Microphones
Wired studio, stage and installed microphones — condensers, dynamics, pencils, handhelds and ceiling arrays — chosen by the sound and the room.
How to choose a microphone
Transducer type. Dynamic capsules ignore room reflections and handle high SPL — the reason the Shure SM7B is the default podcast and broadcast mic in a bedroom. Condensers (Rode NT1 5th Generation, Shure SM4) hear more detail and more of your room, so they reward treatment.
Polar pattern. Cardioid rejects what is behind it and suits one speaker per mic. Omni and figure-8 exist for a reason, but they will pick up the air conditioner too.
Connector and gain. XLR mics need a preamp with enough clean gain; low-output dynamics like the SM7B are the usual reason a cheap interface disappoints. The SM7dB solves it with a built-in preamp.
Handling. A mic on a boom in a studio, a mic held on a stage, and a mic flush in a ceiling are three different builds.
Shure supplies most of this shelf (139 models), with Rode adding the NT1 and NTR ribbon lines and Hollyland the MELO P1 handheld. Conference and beamforming arrays such as the MXA902 ship as systems — use the enquiry form so we can confirm the DSP and network side before anything ships.