Glossary: Cardioid | Sweetwater.com

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Cardioid: A microphone polar (pickup) pattern. Characterized by strong sensitivity to audio from the front of the mic, good sensitivity on the sides (at 90 degrees, 6 dB less than the front), and good rejection of sound from the rear, the cardioid pattern can almost be visualized as a "heart-shaped" pattern (hence its name).
The ability to reject sound from the rear makes cardioid patterns very useful in multi-miking situations, and where it is not desirable to capture a large amount of room ambience. Popular in both studio and live use (where rear rejection cuts down on feedback and ambient noise), cardioid mics are used for a very high percentage of microphone applications.
Keep in mind that like all non-omnidirectional mics, cardioid mics will exhibit pronounced proximity effect (see WFTD archives, "Proximity Effect").

C-weighting	Cabinet	Cabinet Grand
Cache RAM	Cadence (or Close)	Cadillac Tailpiece
Camber	Canned Music (Slang)	Canon
Cans	Cantilever	Cantus Firmus
Capacitance	Capacitor	Capo
Capstan	Capsule	Capture
CardBus	Cardioid	Carillon
Carrier	Cart Machine	Cartridge
Carved-top Guitar	Case Candy	Cassette Tape
Cat's Eye	Cat 5	Cat 6
Cathode	Cathode Biased	CBR
CBS Era	CCIR	CCIR 468-weighting
CCIR ARM-weighting	CC Number	CD+G
CD-ROM	CD-RW	CD24
CDDA	CD Extra	CDR
CD Text	Cedar	Celesta
Cent	Center Frequency	Center block
Center Tap	Centronics	Centronics 50
Challenge/Response	Chambered Body	Chamberlin
Chamfer	Channel Separation	Channel Status Bit
Channel Strip	Channel Voice Messages	Chart
Chase	Chatoyancy	Chipset
Chitarra Batente	Choke	Chooser
Chops	Chord	Chordophone
Chorus	Chroma	Chroma Keying
Chromatic (Chromatic Scale)	Chromatic Tailpiece	CIRC
Circle of Fifths	Circuit Breaker	Circumaural
CISC	CITES	CITES
Cittern	Clamping Voltage	Class-D Amplifier
Class A	Class AB	Class B
Class H	Classic	Claves
Clavinet	Claw/Drum Claw	Clear Coat
Clearwood	Clef	Click and Hold
Click Track	Client Ref	Clipboard
Clipping	Clock	Close-miking
Closed Ear	Cluster	CLV
CMOS	Common Mode Rejection	CMRR
CMYK	CNC	Coaxial Cable
Coda	Code	CODEC
Coercivity	COI KB 2200	Coil
Coil Tap	Coincident	Coloration
Comb Filter	Combination/Combi	Combo Amp
Combo Organ	Comb String Converter	Commission
Common Time	Comp/Comping	Compact Disc
Compact Flash	Companding	Compass
Compensation (guitar)	Compilation Score	Compile
Component Video	COM Port	Composite Track
Composite Video	Compound Interval	Compound Meter
Compound Radius	Compression	Compression (data)
Compression Driver	Compressor	Concertina
Concert Pitch	Condenser Microphone	Conductor
Confidence Monitoring	Conform	Conga
Consecutive interval	Console	Consonance
Con Sordino	Constant Directivity	Constant Q
Contact Mic	Contact Pressure (Headphones)	Continue
Continuity	Continuo	Continuous Controller
Contour Amount	Control Panel	Control Room
Control Surface	Control Voltage	Conversion Latency
Convolution	Cool	Copy
Copyleft	Copyright	Coral Sitar
CoreAudio	CoreMIDI	Corrupt/Corruption
COSM	Coulomb	Counter
Counterpoint	Count off (Count in)	Coupling
CPU	CPUCycle	Crash
CRC	Crescendo	Crest Factor
Critical Band	Critical Distance	Cross-Modulation
Crossfade	Crossover	Crossover Cable
Crossover Distortion	Cross Platform	Cross Stick
Cross Stick Crosstalk	Cross Switch	Crosstalk
Crotchet	CRT	CRV
CS-80	Csound	CS Update
Cue	Cue List (Cue Sheet)	Current
Current Limiting	Cursor	Cut
Cut-Only Equalizer	Cutaway	Cutoff Frequency