tones as external perceptions. The brain is able to ‘focus’ on these perceptions as you can follow the sounds with your eyes closed. The pinna is a rather special 😅
@xxxYYZxxx replies to @NewGoldStandard: Ear lobes reflect high frequencies, not bass. Bass is "omnidirectional" respective to hearing, only harmonics localize bass.
@sr3d-microphones replies to @NewGoldStandard: @xxxYYZxxx I disagree in some respects, although except for very low frequencies where I would agree.
There’s more going on with the pinna with higher frequencies other than simple reflections in my opinion, as mentioned in my previous comment.
Though, I do expect dogma bites and flames from my opinions 🥸