Polar Pattern
How a microphone's sensitivity varies with the direction of incoming sound
Related
A polar pattern describes how sensitive a microphone is to sound arriving from different directions. Omnidirectional picks up fairly evenly around, cardioid favours the front and rejects the rear, and figure-8 hears front and back while rejecting the sides; supercardioid and wide cardioid sit between.
The pattern changes with frequency, and the published drawing usually overlays several frequencies. Off-axis sound often loses high frequencies first, so angle alters timbre, not just level, in choirs, drum setups and stereo placement. Cardioid and figure-8 also show proximity effect, boosting low end as the source moves closer.
The usual mistake is reading a pattern as one fixed number. Real capture depends on frequency, distance and room reflections; a single rear-rejection figure can mislead.
Sources
- 指向性与离轴响应，参 Huber & Runstein, Modern Recording Techniques 与 Bartlett, Practical Recording Techniques；本文为原创表述
Used for fact-checking only; all prose is original.