Earthworks CMK4 CloseMic Kit, User Manual

directional microphone? The singer at the front of the mic sounds great, but 
the two on the sides of the microphone sound muffled due to the lack of high 
frequency pickup at the sides of the microphone. In contrast, the Earthworks 
proprietary polar technology provides virtually the same frequency response 
on the sides of the microphone as at the front with no more than a 3dB loss at 
any specified frequency out to 80º off-axis). This extremely uniform frequency 
response at the front and sides of the microphone dramatically reduces phasing 
issues when using Earthworks microphones. Refer  to  Figure  2  A  &  B  to  see 
how uniform the Earthworks microphone (A) polar response is, in comparison 
to the conventional microphone (B).

Nearly Twice the Amount of Rear Rejection

Another disadvantage of the multi-microphone approach is picking up the un-
wanted sound of other elements of the drum set from the rear of each micro-
phone. Earthworks cardioid microphones have a very high rejection of sounds 
at the rear of the microphone. This greatly reduces the leakage of cymbals 
or other drum sounds at the rear of Earthworks microphones. Convention-
al microphones provide only 18dB of rear rejection, while Earthworks micro-
phones with 32dB of rear rejection provide nearly twice the amount of rejection 
of conventional microphones. The Earthworks drum mics will nearly eliminate 
any leakage present at the rear of the microphone. Figure 3 shows conven-
tional drum microphones with 18dB of rear rejection and Figure 4 shows the 
Earthworks drum microphones with 32dB of rear rejection. 

4

A

DM20 Polar

Conventional Polar

Earthworks SR30 Cardioid

500

1K

2K
4K

8K

15K

Competitive Cardioid

500

2K

15K

10K

1K

20K

5K

500

1K

2K
4K

8K

15

B

Within 3dB 

500Hz to 

16kHz

Within 12dB 

500Hz to 

15kHz & 

Within18dB

to 20kHz

Figure 2-A & 2-B  Earthworks vs. Conventional Polar Response