I was looking at a display of Pearl microphones at a local expo, and
while I have heard of them before, I've never used them. What i didn't
realize is they all use rectangular diaphragms!

Anyone have any ideas as to the advantages or disadvantages in a
rectangular design? And how does that translate to real world usage?

They sure were pretty. But then again, so were the Schoeps, and the
Soundelux's, and the...

Jeez. What is it about microphones that are so erotic! (Besides the
obvious).

Thanks!

In article ,
White Swan wrote:
I was looking at a display of Pearl microphones at a local expo, and
while I have heard of them before, I've never used them. What i didn't
realize is they all use rectangular diaphragms!

Anyone have any ideas as to the advantages or disadvantages in a
rectangular design? And how does that translate to real world usage?

A rectangular diaphragm allows you to have a larger diaphragm area
with less HF beaming in one axis (the narrow one). Larger diaphragm
area (all else being equal) will give you lower noise and greater
output. Having one axis where the HF doesn't beam will (should?)
allow you to get better imaging, as long as you orient the mike
correctly. I've never used the Pearl mikes, but I'd imagine their
polar patterns would be unique.

The difference between rectangular and circular (or annular) in terms
of where the resonances fall is much more complex, and unfortunately,
I don't know enough to tell you more specifically what'd be different.
I do know that it will affect where the HF resonances will fall and
that the capsule should sound different than one with a circular or
annular diaphragm. All mike capsules have a sound, and the shape of
the diaphragm can affect this (along with a lot of other things).

Jeez. What is it about microphones that are so erotic! (Besides the
obvious).

I'm not so sure about erotic (and I could think of other sins to
match), but mikes are really pretty magical devices sometimes. If
you've been doing this for enough time, you've probably heard some
random mike do an absolutely amazing job of capturing what's out there
and perhaps a little more. That little extra is the stuff that makes
us salivate.

Then, there's also the whole 'jewelry' aspect of a fine mike. Not
only are the innards made to fine tolerances, but the finish and
design of a great mike is usually pretty awe inspiring too. Then
again, the simple fact that some lump of metal and plastic can extract
an electronic signal from reality that contains so much neat stuff is
probably what turns me on the most.

"Hello, I'm Monte McGuire, and I'm a mike junkie."

I've had a fascination with them for over 20 years now, and there are
still new mikes to be discovered and old friends to be revisited. I
guess you're pretty much hooked too, and in defense of this
fascination, I find that mikes are the only 'guilt free' audio devices
I've ever purchased. They last nearly forever if you treat them right
and they continue to have great relevance even when the basic
mechanisms of recording keep changing so rapidly. I have mikes from
the 20s that I use fairly regularly, and that's pretty extraordinary
IMHO. I'm certain I won't use the workstation I'll buy this month 5
years from now, but I'd never say that about any quality mike.


Have fun,

Monte McGuire

(Monte P McGuire) wrote in message ...

I'm certain I won't use the workstation I'll buy this month 5
years from now, but I'd never say that about any quality mike.



I hope the original poster of the "Do I Really Want An Analog Tape
Deck?" thread reads that sentence!

I'm certain I won't use the workstation I'll buy this month 5
years from now, but I'd never say that about any quality mike.

I've owned my Pearl TC-4v mics for almost 30 years.

One advantage of a rectangular capsule is that its asymmetry splits the
resonances a wider range of frequencies.

In article , "William Sommerwerck"
writes:

One advantage of a rectangular capsule is that its asymmetry splits the
resonances a wider range of frequencies.

Does anyone remember the "piano" shaped Yamaha speakers that were sold in the
late 60s or early 70s? I remember asking the salesman why the shape and he said
that the lows were produced by the wide part of the cone (if you could call it
a "cone") and the highs by the narrow. I never knew whether that was actually
possible or not.

Garth~


"I think the fact that music can come up a wire is a miracle."
Ed Cherney

(Monte P McGuire) wrote:
I've never used the Pearl mikes, but I'd imagine their
polar patterns would be unique.

I have a Milab VIP50 that uses a similar diaphragm, and the polar
pattern differ considerably in the high end depending on the
orientation. Placed properly it is very nice indeed.

"Per Karlsson" schreef in bericht
om...
(Monte P McGuire) wrote:
I've never used the Pearl mikes, but I'd imagine their
polar patterns would be unique.

I have a Milab VIP50 that uses a similar diaphragm, and the polar
pattern differ considerably in the high end depending on the
orientation. Placed properly it is very nice indeed.
Yes, proper placing will do the trick with VIP-50 and Milab DC96B.
Milabs mics are now being sold as Microtech-Geffel VIP-50, DC...etc. on
the MG website.

HS

Does anyone remember the "piano" shaped Yamaha speakers that were sold in
the
late 60s or early 70s? I remember asking the salesman why the shape and he said
that the lows were produced by the wide part of the cone (if you could call it
a "cone") and the highs by the narrow. I never knew whether that was actually
possible or not.

I thought of those as "ear" shaped & they were accompanied by some hilarious ad
copy stating that since our ears (i.e. pinnae,) weren't round, why should
speakers have to be.

Scott Fraser

William Sommerwerck wrote:

One advantage of a rectangular capsule is that its asymmetry splits the
resonances a wider range of frequencies.

This statement jiggled my on-line hype detector. Not accusing you
of anything; just saying that some salesperson's line should not be
swallowed whole. This is not an area I know oodles about, but what
I do know is enough, I think, to cast some needed doubt here.

The resonances of any condenser microphone's membrane(s) are very heavily
damped in the construction of the capsule. The primary resonance of a
typical pressure gradient capsule is at a frequency of several kHz, and
does not correspond to any peak in the capsule's frequency response.

With pressure transducers the resonant frequency is at or near the top
end of the audio frequency spectrum, but the mikes you're talking about
are directional, no?

Does anyone remember the "piano" shaped Yamaha speakers that were sold in
the
late 60s or early 70s? I remember asking the salesman why the shape and he
said
that the lows were produced by the wide part of the cone (if you could call
it
a "cone") and the highs by the narrow. I never knew whether that was actually
possible or not.

I thought of those as "ear" shaped & they were accompanied by some hilarious
ad
copy stating that since our ears (i.e. pinnae,) weren't round, why should
speakers have to be.

Yamaha also pitched these as having been designed by their piano division,
which caused audio journalist Ken Kessler to give them a "Golden Turkey" award
with the comment, "Thank God they weren't designed by the motorcycle division."

Peace,
Paul

One advantage of a rectangular capsule is that its asymmetry splits the
resonances a wider range of frequencies.

This statement jiggled my on-line hype detector. Not accusing you
of anything; just saying that some salesperson's line should not be
swallowed whole. This is not an area I know oodles about, but what
I do know is enough, I think, to cast some needed doubt here.

I'm not the least bothered by someone's hype detector going off. We need more of
it!

No one ever told me this. It's something I always assumed. It certainly makes
sense, but whether it's literally true or significant, I'm not sure.

Suffice it to say, the Pearl rectangular-capsule mics have a good sonic
reputation.

These particular capsules are dual-diaphragm. Changing the bias changes the
pattern, from figure-8 to cardioid to omni, or anything in-between.

Does anyone remember the "piano" shaped Yamaha speakers?
I remember asking the salesman why the shape and he said the
lows were produced by the wide part of the cone (if you could call
it a "cone") and the highs by the narrow. I never knew whether that
was actually possible or not.

It's theoretically possible if there's "decoupling" between the small and large
areas. That's how a "whizzer" cone on a speaker works.

The weird shape should theoretically disperse the resonances more than a
symmetrical design would. But who knows what the "real" reason was...

William Sommerwerck wrote:
Does anyone remember the "piano" shaped Yamaha speakers?
I remember asking the salesman why the shape and he said the
lows were produced by the wide part of the cone (if you could call
it a "cone") and the highs by the narrow. I never knew whether that
was actually possible or not.

It's theoretically possible if there's "decoupling" between the small and large
areas. That's how a "whizzer" cone on a speaker works.

Very poorly?
--scott
--
"C'est un Nagra. C'est suisse, et tres, tres precis."

Yes, proper placing will do the trick with VIP-50 and Milab DC96B.
Milabs mics are now being sold as Microtech-Geffel VIP-50, DC...etc. on
the MG website.

HS

What website?

Peter Andersson

"Peter Andersson" schreef in bericht
m...
Yes, proper placing will do the trick with VIP-50 and Milab DC96B.
Milabs mics are now being sold as Microtech-Geffel VIP-50, DC...etc. on
the MG website.

HS

What website?

Peter Andersson

There not on the MG website, I 've checked it too. I was on a - I think- a
German website
and they had a link to MG VIP-50 . There was a picture of Microtech-Geffell
VIP-50 with a price
of about 1400 euro. Same story for DC96B and VM44.
Sorry for mixing things up. Can't find the website anymore(no history) and
via Google: no hits.
I've been there twice, so somewhere...........................

HS

Monte P McGuire wrote:
In article ,
White Swan wrote:
Anyone have any ideas as to the advantages or disadvantages in a
rectangular design? And how does that translate to real world usage?

A rectangular diaphragm allows you to have a larger diaphragm area
with less HF beaming in one axis (the narrow one). Larger diaphragm
area (all else being equal) will give you lower noise and greater
output. Having one axis where the HF doesn't beam will (should?)
allow you to get better imaging, as long as you orient the mike
correctly. I've never used the Pearl mikes, but I'd imagine their
polar patterns would be unique.

So why are there no ribbon condensors? (Imagine the hype potential!)?
Very long thin rectangular shaped diapragms.

Rob R.

Rob Reedijk wrote:

So why are there no ribbon condensors? (Imagine the hype potential!)?
Very long thin rectangular shaped diapragms.

I believe that Pearl makes something called the ELM with a 1:7 ratio.
--scott

--
"C'est un Nagra. C'est suisse, et tres, tres precis."

(White Swan) wrote in message . com...
I was looking at a display of Pearl microphones at a local expo, and
while I have heard of them before, I've never used them. What i didn't
realize is they all use rectangular diaphragms!

Anyone have any ideas as to the advantages or disadvantages in a
rectangular design? And how does that translate to real world usage?

They sure were pretty. But then again, so were the Schoeps, and the
Soundelux's, and the...

Jeez. What is it about microphones that are so erotic! (Besides the
obvious).

Thanks!

These are fine sounding capsules but they do have some quirks. One is
that they roll off in the higher frequencies. PML/Milab/Pearl
overcomes this by adding a high frequency lift EQ circuit to correct
that and maintain flat response. I found that besides transistor
replacement (I'm not fond of the European "BC" series transistors) and
a decent JFET, adding a high quality polypropylene film cap like Wima
cleans up the top end of the capsule. This also applies to the VIP-50
which uses opamps which also should be changed out. What this top lift
EQ does to the phase and transient response is something worth
investigating. Anyone out there with insight on that?
Jim Williams
Audio Upgrades
http://www.audioupgrades.com

These are fine sounding capsules but they do have some quirks.
One is that they roll off in the higher frequencies. PML/Milab/Pearl
overcomes this by adding a high frequency lift EQ circuit to correct
that and maintain flat response.

This might be true. If it is, it greatly extends the response, because all four
of my TC-4V mics go well beyond 20kHz.