Finding and Working with the Sweet Spot

Good engineers know the benefits of finding and working with the “sweet spot.” The sweet spot may also be defined as the optimum placement (working distance and angular position) of any microphone relative to the sound source. Each microphone has its own sweet spot whether it is a ribbon, dynamic or condenser type. The sweet spot will vary with the type of sound source and its volume intensity, the polar pattern of the microphone and how consistent it is with frequency, and the acoustic environment. Being in the sweet spot means the microphone and the sound source are in a harmony of sorts; the acoustic information is exciting the microphone in such a fashion that the resulting reproduction is very desirable, usually without the need of additional equalization or electronic manipulation.

There are only general rules as to where the sweet spot may be found for any given microphone, and usually experimentation reveals it. The sweet spot can be extremely variable since it depends on the quirks of a given microphone and a given room. Once the sweet spot is discovered, this placement can become a rule of thumb starting point for future microphone placement with similar sound sources. Remember this: If it sounds good, it’s probably right. If it doesn’t, move the microphone. It’s often more effective to reposition the microphone than to start fiddling with knobs.