Mic Setup & Placement Field Techniques

The gear side of mic technique that doesn't show up in a formula — protecting the capsule from wind and pops, isolating it from stand rumble, wiring phantom power without frying a dynamic mic, and placing mics so you're not fighting for gain. Reference: SRH-MIC-TECH-01. These are independent field checks, grouped by topic rather than a strict build order — work through whichever section is relevant to the mic in front of you.

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Key facts: phantom power is most commonly 48 V (24 V shows up too), and most phantom-powered mics will happily run anywhere from roughly 1.5 V up to 50 V. A pop filter wants to sit about 3-6 inches off the capsule. A clean sock stretched over the mic is a legitimate emergency windscreen for outdoor paging, not just a joke. Every time you double the number of simultaneously open mics, you lose about 3 dB of gain-before-feedback — mute or fade down anything that isn't actively in use.

Windscreens & Pop Filters

Fit a foam windscreen on any mic working outdoors or exposed to wind or breath blasts — prioritise directional mics, since they're the most wind-sensitive. For studio-style vocal pop control, mount a nylon-mesh pop filter roughly 3-6 inches off the capsule rather than relying on the windscreen alone. No proper windscreen on hand and wind/pop noise is a problem? Improvise one from a clean sock stretched over the mic body — not pretty, but a genuine outdoor-paging fix. If wind or pop noise still isn't under control, try swapping the cardioid for an omni capsule — omnis are inherently less sensitive to wind gusts and plosives.

Shock Mounts

Put any stand-mounted mic that's picking up stand or floor rumble, or handling noise through the mic clip, into a proper shock mount. Shock mount broken or missing? Improvise one: wrap a strip of acoustical foam or a kitchen sponge around the mic body, secure it with tape, then tape the wrapped mic to the stand. Looks rough, isolates fine.

Phantom Power

Confirm which channels actually need phantom before touching the switch — condensers need it (typically 48 V, sometimes 24 V), dynamics and internally battery-powered electret condensers don't. Never send phantom power into a dynamic mic on an unbalanced connection — it can damage the mic. Phantom is only safe on a proper balanced line, where equal DC on both legs cancels at the transformer and only the audio signal gets through. Leave phantom switched off on any input running a dynamic or a battery-powered electret condenser unless you've confirmed the mic actually needs it. Don't assume a mic is faulty just because the desk is only putting out 24 V instead of 48 V — most phantom-powered mics tolerate a wide supply range.

Mic Placement & Gain Before Feedback

Get the mic as close to the source as practical — tighter miking means less electrical gain needed, which means cleaner sound and more headroom before feedback. Watch for preamp overload on close-mic sources — if you hear gross distortion up close, it's usually the preamp clipping rather than the mic, so pad the input instead of backing the mic off. Choose mics with high SPL handling for close-in work so the mic element itself isn't the thing that overloads first. Put a lavalier on any public speaker who wanders or won't stay on-axis to a handheld or podium mic — a fixed lav gives far more consistent level and tone than chasing a moving cardioid.

Reference: Number of Open Mics (NOM)

Every time the number of simultaneously open mics doubles, the system's usable gain-before-feedback drops by about 3 dB. Two open mics costs roughly 3 dB versus running just one; go to four open mics and you lose another 3 dB on top of that. It's a big part of why a multi-mic drum kit or a full panel discussion is harder to keep quiet than a single handheld. Mute or fade down anything that isn't actively being used — don't leave a channel open "just in case" if you don't have to.

Source: Davis, Gary D. & Jones, Ralph. The Sound Reinforcement Handbook, 2nd ed. (Hal Leonard/Yamaha). Section 10.4.1-10.4.5, pp.129-131. Rewritten in Ryan's own words from the source material.