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Joe Grado Mic Launch... first-hand Impressions

Impressions from the Joe Grado New Microphone Launch

Since I am the ‘resident’ recording engineer/producer in the Carolina Audiophile Society (CAS), I was asked to write a little on my impression of the latest CAS event. Which quickly turned into a novel, so grab a beer and sit back...
The event consisted of a presentation by the venerable Joe Grado including the launch of his latest venture; a microphone he says is as much of an innovation in recording as was going from mono to stereo.

This was my first time meeting Mr. Grado and I found him quite nice and very approachable. When we met, he immediately became exited to share about his new creation. A spherical device basically made up of a 7 or 8” foam ball (more like a polystyrene than a softer foam that Sonex or Auralex might sell) with two mic capsules mounted in it at 180 degrees opposite, East/West poles. Mr. Grado did not say but my guess is that these capsules are omni directional pickups. The foam is said to be a special material that both absorbs energy while also redirecting it, such that any pressure wave striking the foam will be redirected to the capsules, supposedly without creating reflections of its own. On first glance, my initial thought was “shrunken binaural dummy head.”

During the presentation, Mr. Grado did not mention details of the design or technical merits that make this microphone revolutionary, instead opting for describing it more from an application standpoint. Due to the special sonic qualities of the foam ball, the mic has a claimed 360-degree polar pattern in all planes. As is commonly known, most omni directional mics still exhibit some form of directionality due to design, casing interference, etc. Using the old platform that 90% of all sound heard is reflected sound, Mr. Grado’s intent with this microphone is to create a single unit that captures all sonic perceptions, including reflections from every direction, i.e. the whole “room”. This microphone does seem to have a relatively spherical polar pattern, as demonstrated very rudimentarily by Joe crinkling cellophane paper around its circumference. The idea being that including all reflections will garner a ‘holographic’ presentation on playback, since it was captured that way.

There seemed to be notable proximity effect as well as overall level shifts as the crinkling paper approached each of the mic capsules in the unit. This would indicate a polar pattern that favors the on-axis areas of the pickups, but obviously any sound source introduced to a mic from 1.5” away from its surface is going to reveal such variance as the source gets closer to a diaphragm. Worth mentioning, when the crinkled paper was most anywhere out in the middle of the foam ball, the level sounded fairly consistent in our very non-scientific setup. This implies a consistent reception in most directions, a key factor in this type of microphone.

Both before the presentation and during, some sample recordings taken using the microphone (strings, pipe organ, choral) were played in an effort to demonstrate the mic’s holographic capabilities. Before the presentation, demo’s were on a pair of Grado headphones using the accompanying Grado amp. There was also a Grace pre-amp on hand for recording & demonstration through the nice system supplied by local retailer Sound Systems, Inc. (thanks guys!)

Upon listening to the recordings on headphones, the first thing I noticed was a fair amount of distortion. I thought that there may have been an impedance mismatch between the Grado headphone amp and my in-ear monitors that I took for a comparison reference (hey, I was going to see the headphone king!), so I swapped to the very nice Grado units. The distortion was still there. I am not sure if this was due to the mic itself (seemingly unlikely), or some levels that were simply too hot at recording time. Either way, it was enough to be distracting. The overall sound of the recording was decent, perhaps lacking in the lower registers (below 100Hz) and with a perceived roll-off around and/or above the 3K neighborhood. Again, I wasn’t sure where these came from not being familiar with any of the setup – the recording or the playback. Mr. Grado said that the units used in playback (Grace and a CDR unit) were also used to create the recordings.

As can be expected in most, if not all binaural recordings, the presentation on headphones was more immersive than a standard stereo, made-for-speakers-in-a-room recording might be on headphones. The psychoacoustic triggers for behind and overhead were apparent and yet not overwhelming. Microphone placement is paramount in attempting such a presentation. This seems a natural and fitting application for a microphone designed by one of the most widely known names in headphones. Yet, when I mentioned its use in binaural recordings, Mr. Grado was quick to say it is targeted for a more general use.

Later, during the presentation, the same recordings were played in the meeting space (albeit somewhat of a reverb chamber itself) on a high-end consumer stereo system. While the distortion was still there, the holography of the experience seemed lacking any special merit until the volume was cranked quite high, activating the meeting room’s reflections to a more than obvious extent. Personally, at that point I attributed the audible rear information to such reflections in our presentation room, not the space on the recording. In other words, it was loud.

Mr. Grado was recording while doing the aforementioned cellophane demonstration with the microphone, which was also played back on the room system. The crinkly paper was not what I was interested in here but more so the recording of the room sound itself – including a cough by a person sitting in front of me. Again, that apparent mid-to-high roll-off still seemed to exist, making me think that the response curve may be further from ‘flat’ than perhaps I expected. I did not get a chance to listen to this recording through the headphones, which would have been a more true test of the holographic, or immersive capabilities of the microphone since I was present during the recording only moments prior.

Mr. Grado claims that when his microphone is used, the actual experience will be recorded and played back exactly as it occurred. That is quite a tall claim and he did not say (nor did I get a chance to ask) how such a unilateral claim can avoid the normally expected anomalies. Those of playing back a “room” on a pair (or more) of speakers inside of a room with its own acoustic signature, and assuming the recording technology was actually able to truly capture the performance space in full. This has been historically dealt with by eliminating the playback space using headphones and presenting a binaural recording. Or by using some electronics to monkey with the phase/timing (read Q-Sound, etc.) which has its place. There are a lot of laws of physics to be bent or even broken to live up to an all encompassing claim.

The closest I've heard was at AES back in '99, I think. I don't even remember the company's name but they used their stereo mic, an impulse generator and FFT analysis, eq & timing device - with cheap headphones for playback mind you. Basically they made a binaural recording of the space we were standing in while we were standing in it, then immediately played it back in the phones. It was pretty uncanny. I actually took the phones off in skepticism but sure enough, what was being played back was only in the cans... and it sounded exactly as it did just seconds before, complete with AES "I can be louder than you!" ambience.

Aside from the crinkly paper demonstration, there was no music or other source recordings made while I was there. So as for sonic quality, coloration, frequency response, and applicability, etc. of this particular unit… my jury’s still out. I’d like to use it in addition to my usual orchestra rig (modified Decca tree) on an upcoming gig for comparison. That will be more of a true test for me.

Having experienced such “space capturing” mics as the Calrec Ambisonics, Soundfield (owned one of these), etc., there is a lot to be said for using such a microphone. Joe Grado says he can do it without the accompanying steering electronics that come with the multi-diaphragm units like the Soundfield. Perhaps I’ll get to test that a bit more fervently in the near future. The one caution on using these types of mics for live recordings is that the audience and space itself can sometimes show up as loud as or even louder than the intended performance. So while they might make great hall mics for a staged performance (no audience, or at least very little), one has to be fully prepared to hear the usual snorts, coughs, kids, grumblings and restlessness that come with a large group of humans stuck in an enclosed space for more than 10 seconds.

One thing is clear: Joe Grado is still passionate. For me, the most compelling thing I came away with was the fact that a man in his eighties could have such an unbelievable operatic and extremely powerful singing voice. I was completely blown away by his ability, quite some time after he has left regularly performing on stage.
He also has a million stories to tell – and tell he did; quite an entertaining speaker, Mr. Grado.

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