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Mic placement to cut down on echo
- Thread starter HST
- Start date
Bruce Watson
Veteran
Any tips on mic placement to cut down on echo in a very echo-y room? We can't afford accoustic foam, so just seeing what other options we might have. Working with EW100 G2 omni mics, running into HVX200. Would a different mic help?
Echo is a signal / noise problem. To get a bigger difference between your signal (speaker's mouth) and your noise (room echo) you need to get the mic closer to the signal. To that end, it might be worth it to you to investigate something like the Countryman B6 earset mic. IIRC you can get them wired for Sennheiser. An earset mic would put the mic darn close to the speaker's mouth, giving you about as good a signal / noise ratio as you can easily get in a hands free application. But... it's plainly visible. If that bothers you, you can hide tiny mics like this on eyeglass frames, in the person's hair, hat brim, etc.
But really, if you're getting too much echo and you're already using a lav, you've got too much reflection in the room. Sound blankets come to mind -- on the floor, on the walls, hanging off equipment carts, hanging off boom stands, or anything you can hang them on.
If you are already using a lav, and assuming it's positioned in a good way, then the only way to reduce reflections is by treating the room. Acoustic foam is not necessary - there are many things that are good at damping sound, such as thick blankets, duvets, rag rugs, matresses, pillows etc. Just take a walk around the house or a second hand shop, put some different materials in front of your mouth and listen to how much it takes away from your voice. If you are going in for damping a room from the beginning and have the material at hand, then it doesn't take much time at all.
Some tips is to keep folds in blankets/duvets, and to position them at some distance from the walls. Both of these things help reduce the lower frequencies.
Some tips is to keep folds in blankets/duvets, and to position them at some distance from the walls. Both of these things help reduce the lower frequencies.
Bruce Watson
Veteran
Some tips is to keep folds in blankets/duvets, and to position them at some distance from the walls. Both of these things help reduce the lower frequencies.
Yes, excellent point! This is one of those rare areas when neatness does not count. Neither does symetry. If you can't treat both walls that face each other, treat just one. And do keep the blankets off the wall if you can, but push-pinned to the wall is better than nothing.
Omni is actually the worst pattern for picking up echo in a room. This will pick up reverberation form all directions. Mics with a narrower pattern wil pick up less echo.
If you can't afford acoustic treatment, the use of matteresses, duvets, curtains and blankets with help. The thicker and denser the material, the lower the frequencies they will absorb. A couch or a thick matteress will absorb low frequencies as well as high frequencies. Egg cartoons only absorb high frequencies. Also, if you have air space between a wall and a hung up duvet it will work better than a duvet tacked to a wall.
If you can't afford acoustic treatment, the use of matteresses, duvets, curtains and blankets with help. The thicker and denser the material, the lower the frequencies they will absorb. A couch or a thick matteress will absorb low frequencies as well as high frequencies. Egg cartoons only absorb high frequencies. Also, if you have air space between a wall and a hung up duvet it will work better than a duvet tacked to a wall.