Parabola reflector

soren k jensen

soren k jensen

Well-known member
So, yes, on-camera mics are bad for my health. But, sometomes that's what you got. So, has anyone tried to enhance the directivity of, say a MKH-416 or similar mic, with a parabola reflector. Any opinions?
best, Mr. Parabola
 
I've tried with no luck to date... but I'm totally intrigued by the idea.

The Big Ears type that are used at football games use a lav (mke2) at the center of the parabola... so I'd consider starting there. If I come up with something I'll be sure to post it... my enthusiasm for esoteric items comes and goes... right now the parabola is low on my list... but you may have just start the wave to get it higher on my list... by two weeks from now I could have a full blown vacu-formed parabolic and have totally lost my mind obsessing about it... thanks a lot.
 
Matt,
You should totally figure out how to use the Oktava in a parabolic shell then strike a deal with Sound-Room for them to sell them for you (or sell them here). If you could get them in at a decent price I'd immediately order 2. Come on! :-)
 
I don't imagine an interference tube mic would play well on a parabolic reflector. The noise canceling effect of the interferrence tube combined with the focus of the parabolic would leave you with a mishmash of canceled out freq.

You want to build your own? You can start here: http://scientificsonline.com/product.asp?pn=3053875&bhcd2=1165458781

After that all you need is a focusing arm, a handle, and a mic (all pretty easy to make yourself, except for the mic). I have seen DIY plans on the internet but dont have any link handy.

Don't expect too much. Even the best ones ( like 3 feet diameter NFL ones) might get you legiable audio but it will not sound too good.

Cheers
 
Hi Soren,

Hmm, if you're trying to capture audio, the wavelength for 1Khz is a foot. But if you're trying to get 100 hz, a 10 foot parabolic dish (5 foot radius) might look a bit conspicuous, to say nothing about seeing your talent. I'd guess therein lies the problem why parabolic dishes aren't hot seller for audio. Of course, if you're not concerned with fidelity (spy applications?), go for it!

My guess is this type of gear would be fine to catch the whack of a ball being hit in a sporting event, race car engine, boxing matches, etc.
http://www.amazing1.com/accoustics.htm
http://www.pimall.com/nais/e.sound.html

Regards, Michael
 
Yeah, I want them for event videography for sporting events. The Oktava should be great, there is no interference tube for the hyper cap. Maybe the omni cap would be even better?
 
Let me repeat that the industry standard Big Ears uses a LAV.

You might want to consider following in the footsteps of a proven success rather then reinventing the wheel.
 
The larger the capsule the less focused (less "reach") your mic will be. A B6 would probably be the best mic to use.
 
First Parabolics in general don't sound that great so they aren't used all that much for when you want fidelity but more for when you just need to hear what's being said. But assuming this is OK with you, you do not want to be using a shotgun. The math behind a parabolic reflector (lights or sound) is that waves coming in to the reflector parrallel to the axis will all get bounced to the foci. Anything not parallel wont. So you want the smallest mic you can get (remember it's going to create a hole in the center of your pattern) and you want a wide cardioid if poss. You want to pick up as much of the dish as possible. And just to be clear if you didn't know already the mic is aimed into the dish not away from it, your picking up the bounce from the reflector.
 
Okay, i repent in asking for an Oktava to work with it. But it would be great to be able to buy a dish for like a $100 and put in my own lav and be able to take it to sports games and be able to get some sounds from the sidelines.
 
Ok guys, parabolic dishes may work - but they have absolutely zero sex appeal. bleeah.

The thread got me thinking of a long ago science project I never got around to - building a long range super directional shotgun mic from tuned cardboard tubes.
Very limited practicality (who really needs to hear a bird fart at half a mile) - but oh the visual charisma...

With all the audio stuff lying around this should be a slam dunk. Went looking for plans and came across this severely visually impaired link

http://packetstormsecurity.org/apoc2k/cue/shotgun.mic

which seems to have the basics.

As I said, not very practical but should be very fun to build and make one killer prop for my next sci-fi epic. :beer:


... and think of the fun explaining it to stadium security . . .
 
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