Off-axis attenuation buys you rejection of the room, but off-axis colouration is what you hear: a cardioid at 90° is typically 6 dB down and noticeably duller, and that duller sound is arriving at your microphone all the time.
Off-axis response: what the mic does when you turn it away
checked 2026-09-16responsible Room Tone Register (a named register, not a person)
Attenuation by angle
| Angle from axis | Typical cardioid | Typical supercardioid | What you gain |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0° | 0 dB | 0 dB | — |
| 60° | −2 dB | −1 dB | Little |
| 90° | −6 dB | −3 dB | Some room rejection |
| 120° | −10 dB | −6 dB | Useful |
| 180° | −20 dB or more | −10 dB | Maximum, at the cost of a rear lobe |
The supercardioid's rear lobe is the reason the 'best' pattern is not simply the one with the most rejection. A hypercardioid rejects more at 110° and less at 180°, so the room behind the microphone leaks in through the rear. On a set with a noisy back wall, that is the wrong choice even though the specification looks better.
Colour, not level
Off-axis sound is not merely quieter, it is filtered. Diffraction around the body and the geometry of the port produce a response that rolls off at high frequency and often peaks somewhere in the midrange. The consequence is that the room's reflections arrive coloured, which is more audible than their level would suggest. It is why a well-treated room sounds better even when the measured floor is unchanged.
The trade you are actually making
Moving the microphone closer raises the direct sound by 6 dB per halving of distance and raises the proximity effect with it. Turning the microphone away lowers the room and colours what remains. These are the only two knobs you have without changing the room, and both of them change the voice you are trying to capture. There is no setting that keeps the voice exactly as it is and removes the room.
Proximity effect is a separate mechanism: it is a bass rise caused by the pressure-gradient construction, not by off-axis response. Treating them as one thing leads to the wrong fix.
Near kin: polar pattern, rear lobe and proximity effect
The polar pattern is the description of the whole response; off-axis response is what that description means at a particular angle. A rear lobe is the region behind a supercardioid or hypercardioid where sensitivity returns, and it is why more rejection at 110 degrees can be worse in a real room. Proximity effect is a separate mechanism: a bass rise caused by the pressure-gradient construction, not by the angle.
| Term | What it is | How it differs from off-axis response |
|---|---|---|
| Polar pattern | The whole angle-versus-sensitivity description | Off-axis response is that description at one angle |
| Rear lobe | Sensitivity returning behind the mic | A specific off-axis region, often the important one |
| Proximity effect | Bass rise with closeness | A distance effect, not an angle effect |
| Directivity index | A single number for how directional a mic is | A summary; hides the shape of the pattern |
The common misread is conflating proximity effect with off-axis colour and treating them as one bass problem. They have different causes and different fixes. Proximity effect responds to distance; off-axis colour responds to angle. A page that treats them as one thing will send you to the wrong control.
Source log
- 01Sound Radiation from a Baffled Piston, Penn State Acousticssupports the treatment of a microphone as a directional receiver with an angle-dependent response
- 02Reflection of Sound Waves, Penn State Acousticssupports the reflection behaviour that makes off-axis colour audible in a room
- 03Radiation from a Simple Source, Penn State Acousticssupports the radiation model behind the directivity of a source
Each line points at one specific document. No line is a home page.
Leave this page Close this page if you are choosing a microphone model rather than a position — this register does not review equipment.