5. Microphone Positioning

In this situation, heaven and hell are very close, almost within touching distance, because even a few centimeters can make a significant tonal difference. Generally, for what's known as a direct recording, the microphone is placed quite close to the speaker, nearly touching the speaker cloth or the front grill. If you aim the mic precisely at the center of the speaker, you'll get a sound with very dominant high frequencies. Move it toward the edge of the speaker from the center, and the highs get gradually reduced.

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Finding that famous sweet spot during recording is a trial-and-error game. A good spot typically lies around the transition from the dome to the cone, but this varies from speaker to speaker and is just a starting guideline.

Quick tip: Sometimes, with a dark and dense front grill, it's tough to see or locate the speaker. If that's the case, shining a small flashlight or light through the fabric of the speaker can help define the speaker's contours better.

Here are three different microphone positions and their tonal impact:

Shure SM-57 - Center

Shure SM-57 - Edge between the dome and cone

Shure SM-57 - Cone

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As straightforward as it seems or sounds, mic'ing a guitar speaker isn't a walk in the park. Apart from the microphones, it takes quite a bit of expertise and experience to get a reasonable sound. Additionally, you need a space that allows noise beyond room volume if you plan to push your guitar amp into power tube saturation. With a 15-watt tube amp, that can already be quite loud, but a 100-watt amp creates a tremendous sound pressure when driven hard. In such cases, a Power Soak or Power Attenuator comes in handy.

This device is placed between the amp and the speaker cabinet, converting part of the power into heat. The remaining signal sent to the speaker cabinet retains all the coveted tonal characteristics of a cranked tube amp but at a moderate volume.

Plosives, Knocks and Bumps

There are many interferences that can cause artefacts in your audio, but when it comes to streaming, two of most common you'll come across are caused by plosives and bumps to your desk or microphone.

Plosives are sharp puffs of air produced by mouthing certain sounds (such as the &#;p&#; in plosive) that can result in a brief, loud burst of sound when it hits to microphone capsule. Similarly, when a microphone moves, its highly sensitive capsule can pick up slight vibrations, creating unwanted noise in your audio. These effects can come from directly bumping the mic, but also from something as seemingly harmless as the vibrations in your desk from using your keyboard.

Best Microphone Placement for Streaming

So now we&#;ve had a look at how mic placement can affect your audio, let&#;s dive into solutions to these problems and how to optimise your setup with proper microphone technique.

Mounting and Isolation

The most flexible solution for mounting your microphone is a professional studio arm like the PSA1+. It allows you to position your mic anywhere in space, move it around quickly and silently when needed, reduces the clutter on your desk and helps to absorb knocks and bumps. Another option is to use a tripod on your desk, like the one that comes with the XCM-50 &#; these offer a simple and compact solution to positioning and angling your microphone.

Pairing our XDM-100 mic with the PSA1+ is an excellent way to dampen the impact of shocks as it offers three stages of protection. Any vibrations from your desk will be absorbed by the rubber contact points of the PSA1+, the PSM1 shock mount that comes with the mic, and also by the internal shock mount within the microphone itself.

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