Cardioid vs Omnidirectional: Which Mic Pattern to Use? (Full Transcript)

[00:00:00] Speaker 1: Today we're going to answer an age-old question. Cardioid versus omnidirectional. You see, a microphone captures audio with something called pickup patterns. And the two most common pickup patterns are cardioid and omnidirectional. A cardioid microphone captures sound mostly from the front and rejects everything else. That's why it's perfect for talking head videos, single subject, filmmaking, podcasts, anything where you want clean, focused sound. But an omnidirectional microphone captures sound from every direction, which can sound more natural but also picks up more of your environment around you. And this is where most creators get confused. All right, put simply, if you're recording in a noisy room, a cardioid pickup pattern can help reject those background noises and focus the recording in the front of the microphone. But if you're shooting an interview, a group scene, or if you want that immersive in-room feel, an omnidirectional pattern might be the right option. It's not about which microphone is better necessarily. It's about using the right type of microphone for the moment.