Hey Guys!! Here were going to discuss omnidirectional VS  cardioid. If you want to know about omnidirectional and cardioid in detail, then this blog post is for you.

First of all let’s talk about, where omnidirectional and cardioid are used and what they are. There are multi-usage of omnidirectional like Omni-directional antenna used etc. 

A dish antenna is also designed in an omnidirectional way or pattern, as It is designed in a such way as to pick up and receive the full signals. 

I think you understood the basic knowledge or feature of an omnidirectional pattern. In simple words, it can pick up sounds and signals from all areas.

Here I’m talking about omnidirectional vs cardioid Microphone polar patterns. Let’s start with Omni directional polar pattern.

Omnidirectional Pattern

it’s necessary to confirm before you record whether your microphone is omnidirectional or not.

Some Useful Knowledge About Omnidirectional Polar Pattern:

Angle:

Angles make every polar pattern different from others, in Omnidirectional has no certain angle or degrees. It’s free to record and capture sound from every direction or area surrounding your mic. It means we can say it can record in 360 degrees.

Angle Of Minimum Sensitivity:

Did you know what is the angle of minimum sensitivity and what the role of the angle of minimum sensitivity in the microphone or picking up of sound?

The angle of sensitivity means at which minimum angle you can capture the sound. In an omnidirectional pattern, there is no minimum angle it can capture sound from all angles at a balanced level.

Balanced level:

In an omnidirectional pattern, your voice or sound simultaneously captures from the right, left, front, and back without being lower or higher. It maintains your audio or voice from all directions and angles.

Omnidirectional polar pattern accepts or picks up sound from every angle and the angle of minimum sensitivity is none. In an omnidirectional polar pattern, the Distance Factor(DF) is 1.0.

Is omnidirectional pattern focused or aimed at one source?

So guys!! There is another important Point, I can describe in a way that will be easy for you to understand.

Suppose,

Omni= All, 360 degrees, complete circle

Directional= Angles, Areas, Sides(Right, Left, Front, Back)

Pattern= Way, Path, Picks-up

Let’s summarize all words and make a concept or definition. Omnidirectional is a kind of pattern which pick up or capture sound from all direction.

If you understood the basic concept which I told you above, so you got your answer that omnidirectional can’t focus or be aimed at one source or it does not focus single direction.

This pattern can capture surrounding sounds or background sounds clearly and may be more echo in the recording with an omnidirectional polar pattern.

Best For:

No doubt it is the best polar pattern for multiple people who want to record their sound from different directions.

Cardioid Pattern

So now it’s time to talk about Cardioid Polar Pattern. I doing my best to clear you about the cardioid polar pattern in detail.

Cardioid:

Now let’s talk about the cardioid polar pattern in microphones. Cardioid is another type of polar pattern that is different from other polar patterns, especially from the omnidirectional pattern.

A cardioid pattern support or pick up a sound at certain angles like from the front it will give you maximum sound and from the left or right side it picks up sound at the lowest level.

So again summarized word-to-word like the above method will be easy for you to understand quickly.

Suppose,

Cardioid= Front Side(Full level of Sound), No Back or Rear Side Sound, less sound from Left or Right Side

Directional= Angles, Areas, Sides(Right, Left, Front, Back)

Pattern= Way, Path, Picks-up

Let’s conclude words and make a definition:

A cardioid polar pattern can pick up maximum sound from the front and from the right-left but not at a huge level. From the back or rear direction it will not pick up any kind of sound, this is a difference b/w omnidirectional and cardioid polar patterns.

Some Useful Knowledge About Cardioid Polar Pattern:

Angle:

In cardioid, there is an important role of angle in picking up sound. In the cardioid polar pattern, the maximum angle is 120 degrees.

Angle Of Minimum Sensitivity:

Yes, there is a certain angle of minimum sensitivity that is 180 degrees. It means the cardioid polar pattern does not capture sound perfectly at 180 degrees while the minimum distance factor(D.F) is 1.7.

Best For:

If you want to avoid feedback during concerts etc it is the best polar pattern for you.

Cardioid is also less noisy but depends on which polar pattern suits you for recording etc.

Omnidirectional VS Cardioid: Conclusion

Now Finalize the whole discussion, Omnidirectional VS cardioid which one is better so both polar patterns are better according to different conditions and usage. 

Omnidirectional polar is best for picking up the sound of multiple persons means Omni covers and pick-up sound from all areas so it is a better option for group or muli person use..

Omni is best for a group but cardioid is there totally opposite to the omnidirectional, cardioid picks up sounds from the front or in a certain direction or angle. The Cardioid has better sound rejection than the omnidirectional polar pattern.

It is best for vocals. Singing, recording voice-overs, and other recording purposes. To avoid feedback from people at concerts it is an ideal option for you. In simple words, cardioid is great for reducing background or disturbing sounds.

Thank you For for reviewing this omnidirectional vs cardioid blog of micstuff, Here are a few more articles you may interested in.

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