Directional microphones trade speech clarity for degraded sound-localization cues

Evidence

However, these techniques have been characterized to lack a ‘sense of space’ (Streicher and Dooley, 1985). One reason for the weak perception of space is that the microphones are directional and are directed typically towards the instruments. The effect of the room, in turn, arrives evenly from all directions, and thus the directional pattern effectively reduces the level of reverberation in the recording. — Ville Pulkki, Matti Karjalainen, Communication Acoustics- An…, 1840 (#expands, via linked claim)

Most practical microphones do not have an even response at all angles as a function of frequency. In general, they become more directional as the frequency increases. As most microphones are designed to give a specified on-axis frequency response in order to capture the direct sound accurately, this results in a response to the reverberant sound that falls with frequency. For recording contexts in which the direct sound dominates, for example close miking, this effect is not important. However, in recordings in which the reverberant field dominates, for example classical music recording, the effect is significant. Applying some high-frequency boost to the microphone signal can compensate for this. — David M. Howard, Jamie Angus, Acoustics and Psychoacoustics, 2430 (#expands, via linked claim)

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: Microphone construction determines directional sensitivity patterns like cardioid and dipole; Directional hearing-aid microphones improve speech-in-noise SNR by over 7 dB. — Jennifer Lentz, Psychoacoustics- Perception of Normal…, 1735; Directional coincident microphones suppress room reverberation, killing sense of space — Ville Pulkki, Matti Karjalainen, Communication Acoustics- An…, 1840 (+3 more)

Broader Connections

• Directional coincident microphones suppress room reverberation, killing sense of space #expands (0.82) — Ville Pulkki, Matti Karjalainen, Communication Acoustics- An…, 1840
• Microphones become more directional at higher frequencies, darkening off-axis reverberant sound #expands (0.80) — David M. Howard, Jamie Angus, Acoustics and Psychoacoustics, 2430
• Hearing aids distort localization cues and often worsen localization #exemplifies (0.75)