What is the polar pattern for the Rode NT3?

R

RERozak

DVXuser Sponsor
I'm confused.

On the features page, Rode indicates that it's a hypercardioid:
http://usa.rodemic.com/microphone.php?product=NT3

On the specifications page, Rode indicates that it's a cardioid:
http://usa.rodemic.com/microphone.php?product=NT3

Looking at the polar plot, it doesn't have the rear lobe that I would have expected on a hyper. But, the pattern on the sides does seem tighter than a cardioid:
http://usa.rodemic.com/microphone.php?product=NT3

When you google "Rode hypercardioid", you get a million websites of people selling the NT3 claiming that it's a hyper:
http://www.google.com/search?q=rode...s=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a


I sent a message to Rode support a while back, but didn't get a response. I'm confused. Does anybody know what it is supposed to be?

-R
 
I looked at the Rode pages again. Perhaps it has something to do with the fact that they mention the call out the acoustic principle to be pressure gradient. At first, I thought this was another error on the page, because I normally associate a figure-8 pattern with pressure gradient. So, perhaps this is some interesting combination of a pressure gradient and cardioid?

It also appears that a true hypercardioid still has a narrower pattern than the NT3 (whatever kind of pattern it is).

-R
 
It's a cardioid - the spec. says this and the polar-pattern shows this.

I think the "hyper-cardioid" bit in the description is a typing error.

The description "pressure-gradient" is correctly applied to any mic. that is not an omni. Although a fig-8 is pure pressure-gradient; the cardioid pattern is half-and-half pressure and pressure-gradient - but as it allows sound waves to reach the rear of the diaphragm to give the polar-pattern it is still correctly described as a pressure-gradient.
 
Well, that's too bad then. If that's really a typo by Rode, then it's been picked up by a million internet retailers and being marketed as a hypercardioid ... when it's not ...

If that's really the case, the I think Rode should do something about that ...

-R
 
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