
Tech Focus: Meet My Mic - Sports-Audio Pros and Their Favorite Microphones The Beatles, air-raid sirens, and polar patterns are behind their choices By Dan Daley, Audio Editor
Wednesday, October 16, 2024 - 7:00 am
Print This Story | Subscribe
Story Highlights
A boy and his dog, a girl and her cat, an A1/A2 and his or her microphone. Some things just go together. Periodically, we ask sports-audio technicians what their favorite microphones are and why. Here's the latest edition.
Steven Chapman/Old Favorites: Asking what is your favorite microphone is like asking a Beatles fan what your favorite Beatles song is. I started out in Seattle working for Northwest Mobile TV in the early '80s, working local sports, and freelanced for the three networks. I ended up working freelance for NBC Sports from the late 1980s until 2020. I'm very proud to note that, during the 1995-96 television seasons, I mixed the World Series, Super Bowl, NBA Finals, Summer Olympics (Athletics) and Opening and Closing Ceremonies - all within a one-year time period.
I've always made good use of the Sennheiser MKH 816. This was my main microphone on the NBA. I used a wood wedge on the handheld camera's handle so the 816 would be pointed down toward the floor, and used the MKH 416 as a backup if the camera operator wasn't shooting the action. I also used two MKE 2's on each backboard and poked two holes into the bottom rubber about 4 in. apart. This gave me a great stereo net sound.
For the NFL crowd and referee whistle, when my two non-submixed parabolic microphones were moving, I used 416's and a Shure BETA 87A mounted together pointed at the field. This made a very nice stereo effect back in the 1990s before the Sennheiser 418ST. I also used the BETA 87A for the on-camera stand-ups. The only problem was, if the XLR screw on the microphone was not tight enough, it would take hits because they are phantom-powered. When [the late] Bob Dixon was working for NBC Olympics, he asked me what my preferred hand microphone was, I said BETA 87. However, he didn't want to deal with phantom power so he started sending me microphones to A/B with the BETA 87A. We came up with the long-handle Sennheiser MD46, which has taken over for the old standard Electro-Voice 635A, which was being used for everything when I started in 1979. They're the old favorites, just like the Beatles.
Geoff Lissaman/Siren Sound - I started in the early '80s in Montreal, playing in and mixing local bands, and kind of never stopped. For the past eight years, I've been the in-arena mixer for the Vegas Golden Knights. Since a Knights game is part concert, part circus - with some hockey mixed in! -I have a fairly wide mix of gear. Quite a few high-end mic-pre's, tube compressors, and all the plugins for things that have migrated to digital.
Arena hosts for Vegas Golden Knights' Mark Shunock and Katie Marie flank announcer Michael Buffer manning the siren.
With 100 some-odd inputs used each game, I use a large variety of mics. One of the most interesting is the Siren mic. It's just that: a hand-cranked, old-school air-raid siren. I needed a microphone that was directional enough to pick up without also getting too much of the PA in the sound system (which is, of course, pointing right at the Siren), able to handle the SPL of being stuck in front of an air-raid siren without distorting, and, of course, look like it belongs in the shot when the celebrity-of-the-game cranks the Siren. (The Siren's volume can reach in excess of 110 dB, depending on how enthusiastically it's cranked.)
After several failed tries, I ended up with the Shure Super 55. It has been flawless in this application. Been knocked over, slammed around, bumped, banged, but just keeps working and capturing the siren sound. Also looks cool enough - it's the classic Elvis microphone - that I've yet to have a producer ask to have the mic moved out of the shot. It's a great combination for sports and entertainment.
Michael Abbott: My number-one criterion for a microphone is polar-pattern characteristics that provide consistent frequency response.
Michael Abbott - A three-time Grammy winner for sound mixing, Abbot counts among his sports credits audio project manager and engineer for the Los Angeles 1984 Olympics Opening and Closing Ceremonies and the 2002 FIFA World Cup Opening Ceremonies in Seoul.
My number-one criterion for a microphone is polar-pattern characteristics that provide consistent frequency response. Manufacturers provide me with new microphone technologies that sometimes are in a beta-testing phase but become my go-to mic for a period of time, in part due to some unique aspect of performance or sonic quality: such as effective off-axis rejection, no hype in the frequency response, or no handling noise, and, no matter how the user holds the mic, it doesn't produce popping artifacts.
After years of using different microphones, I inevitably return to the same microphone that provides the consistency I need: the Shure SM58. In live broadcast production, I don't have the luxury of time to experiment, and the SM58 is a known value for me. I am always open to trying newly introduced mics, such as the Shure Nexadyne or Austrian Audio OC707, but, the majority of the time, the SM58 provides the response that I trust in what I am hearing and the EQ I will preset on the fader strip.
For crowd/audience-reaction microphones, types and placement are just as important as the choice of a mic, and I have several mic types that I use. The Sennheiser MKH 416 and Neumann KM 184 are what I primarily use for the crowd-reaction bed. Recently, I have also started using the Shure ceiling-array microphones, which I center directly over the audience; using the MEMS transducers (micro-electro-mechanical sy
More from Sports Video Group
09/09/2026
Sony Electronics has announced the SEL814G, the company's first fisheye zoom G Lens for full-frame Alpha E-mount cameras. The lens will be available in Octo...
09/09/2026
Telestream has announced an expansion of its Practical AI capabilities across th...
09/09/2026
Haivision and Chyron have announced a technology partnership integrating Haivisi...
09/09/2026
Omaha Productions has released ManningCast: Heist, a short film featuring Peyton and Eli Manning attempting to break into NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell's o...
09/09/2026
Imagine Communications will demonstrate the next evolution of XVR at IBC2026 (Stand 1.B73, RAI Amsterdam, September 11-14).
XVR is Imagine's channel-in-a-b...
09/09/2026
swXtch.io has announced abbe, an AI-based orchestration layer for live media workflows, making its world premiere at IBC2026 (Meeting Room 5.MR13, Hall 5, Septe...
09/09/2026
NFL Films has announced the second season of Inside the NFL on X as an X Original, premiering Wednesday, September 9. The series marks Inside the NFL's 50th...
09/09/2026
LiveU has announced an expanded partnership with The Associated Press, deploying the largest fleet of LU900Q intelligent production units in the industry as par...
09/09/2026
Diversified has announced plans to consolidate its four existing New Jersey locations into a new facility in Newark, expected to be fully operational by the end...
09/09/2026
Wisycom will exhibit new RF products at IBC2026 (Stand 8.D60, September 11-14), including the MATF Wideband Antenna Matrix, PFL Portable RF over Fiber Box, and ...
09/09/2026
Guntermann & Drunck (G&D) and VuWall, both Panoptec companies, will introduce vsNEO at IBC2026 (Stand 8.B63, September 11, RAI Amsterdam). Pre-orders open in ea...
09/09/2026
Mo-Sys has completed a business restructuring and relocated to a new facility in Canada Water, London. As part of the reorganization, Selin Kemal has been promo...
09/09/2026
Aicox has integrated TAG Video Systems' Core monitoring platform into Telef nica's TSAmediaHUB audiovisual contribution and distribution infrastructure....
09/09/2026
Blackmagic Design has released DaVinci Resolve 21.1, a free update available now through the Blackmagic Design website. The release adds new AI tools, workflow ...
09/09/2026
ESPN and Apple Music have announced a collaboration on music curation for Monday...
09/09/2026
Sacramento Production Services has completed a wireless audio overhaul at Sutter Health Park, home of the Athletics during their three-year residency in Sacrame...
09/09/2026
NDI and NVIDIA have announced a collaboration to develop AI-powered workflows enabling broadcasters to create and distribute multilingual content from a single ...
09/09/2026
Christopher Chip Adams, Troy Aikman, Jim Dove, Jim Eady, Bucky Gunts, Robert A. Iger, Charlie Jablonski, Robert Kraft, Tom Rinaldi, and Dick Stockton to be ho...
09/09/2026
ND2 returns as the primary unit, While FNIA gets SSQC and new flexible Rover...
08/09/2026
Comcast Technology Solutions (CTS) has announced a multi-year agreement with A E...
08/09/2026
Spectra Logic today announced the availability of Media Insight, a new capabilit...
08/09/2026
Rogers Communications and Quebecor have announced a 12-year sublicensing agreement for French-language national NHL games beginning with the 2026-27 season. TVA...
08/09/2026
Skyline Communications and Bridge Technologies will demonstrate two integrations...
08/09/2026
Boland Communications will make the European debut of its 4K55HDR7SNB 55-inch super-narrow-bezel monitor at IBC2026 (Stand 12.C57, RAI Amsterdam, September 11-1...
08/09/2026
Ateme and Comcast Technology Solutions (CTS) have announced a collaboration comb...
08/09/2026
Haivision has joined the IBC Accelerator Media Innovation Programme as part of t...
08/09/2026
Blackmagic Design has announced price reductions on its PYXIS 6K and Cinema Camera 6K models, effective immediately through Blackmagic Design resellers worldwid...
08/09/2026
AI-Media will demonstrate its LEXI Suite at IBC2026 (Booth 5.C34, September 11-1...
08/09/2026
Bitmovin and Ad Insertion Platform (AIP) have announced the first live deploymen...
08/09/2026
Grass Valley will demonstrate story-centric media workflows at IBC2026 (Booth 9.A01, RAI Amsterdam, September 11-14), connecting newsroom production, content ma...
08/09/2026
M2A Media and Ateme have announced a partnership integrating Ateme's video processing solutions into M2A Media's MediaToAnywhere platform for live sport...
08/09/2026
Ikegami will exhibit at IBC2026 (Stand 12.A31, RAI Amsterdam, September 11-14), including a Day 1 introduction of new cameras in the UNICAM XE series. Additiona...
08/09/2026
Broadcast industry analysts will be gathering plenty of insights at the 2026 IBC Show this weekend in Amsterdam, but Caretta Research has offered up some though...
08/09/2026
SENSHI and DAZN have announced a global broadcast partnership that will bring SENSHI's live events free to viewers in more than 200 markets. The partnership...
08/09/2026
New architecture built with Evertz will bring 4K HDR to Monday Night Football, N...
04/09/2026
Eluvio will demonstrate updates to its Content Fabric platform at IBC2026 (Hall 8, Stand 8.MS5, and Future Tech Zone, Hall 14, Stand 14.A58, September 11-14). C...
04/09/2026
LiveU has joined the IBC Accelerator's Smart Stories consortium, a multi-vendor initiative developing an open standard for Story Context interoperability in...
04/09/2026
Telos Alliance will demonstrate new audio observability capabilities at IBC2026 (Stand 8.D37, RAI Amsterdam, September 11-14), covering monitoring of audio heal...
04/09/2026
World Team Tennis (WTT) has announced a broadcast partnership with USA Sports, the sports division of Versant. USA Sports will air all six of WTT's live mat...
04/09/2026
Gravity Media has appointed Alex Pannell as Chief Business Officer. Pannell joins from Appear, where he served as Chief Commercial Officer. He will be based in ...
04/09/2026
By Carrie Bowden
Staff Writer
Dalet has announced new agentic workflow capabilities for Dalia, its AI platform for media organizations, ahead of IBC2026. The ...
04/09/2026
L-Acoustics has achieved EN 54 certification across a portfolio of loudspeakers,...
04/09/2026
EVS and Matrox Video have announced a technology partnership integrating Matrox ...
04/09/2026
NEP Group will exhibit at IBC2026 (Hall 7, Stand 7.B55, RAI Amsterdam, September 11-14), demonstrating software-defined production capabilities across NEP Platf...
04/09/2026
The Television Academy has awarded an Engineering Emmy to Dr. Roman Foltyn, Chief Engineer of FoMaSystems, and Curt O. Schaller for the development of the ARRI ...
04/09/2026
InSync Technology will exhibit at IBC2026 (Stand 2.C30, RAI Amsterdam, September 11-14), demonstrating its FrameFormer and InGear conversion platforms for frame...
04/09/2026
The Professional Triathletes Organisation (PTO) has signed a multi-year agreemen...
04/09/2026
Accedo and MediaKind have announced a white-label, end-to-end streaming solution for operators, combining Accedo's native application framework and cloud-ba...
04/09/2026
TAG Video Systems has announced TAG Blue, a cloud platform for shared monitoring visibility across video delivery chains, with AI-powered root-cause analysis. T...
04/09/2026
TwelveLabs has launched a video compliance platform for media organizations, inc...