Preliminary Wind Test Results
Saturday, June 18th, 2022 10:10 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
snoozefestaudioBoth wind test recordings analyzed in this jounral entry are embeded below.
RECAP: The idea is to include wind chime recordings on Snoozefest, but first I needed to test how the microphones of the S8 behave in windy conditions.
Wind Test A & Wind Test B were done last night, Friday, June 17th, 2022, at 10:12PM & 11:20PM respectively... in a ten foot proximity of two different back yard wind chimes.
The windspeed, reported by NOAA (National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration) was 12MPH (19.3KPH) for both tests.
Of course it was not a steady 12MPH the whole time. The wind speed varied from softer breezes to harder gusts from moment to moment. We're just using the NOAA designation to get a generalized idea of how blustery it was.
But by that metric, 12MPH is on the high side. It's not gonna blow your hat off, but you'd definitely say it was kinda windy, if you were sitting outside.
------------{=0=}------------
I had lined the case of the S8 with a thin microfiber cloth that covered the microphone holes, to see if that might mitigate the ruffling distortion of strong gusts.
But it turns out, that was not really the issue.
The tests told me a lot about how the digital mikes really work... how smart they are... and what the real issues are, in windy conditons.
I'll break both tests down below, but first, a quick refresher on condenser microphones.
------------{=0=}------------
CONDENSER MICROPHONES, also known as capacitor microphones have been around since the early 20th century.
They differ from more conventional microphones, which use a membrane or ribbon, attached to a copper coil surrounding a magnet.
The membranes of conventional mikes vibrate when hit by sound waves. As they do, their copper coils induce a varying voltage in the magnetic field.
That gets encoded as a wave form, that can later be used to reproduce the sound.
Condenser mikes don't have membranes or magnets. They just have two thin metal plates separated by an electrical insulator. And both plates are oppositely charged. One is positive, the other is negative.
There is an electrical potential difference (voltage) between the two plates. But as they are vibrated by the air... that voltage varies... and then, like with conventional mikes, the signal can be recorded and used later to reproduce the sound.
Because condenser mikes are solid state electronic components (capacitors) they don't need much voltage to work, and can be scaled down to very small sizes.
--<>--
In the pre-digital era, condenser mikes were used for analog applications.
They appeared in more compact analog recording devices, as well as in more conventional looking microphones that a performer might use on a stage.
But they've always required extra circuitry to boost that low voltage signal into something useable.
And even back in the analog days, that circuitry was designed to buff the signal when it was weaker, but nerf the signal, if it got too strong.
I remember well, buying condenser mike elements at Radio Shack, wiring them up to plug into my walkman cassette recorder, and hearing that effect where... when the environment is quiet... the quiet things get louder. But when the environment gets louder... the quiet things go away, and the loud things come into focus and get reigned in to a manageable volume.
It was all the work of analog limiters and compressors working with the analog amplifiers to keep the signal at one consistent level... on the fly!
------------{=0=}------------
Fast forward 30 years to modern digital devices, like the S8.
The condenser mikes inside it are smaller and more advanced. But the digital circuitry that interprets their signals is even more advanced... including not just advanced hardware, but algorithmic driver software.
--<>--
It's the same kind of smart tech that your cameras use... to figure out where to focus on the fly.
If you're in brightly lit conditions, and there's nothing super close to the lens, then they do a great job of maintaining focus on both the middle distant, and far distant objects in the visual field.
But if you're in a darker, more shadowy room, trying to focus on a very small object close to the lens... with a window in the background, open to a brightly sunlit, distant vista... that algorithm's gonna have a bitch of a time figuring out what to focus on... even if you keep repeatedly tapping the screen to give it a clue!
--<>--
My Friday night tests taught me that the same thing is true for the S8 microphones, in windy conditions, where it's not obvious what should take focus.
------------{=0=}------------
WIND TEST A- 10:12PM
It was windy, and I had my windchimes ten feet away from either mike, but there just happened to be a live garage band across the block... either practicing or performing at a party... while the test was going on.
And this turned out to be really informative about the mikes, because they ARE programmed to record in concert settings.
The S8 Active was, afterall, marketed to young, outdoorsy types who would be expected to do social media posts while attending rock concerts.
But that band, which is very bassy, is in the distance. Meanwhile in the forground there are wind chimes... which are very high pitched.
And meanwhile, messing with the microphones the most is... the ambient air pressure, which is going from low pressure around the mikes, to very high pressure, totally at random, with each little lull, breeze, and gust of the wind.
--<>--
You can hear, on this track, that the mike algorithm is very intelligent... but it's also struggling mightily to figure out how to represent the signals it's getting.
It's able to completely mute the background, rock music and all... to focus on the wind chimes... when the breeze is steady.
But when the big gusts come in, with their higher amplitude, lower frequency pressure waves... the mikes get fooled and decide to focus on the rock music in the distance, which is also higher amplitude and lower frequency.
But once they've committed to that... they're also boosting the wind sound, so you DO get heavy wind ruffling!
As the gusts die down, the mikes can't quite decide whether to say with the rock music, or mute it and focus back on the wind chimes... so it goes back and forth.
------------{=0=}------------
WIND TEST B- 11:20PM
By 11:20PM, the time of, Test B, the band is done.
The wind conditions are the same as earlier... 12MPH. But the mikes do a lot better job of just muting the background, and focusing on those windchimes, ten feet away.
A distant train begins a roll, however, which introduces more bass waves, and this does throw the algorithm off a bit, and it struggles again to decide what to focus on... when the wind picks up and adds in, lower frequency pressure waves.
------------{=0=}------------
PRELIMINARY CONCLUSION
The mikes of the S8 don't need any protection from microfiber mesh. The algorithm is already smart enough to eliminate wind ruffle, if it's got something to clearly focus on.
The best bet is to get the wind chimes right up next to the phone... within a foot! One on either side.
If they're that close, they should hold focus no matter what the wind is doing... as long as there's not a band playing in the background, or a long, loud, train roll in the distance.
That's gonna be my next test!
°¦}
RECAP: The idea is to include wind chime recordings on Snoozefest, but first I needed to test how the microphones of the S8 behave in windy conditions.
Wind Test A & Wind Test B were done last night, Friday, June 17th, 2022, at 10:12PM & 11:20PM respectively... in a ten foot proximity of two different back yard wind chimes.
The windspeed, reported by NOAA (National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration) was 12MPH (19.3KPH) for both tests.
Of course it was not a steady 12MPH the whole time. The wind speed varied from softer breezes to harder gusts from moment to moment. We're just using the NOAA designation to get a generalized idea of how blustery it was.
But by that metric, 12MPH is on the high side. It's not gonna blow your hat off, but you'd definitely say it was kinda windy, if you were sitting outside.
I had lined the case of the S8 with a thin microfiber cloth that covered the microphone holes, to see if that might mitigate the ruffling distortion of strong gusts.
But it turns out, that was not really the issue.
The tests told me a lot about how the digital mikes really work... how smart they are... and what the real issues are, in windy conditons.
I'll break both tests down below, but first, a quick refresher on condenser microphones.
CONDENSER MICROPHONES, also known as capacitor microphones have been around since the early 20th century.
They differ from more conventional microphones, which use a membrane or ribbon, attached to a copper coil surrounding a magnet.
The membranes of conventional mikes vibrate when hit by sound waves. As they do, their copper coils induce a varying voltage in the magnetic field.
That gets encoded as a wave form, that can later be used to reproduce the sound.
Condenser mikes don't have membranes or magnets. They just have two thin metal plates separated by an electrical insulator. And both plates are oppositely charged. One is positive, the other is negative.
There is an electrical potential difference (voltage) between the two plates. But as they are vibrated by the air... that voltage varies... and then, like with conventional mikes, the signal can be recorded and used later to reproduce the sound.
Because condenser mikes are solid state electronic components (capacitors) they don't need much voltage to work, and can be scaled down to very small sizes.
In the pre-digital era, condenser mikes were used for analog applications.
They appeared in more compact analog recording devices, as well as in more conventional looking microphones that a performer might use on a stage.
But they've always required extra circuitry to boost that low voltage signal into something useable.
And even back in the analog days, that circuitry was designed to buff the signal when it was weaker, but nerf the signal, if it got too strong.
I remember well, buying condenser mike elements at Radio Shack, wiring them up to plug into my walkman cassette recorder, and hearing that effect where... when the environment is quiet... the quiet things get louder. But when the environment gets louder... the quiet things go away, and the loud things come into focus and get reigned in to a manageable volume.
It was all the work of analog limiters and compressors working with the analog amplifiers to keep the signal at one consistent level... on the fly!
Fast forward 30 years to modern digital devices, like the S8.
The condenser mikes inside it are smaller and more advanced. But the digital circuitry that interprets their signals is even more advanced... including not just advanced hardware, but algorithmic driver software.
It's the same kind of smart tech that your cameras use... to figure out where to focus on the fly.
If you're in brightly lit conditions, and there's nothing super close to the lens, then they do a great job of maintaining focus on both the middle distant, and far distant objects in the visual field.
But if you're in a darker, more shadowy room, trying to focus on a very small object close to the lens... with a window in the background, open to a brightly sunlit, distant vista... that algorithm's gonna have a bitch of a time figuring out what to focus on... even if you keep repeatedly tapping the screen to give it a clue!
My Friday night tests taught me that the same thing is true for the S8 microphones, in windy conditions, where it's not obvious what should take focus.
WIND TEST A- 10:12PM
It was windy, and I had my windchimes ten feet away from either mike, but there just happened to be a live garage band across the block... either practicing or performing at a party... while the test was going on.
And this turned out to be really informative about the mikes, because they ARE programmed to record in concert settings.
The S8 Active was, afterall, marketed to young, outdoorsy types who would be expected to do social media posts while attending rock concerts.
But that band, which is very bassy, is in the distance. Meanwhile in the forground there are wind chimes... which are very high pitched.
And meanwhile, messing with the microphones the most is... the ambient air pressure, which is going from low pressure around the mikes, to very high pressure, totally at random, with each little lull, breeze, and gust of the wind.
You can hear, on this track, that the mike algorithm is very intelligent... but it's also struggling mightily to figure out how to represent the signals it's getting.
It's able to completely mute the background, rock music and all... to focus on the wind chimes... when the breeze is steady.
But when the big gusts come in, with their higher amplitude, lower frequency pressure waves... the mikes get fooled and decide to focus on the rock music in the distance, which is also higher amplitude and lower frequency.
But once they've committed to that... they're also boosting the wind sound, so you DO get heavy wind ruffling!
As the gusts die down, the mikes can't quite decide whether to say with the rock music, or mute it and focus back on the wind chimes... so it goes back and forth.
WIND TEST B- 11:20PM
By 11:20PM, the time of, Test B, the band is done.
The wind conditions are the same as earlier... 12MPH. But the mikes do a lot better job of just muting the background, and focusing on those windchimes, ten feet away.
A distant train begins a roll, however, which introduces more bass waves, and this does throw the algorithm off a bit, and it struggles again to decide what to focus on... when the wind picks up and adds in, lower frequency pressure waves.
PRELIMINARY CONCLUSION
The mikes of the S8 don't need any protection from microfiber mesh. The algorithm is already smart enough to eliminate wind ruffle, if it's got something to clearly focus on.
The best bet is to get the wind chimes right up next to the phone... within a foot! One on either side.
If they're that close, they should hold focus no matter what the wind is doing... as long as there's not a band playing in the background, or a long, loud, train roll in the distance.
That's gonna be my next test!
°¦}
