Using PZM Mics in Big Rooms

Let’s say you have to record a seminar and then provide copies on CD to everyone who attends. Sound like fun? Hey, recording doesn’t always involve a guitar! Naturally, your first problem is capturing everything being said in the room without the annoying room ambience (reflections off walls and such) making things a muddled mess. Here’s where a PZM mic comes in real handy. PZM stands for Pressure Zone Mic, but they are also known as boundary microphones, because they depend on a specific audio phenomena known as the boundary effect. The main advantage of using a PZM mic like the Crown SASS-P is the elimination of interference from reflected sound waves. In the pressure zone microphone, sound waves are always in phase plus there’s a wide stereo field and no interference. What’s more, PZM mics also tend to have a very smooth frequency response, good off-axis consistency and strong output levels.