I've decided that I'm not happy with the microphones I've been using to record outdoors.  They are picking up too many of the distant sounds in the environment.

So I decided to test eleven of my microphones to see which type might work better.  That's right, welcome to Harris going all techy, geeko, and nerdapalooza for almost a full hour.  I tested various types of microphones ranging in cost from $30 to $1000.

You can see a photo of the microphones here: https://www.patreon.com/sleepwhispers/posts

Here are some terms I use in this recording:

Mini-boom mic: a small microphone that you might see on a gamer headset or used by a telemarketer. Boom: a long shotgun microphone that you might see on a long boom pole at a movie or TV film set. Condenser mic: a microphone type with more sensitivity for picking up distant sounds. Dynamic mic: a microphone type with less sensitivity for picking up distant sounds. Polar pattern: the focus pick-up area of the microphone, such as omni (from all directions), cardioid (mostly from the front), and super-cardioid or hyper-cardioid (very much from the front). Diaphragm: the specific part of the microphone which captures the sound waves - diaphragm size may be small, medium, or large.  Larger ones capture higher quality sound.

Here are the time codes to the different microphones tested.  I also included a rating score: <1> = low rating due to most distant sounds <5> = high rating due to least distant sounds

0m:0s Mic #1 (FUSION, condenser, cardioid, mini-boom):  <2> 12m:0s Mic #2 (VMODA, condenser, cardioid, mini-boom):  <3> 17m:22s Mic #3 (CAD, condenser, omni-setting):  <1> 20m:5s Mic #3 (CAD, condenser, cardioid-setting):  <3> 21m25s Mic #3 (CAD, condenser, super-cardioid-setting):  <4> 22m45s Mic #3 (CAD, condenser, omni-setting again):  <1> 24m20s Mic #4 (TASCAM, condenser, cardioid, candle-stick):  <4.5> 28m0s Mic #5 (POLSEN, condenser, cardioid, candle-stick):  <5> 30m40s Mic #6 (SENN-MKE, condenser, super-cardioid, boom):  <5> 33m55s Mic #7 (SENN-MKH, condenser, super-cardioid, boom):  <4> 37m55s Mic #8 (PYLE, dynamic, cardioid, handheld):  <3> 40m40s Mic #9 (SAMSON, dynamic, cardioid, handheld):  <2.5> 44m50s Mic #10 (ATR, dynamic, cardioid, handheld):  <3> 48m30s Mic #11 (SENN-835, dynamic, cardioid, handheld):  <3>

Summary: Cardioid was definitely better than Omni for recording outside.  Surprisingly, I think some condenser mics sounded better than the dynamic mics for rejecting distant sounds without adding extra hiss.  I think mics #5 and #6 picked up the least distant sounds.

http://media.blubrry.com/sleepwhispers/sleepwhispers.files.wordpress.com/2019/06/b32-outdoor-mic-testing.mp3