From the course: Microphone Techniques: Essentials

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High-pass filters

High-pass filters

From the course: Microphone Techniques: Essentials

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High-pass filters

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- [Instructor] Unlike dynamic mics that typically roll off in the low end, condenser mic capsules are relatively flat in most cases from 20 Hz to 20 kHz. So there quite good at capturing a full sound from distances of a foot or more, but there not very good for close-miking because the proximity effect makes the sound very boomy in the low end when these mics are close to the source. For that reason, most condenser mics include builtin highpass filters that roll off the low end to compensate for the proximity effect. Some mics like the AKG 451 and 414 have two or more filters. The 451 has filters at 75 and 150 Hz, and the 414 has filters at 40, 80, and 160 Hz. Others like the AT 4041 have a single highpass filter. This one rolls off at 80 Hz. The bottom line is when you're close-miking with a condenser mic, applying the highpass filter cleans up the sound a lot, and removes the muddy boominess in the low end.

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