Why do low-quality microphones hear the S and SH sounds as it was someone blowing/wind?
In: Technology
Because they lack what’s called a pop filter, which is the soft thing you usually see around the microphone or mesh that’s often in front, all microphones need that or it will sound that way unless you talk very quietly
Because those sounds, generally above others, are just “wind” noise. Try it; if you make a ‘sh’ noise and hold it for a while, it just sounds like you are blowing. It is only when combined with other sounds that it makes anything recognizable as speech.
Higher-quality microphones and software can compensate for this by reducing the harshness of the wind sound. The easiest way to do this is with a wind-sock: basically a foam sleeve that goes over the microphone. Other ways are by preset sample reduction (the developers set what they wanted to eliminate and the mic does that as it records). Distance from the microphone and pop-screens also help to break up the air and only get the sound.
We breath a lot of air out as we speak (more when we sing), so any means to disrupt the “wind” coming out of our mouths and only get the sound is going to help reduce it.
Also higher quality mics got these, maybe not as hard as cheap mic‘s but also hearable. Producers using the de-esser to find the sweatspot of the „s“ „sh“ sound to reducing the aggressivity of the annoying noise.
Not answering ur question, I dont‘t know, why low quality microphones aren‘t as good as higher one, obviosly it depends on the hardware.
Ideally, a microphone only picks up the vibrations in the air produced by your speech. But in addition to vibrations, we also exhale and produce “wind” when we speak, with S and SH sounds producing sustained wind. That wind exerts a force on the microphone that disturbed its ability to detect vibrations. That’s why microphones often have a foam cover, it disperses wind while allowing vibration to enter.
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