Boundary microphones are often chosen for their convenience as they have a low profile and a wide coverage, while requiring minimal setup at the same time. However, not all boundary microphones perform the same and choosing one is difficult as subtle differences in design, polar pattern, and build quality can dramatically affect intelligibility and noise rejection. This article compares several boundary microphones on the lower end of the price range to see how they differ in real-world use. Since there are many tests with repect to drum micing, this article aims at using boundary microphones for the recording of piano and vocals. Read more

Recently, I had the chance of comparing different cardioid small diaphragm condenser microphones. Among the test candidates were the Neumann KM 184 and the Haun MBC 440, which are both highly recommended and praised by a wider community. Further, I included a Rode M5 MP into the test to compare the high-quality microphones to a much cheaper one. To enable a real comparison of the microphones, I performed simultaneous recordings of an organ and vocals. The recording setup is described in the following, before the actual recordings are presented and evaluated. The corresponding audio files are also included below. Read more