Soundfield microphone
The Soundfield microphone is an audio microphone composed of four closely spaced subcardioid or cardioid (unidirectional) microphone capsules arranged in a tetrahedron. It was invented by Michael Gerzon and Peter Craven, and is a part of, but not exclusive to, Ambisonics, a surround sound technology. It can function as a mono, stereo or surround sound microphone, optionally including height information. History The Soundfield microphone was invented by Michael Gerzon and Peter Craven. Their theoretical design was developed into a practical microphone system by Calrec Audio Limited, who launched the first Soundfield microphone in 1978. In 1993, the Soundfield microphone part of Calrec was separated out as the company SoundField Limited, who further developed the range of products. Since the original patents relating to the Soundfield microphone expired, other companies have started to manufacture Soundfield microphones. In 2016, the parent company of RØDE Microphones, The Freedman Group, acquired SoundField from then-owner TSL Products. As well as keeping the existing range of SoundField microphones and processors in production, RØDE launched a collaboration marque, 'SoundField By RØDE'. The first microphone under the collaboration, the SoundField By RØDE NTSF-1, was released in September 2018. Signals A Soundfield microphone kit, consisting of the microphone and