Dynamic vs Condenser Microphones

so basically if my budget is low and i cant afford to sound treat my room, my audio is gonna be shit doesn't matter which type of mic i use. right?

I lkie your video, so what about best mic for streamers/podacsting if we say budget like shure mv7x

As someone who lives in New York after owning a condenser mic It took 3 years for me to ever think of ever buying another condenser microphone because of how much noise it picked up

I enjoyed your experiment. I've always been suspicious of the dynamic is quieter claim. In your experiment, It seemed as thorough the background music was a bit quieter with the Maono than the others to my ears. I think one thing that could result in dynamics being quieter is not the microphones themselves but rather how they are used. Generally I think that dynamic users place their mouths closer to the microphone (frequently to obtain that proximity effect) resulting in a higher voice to background sounds ratio.

This is the video I NEEDED to watch. Thank you so much! I currently have a $300 mic and want to upgrade to a $800-$1000 range. My dream mic is the Lauten Eden but before I reach the dream I need something in the middle. I’m considering a 2nd condenser before I get my dream tube. Mainly because of repairing/maintenance of tubes and how it’s not easily fixable in my current location

I am mixed on your thoughts. It's paramount for my podcasting clients to display proper microphone etiquette to decrease their signal to noise ratio. Of course if they're not using their mic properly- dynamic vs. condenser is going to be somewhat of a mute point anyways. In the case of most lazy podcasters who can't be bothered to display proper etiquette, a dynamic mic is defintely going to help mitigate a lot of the unwanted noise/sounds. This video doesn't really account much for frequency response, and you can definitely hear the extra "unwanted" (in this case) range in your tests. A nice excersize- but I don't think this is an answer.

One problem with this comparison is the dynamic microphones are way too far from your mouth. With proper placement of 2-4 inches from the source, their gain can be significantly reduced, eliminating most if not all of the background noise. This is where dynamic microphones shine and why they are used on live stages with multiple "hot mics" to prevent feedback and signal bleed. The preamp gain is set as low as possible to achieve a clean sound and then amplified later in the chain.

I have a very noisy room and there is lot of background noise. What do you recommend? Please help me understand. I am new to this and i want to be a audio podcaster and do voice over as well.

I actually disagree. Soundspeeds disproved this theory in his video "Polar Pattern or Microphone Type? Best for Reducing Reverb - Sound Speed". Dynamics actually do reject more of the distracting noise. I also tested this out myself and I have 2 videos proving that dynamics actually do reject more of the distracting noise around you. It's not 'just' bringing the mic up close or the polar pattern. Dynamics really do reject much of the ambient noise around you. I did a demonstration in a bathroom with 2 supercardiod mics (one condenser (Ethos), the other dynamic(XM8500). The Ethos picked up all the distracting noise around it while the XM8500 did not.

Get a pop filter or move your microphone somewhere that doesn't pick up your annoying P

please

Still, in untreated spaces, especially with sounds or noises coming from other rooms a dynamic mic is so much easier to handle, and much less work in Post. This is at least my experience.

A big part of the sensitivity is the width of the diaphragm. While an expensive dynamic capsule with two nanometer diaphragm will pick up the slightest noise, much less sensitive 25 nanometer diaphragm on a dynamic will not vibrate from distant sounds. Instead of the rate dropping approximately 40 decibels per 6 in, dynamic microphones will often drop more than two times that amount. This is why as hard as companies were trying to make dynamic shotguns, when condensers were extremely expensive, They just couldn't pull it off. They even try to use the SM55 (Same thing. Is this in 57) as a boom microphone called the SM5(a). Basically an SM57 inside of a blimp he would use for a standard shotgun . It's sold Nothing for 40 plus years (less than 200 units per year ) until all of a sudden the seven version blew up in 2008 for some dumb reason. Now they are claiming it's always been the number one microphone. It never was in radio stations. It never will be. It's a POS. I agree with you that with new insulation techniques, you can make dynamics work. You can probably get a pro studio insulation for less than $1,000 per 100 ft². You could also get a shotgun which really helps if you know how to use it properly.

The other reason most people go for the Newman 103, instead of the 102, if they are a professional (do it for a living) voiceover artist, anything below 50 DB clean vo with an additional 12db peaks, and roughly 6 dB overhead, will be rejected. That's the only way you can get it clean audio for a 24 bit. This is when it comes in handy to have a microphone with less than 14 dB noise level. But again, this is television, feature films, etc. The only capable dynamic so far is the electrical voice RE 27 neodynam magnet. Extremely low noise. Also the number one microphone in radio stations for the past 60 years.

Nope, not at all. Your argument holds a lot of truth and solid reasoning. However, there's a reason why most mics on stage are dynamics.

Practically speaking, dynamic mics seem to have more of a falloff in terms of level. If both condensers and dynamic mics would translate amplitude completely linearly, it would be a different story.

Also, based on my experience, dynamic mics tend to deal better with me singing into them from a very close distance.

Using dynamic mics is not a panacea for bad acoustics in your recording space, but I've had a lot of success using them instead of condenser mics, especially when I was going for a dryer sound.

how do you set the correct cordioid pattern you keep talking about?

SO TO REDUCE A ROOM ECHO WHICH MIC IS BEST CONDENSER OR DYNAMIC?

More gain does not directly mean more noise, interestingly it means less noise for most preamps. Check the relevant video from Julian Krause!

Very interesting video!

sure, a mic picks up room sound, whether if its a condenser or dynamic mic, but no one is recording silence. people record e.g. vocals. and a condenser sounds weird if you record your vocals from very close distance, a dynamic mic not. and the further away you record your vocals, the more room noise will blend in. thats the reason why a dynamic is better than a condenser in untreated rooms. i have a shure sm7b and a neumann tlm102 and would always choose the shure in an untreated room.

correct me if im wrong but what about EIN? EIN is essentially the self-noise of the preamp that you were describing. and iirc for there to be "no noise" from the preamp it has to be at most -129.6 dB. some audio interfaces get close to this number (example: motu m2 is -129 dB) with some even surpassing it (SSL 2, SSL 2+ has -130.5 dB EIN), both of those interfaces are within $200 so its reasonably priced. would you say a dynamic microphone is still justified this way or should i just go for a condenser

A third factor is microphone self-noise. A condenser microphone has higher sensitivity, but it also has higher self-noise. If the sensitivity gain is higher than the self-noise, then the condenser will have less noise than the dynamic microphone because the SNR starts off higher. Dynamic microphones have near zero self-noise, but pre-amps have a lot of noise. Adding 10dB of gain in the pre-amp also adds 10dB to the referred input noise of the preamp (usually). So, the situation is more complicated than generalizing without looking as specific microphones. Add in proximity, dynamic range, and artifacts, and it gets even more complicated. If one compares a well respected dynamic microphone like the EV RE-20 to the Lauten LS-208, the Lauten condenser is made specifically to meet all the other requirements that an RE-20 satisfies, and excels with 135db of SPL handling and has a wider frequency response, but the sensitivity is only 5mV/Pa compared to the RE-20 1.5mV/Pa. That extra sensitivity comes at a cost of a 15dBA self noise. So, 10dB of extra gain is needed for the RE-20, but any high quality preamp will not add anywhere near 15dB of input referred noise to add 10dB of gain. I like the RE-20 for what it does, and the Lauten for everything else, but one is not gangbusters noisier than the other.

Um.. decibels are on logarithm scale. 0.5 decibel is not small, it'll definitely be noticable.

Great article. I’m looking at the PD100 Dynamic Mic, and wondering if it will run fine into a Focusrite Scarletti ? Now it’s a Dynamic so doesn’t need the 48v Phantom power right?
So many mics out there, but seeing you using and recommending that one is good. Thanks.

Wrong again, pickup pattern is all.

Maaaaan that's wild, the first mic is actually the one I had my eyes set on Tonight but the 400 version of it. Thats the 100 right?


It's between that one or the AM8 by FIFINE

Holy vrap that Peluso sounded so CRISPPPPPPPPYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY I love it. Just everything about that. Damn

Smart people say dynamic mics are better for untreated spaces because they’ve experienced both and have learned the nuanced differences. There’s no real difference if your space is quiet like yours, but if you have loud neighbors or birds, a condenser picks up everything.

You're missing a couple things. While gain at the preamp does matter related to sensitivity and background noise, most modern preamps are low enough noise to fall below environmental levels especially in untreated spaces but here's the big one... frequency pickup. Dynamic microphones pick up less of a frequency range than condensers. A dynamic may have a frequency pickup of 50-15K Hz while the condenser version may pickup 20-20K. Where are mostly of those rumbles and sounds that people roll off? Below 80 Hz so the headroom changes. Elevated noise levels below vocal frequencies push the level up so of you roll them off (or use a microphone that can't pick them up like a dynamic) then you'll be able to gain up more without bringing up undesirable sounds (AKA noise). Untreated spaces reverberate and enhance that frequency range so when you roll then off, they are reduced thus sounding better to your ear due to less reverb. Polar pattern does help and if you roll off a Shure Beta 87A condenser to match that of a Shure Beta 57A dynamic then yeah, you'd look at background noise in the quietest of environments to see which is less noisy because they would be a match in the things you actually hear - frequency pickup and off axis rejection (due to polar pattern). You covered the difference in pressure operated dynamic mics and pressure gradient condensers very well (along with gain/noise) but you have to look at other defining characteristics between the two mics like frequency pickup too. It all matters.

In your mic comparisons you only cared about background noise with no voice input. If comparing background noise, the condenser would pick up more frequencies and therefore potential noises unless you are in a quiet environment when it's a game of background noise which you do say after your recommendations at the end of the video. Podcaster don't just bring in microphones and record quiet though. If they did then your conclusion would be correct but you're not comparing the sound quality of the signal with both mics, you're comparing background noise only. That invalidates your entire testing because you're not comparing the quality of sound in the signal you care about , your comparing background noise which can be specturally erased leaving you with only signal which may have environmentally enhanced frequencies causing a less natural or acceptable sound. As you know, listening is key.

Interesting video and discussion. I can only say anecdotally, that in my recording space, a condenser microphone will pick up a faucet running on another floor, any cat or dog sound anywhere in the house, my wife on the phone 3 rooms away, or a car passing by in the street; while a dynamic mic, in the same circumstances, will at most pick up a dog bark. In your test, it might have been a better demo to use only the dryer in the next room for comparison, as I think music has a unique way of calling attention to itself, both subjectively in the listener's head, and in terms of frequency range. Just my .02.

most dinamics are better at rejectiing of axis, so you dont get that many of the room sound, just record yourself in an untreated space with a dinamic and with a condenser and you will hear it

OMG THE LOOP IN THE BACKGROUND

I don't understand why these kinds of myths and snake oil is so common in the audio space. I'm more interested in headphones, but I was looking to purchase a new mic last week and obviously the question of dynamic vs condenser mic came up. I was aware that most people say that dynamic mics reject more background noise, but it never made sense to me. The microphone has no way to differentiate between the desired sound (your voice) and the background noise. The only thing that makes a difference is the polar pattern, which is not exclusive to dynamic or condenser mics. I saw audio tests where people were comparing the background noise by talking into the microphone, and having the noise source (e.g. an AC) directly behind them. That makes absolutely no sense, as both sounds are coming from the same direction. The microphone can not differentiate that. From a physics stand-point there should be no difference in how much noise a dynamic and condenser mic pick up, just purely from the technology. Yes, a condenser is typically going to capture a wider frequency range, but that can easily be EQd, e.g. you could lower the upper frequencies to pick up less sharp details, which might be perceived to sound louder. What I don't understand is why these myths are so common even among individuals that are well respected in the field. My issue is that it influences people's purchasing decisions. E.g. in the headphone space it's gotten a bit better in some areas, for example most people know that expensive cables won't make your headphones sound better, but people still keep repeating how some headphones are "amp picky" and need a powerful and expensive amp to sound good, when that's clearly not true, and has never been supported by any objective measurement.

get a high pass filter first lol

I have a u87 and a sm7b and for the u87 u really do need a treated room bc that mic will pick up everything. I love it though. I have a treated space for it but if you’re starting out, the sm7b will make your life easier for sure. I like both

I think most professionals wouldn't say a "dynamic microphone" would be best for a voice in an untreated space. Instead, they'd probably also suggest the pickup pattern. You also leave out the ability to close-mic more easily with most common dynamic microphones, thereby organically increasing signal-to-noise, sometimes exponentially over a tube condenser, etc. Yes, there are cardioid condensers, and some are specifically designed for close-micing of voice. But the RE20 is the king of broadcast mics, hands down, because it was designed specifically to be used in limited space, and achieve condenser-like qualities. The science employed in that mastery of engineering is something any aspiring audio-person should dive into.

Condensor mic with 1. low self noise 2. High sensitivity 3. Turn Gain down 4. Cardioid Polar Pattern.

Can you explain the difference between 1, 2, and 3?

I have my condensor mic has a gain knob which I max out, but on my pc the recording volume is set to as low as 2%. So far this seems to decrease the environment noise a lot, and then I use audacity to further Reduce Noise without affecting the Voice quality too much.

That is definitely not true. Dynamic microphones have a way better room noise rejection. And that is specially important if you either: 1. You record from a very loud street without double pane windows. 2. You breath deeply with your mouth when you speak. That is going to be way less worse in a dynamic mic if you are not directly breathing on the capsule as many of the higher frequencies of your breath are going to be rejected.

I mean, even in your own example I can hear more background sound through the condenser. It's much more detailed and clear as one would expect. So I don't know what you're on about there.

Let's be real here. We've been living in a world where everyone was gaming and chatting on cheap condensers. You could hear someone's dog lick their balls in the next room while babies are crying and an ambulance drives by. We just recently started getting easily accessible dynamics that work over USB. People that care sound great and no one can hear every keystroke or someone's roommate turning on the microwave. Please God, let's not pretend this was all a conspiracy and go back to the hot garbage of the past.

You can get into whatever you want about gain and polar patterns. But the reality is everyone that has heard both prefers their discord calls, podcasts and streamers to be on dynamic mics. Because they so obviously reject more off axis sound that it would be "really bad advice" to suggest otherwise.

So should I consider condenser mic? I want to record vocals and an instrument(synthesizer) along with it. Can a condenser mic capture both the sound(my vocal and the single instrument) at the same time?

This is very good info! A thought though. I would think that if it takes varying amounts of pressure to move different types of diaphragms there is at least slight amounts of inherent filtering to them. You obviously can't amplify something that doesn't affect the diaphragm at all. Whether or not that translates to something meaningful is a different story though. I don't usually have a problem with noise from ants walking on my desk and such, so I doubt it. :D

This video conflates a general concept of "noise" to mean both preamp noise versus background noise/reverb. Untreated spaces ate terrible for reverb in particular and in terms of someone trying to do some gentle post processing reducing a little hum/hiss from a preamp is infinitely easier than trying to somehow undo reverb

Thank you man, I am new, making research. First thing that scary me was the comment that the dynamic would work for me because I have unthreated space. But you video teach me a lot. I am really excited with condenser microphone and want to buy one, but when I read that it is bad for untreated space I get scary. Thank you very much.

Such a NEEDED video! Thank you for clarifying these issues! 🦦

Also, another reason behind “dynamics for untreated spaces” is that polar patterns are not fixed, they are frequency dependent. So while any two microphones may exhibit a tight response at 1khz, it’s common for condensers to actually drift towards an omni directional pickup pattern as you go down lower to lower octaves.

This can add to the perception of noisiness

I liked the deep bassy voice, I'm using a condenser microphone, but my voice output comes very soft just like a teenager. 😅 May i know you suggestion please?

Wow the price does have a big difference

i. think what u didnt say is that the dinamic mic gives you more dry vocal witch is perfect for mixing it not about the noise its about the dry signal no reverb

You can fool people with simple EQ on a sm58 to rival $3k microphones.
People will work for years to afford a mic, and spend zero time on technique, performance, or vocal training. Its hilarious.

very nice and hinest preview

My dynamic mic picks up the fish tank upstairs.