A Multi-Angle, Multi-Distance Dataset of Microphone Impulse Responses

Abstract

A new publicly available dataset of microphone impulse responses (IRs) has been gener- ated. The dataset covers 25 microphones, including a Class-1 measurement microphone and polar pattern variations for seven of the microphones. Microphones that were included had omnidirectional, cardioid, supercardioid, and bidirectional polar patterns; condenser, moving-coil, and ribbon transduction types; single and dual diaphragms; multiple body and head basket shapes;smallandlargediaphragms;andend-addressandside-addressdesigns.Usingacustom-developedcomputer-controlledprecisionturntable,IRswerecapturedquasi-anechoicallyatincidentanglesfrom0 ◦ to 355 ◦ in steps of 5 ◦ and at source-to-microphone distances of 0.5, 1.25, and 5 m. The resulting dataset is suitable for perceptual and objective studies related to the incident-angle–dependent response of microphones and for the development of tools for predicting and emulating on-axis and off-axis microphone characteristics. The captured IRs allow generation of frequency response plots with a degree of detail not commonly available in manufacturer-supplied data sheets and are also particularly well-suited to harmonic distortion analysis.