User guide
The SF-24 is reasonably tolerant of shock and vibration, but care should be taken to prevent
accidental stretching of the ribbon elements. This is covered in the Care & Maintenance section
of this manual. The performance of the microphone is unaffected by changes in temperature or
humidity.
Applications
The SF-24 is a highly versatile microphone, ideally suited for a wide range of critical recording
applications. From drums, acoustic stringed instruments and stereo vocals to ensembles like big
band, orchestra and jazz groups, your SF-24 will capture performances with uncanny realism and
a beautifully full stereo image.
Because of the SF-24’s coincident crossed figure-8 pattern, M-S (mid-side) recording from one
microphone is easily achievable. Once a recording has been completed using the proper
orientation, the sound field can be adjusted from pure monophonic to “super wide.”
Although spaced microphones can produce similar stereophonic results, such recordings when
summed to mono can suffer from “comb filter” effects: peaks and dips in the frequency response.
When the SF-24 is used for M-S recording, the feeling of space changes but the sonic quality
does not. For more detailed information on the M-S technique, see the chapter Recording
Techniques: Mid-Side (M-S) Recording in this manual.
The SF-24’s small size and optical black chromium finish create minimal disturbance in the
visual field, which is especially important when the microphone must not obstruct the view of an
audience or of a motion picture or TV camera.
Ribbons in the Digital World
Digital recordings benefit greatly from the properties inherent in ribbon microphones. Since A to
D converters cannot distinguish between the sound source being recorded and the complex
distortion components often associated with condenser microphones, they sometimes have
difficulty tracking the signal, resulting in ringing and edgy-sounding tracks. With ribbon
microphones, ringing is almost nonexistent due to the ribbon’s lack of distortion artifacts and
high frequency peaks. A to D converters have less difficulty tracking the ribbon generated signal,
resulting in very smooth digital recordings free of microphone-related edginess.
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