More on mic orientation

Sometimes it’s easy to tell when an inSync topic will generate a lot of responses and inquiries. Last week’s technical tip (see inSync 5/26/99) about microphone orientation was one such topic. I knew we would hear of everyone’s reason why it is one way or the other (I even alluded to this in the tip), and we sure did. One very valid technical reason for this did emerge though. A few people (including some Sweetwater employees) wrote in to explain that in old tube microphones it was considered better to position the mic upside down to prevent rising heat from the tubes from potentially damaging the fragile diaphragms being used (or at least altering their sound). Prolonged exposure to heat is not the ideal working environment for a diaphragm (especially old ones) and given how sensitive and expensive they are it was a sensible precaution. This isn’t as much of an issue with modern designs both because the tubes tend to run cooler and the diaphragms tend to be more robust. Once people saw old U-47’s being used upside down way back then it just became a sort of standard to position any microphone that way.