6
Using the Polar Patterns
Perhaps the most important aspect of using your CV4, or any other microphone, is to understand its available polar
pick up patterns Every microphone has a characteristic polar pattern that determines how well it accepts or rejects
signal coming from various areas around the microphone capsule You can use the CV4’s polar pattern switch, located
on the PS4 power supply’s front panel, to select one of the available polar patterns The CV4 provides nine polar pick-up
patterns; omniderctional, cardioid, figure-eight, plus transitional patterns in between each This gives you a tremendous
amount of versatility and sound possibilities To understand the basics of patterns you need to know the three most
common patterns; omniderctional, bi-directional or figure-eight The Omnidirectional pattern produces a linear response
regardless of where the sound source originates (in front of the mic, behind it, to the side, etc ) If the talent needs to
move around and has trouble staying in the same place in front of the mic, using the omni pattern can be extremely
useful since the off axis change will have less of an effect on the frequency response When the CV4 is set to the figure-
eight pattern the microphone picks up sound directly from the front and back while rejecting the sound at the sides
When miking an acoustic guitar, a great way to capture same natural ambience is set the mic in figure 8 and position it
between a guitar and a reflective surface
While Omni and Bi-directional microphones are very useful for a variety of applications, many miking situations in
recording and live sound applications require uni-directional or cardioid microphones When set to Cardioid, the CV4 will
accept the sound coming from directly in front, and to reject sound coming from behind or from the sides The cardioid
pick-up pattern allows for better separation of instruments in the studio and more control over feedback in live sound
reinforcement When positioned correctly, the cardioid pattern allows you to pick up more of the sound you want and
less of the sound you don’t want In live sound situations, the polar pattern also determines how prone a particular
Operating the CV4
