Earthworks PM40 Data Sheet

Carrying Case Included

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• The Ultimate Piano Microphone
System That Will Change Piano
Miking Forever

• 40kHz High Denition, Random
Incidence Microphones for
Outstanding Performance Within
the Sound Field of a Piano

PM40 PianoMic™ System

40kHz Random Incidence High Definition Microphones

Polar
Response

• Invisible from Outside the Piano

• Incredible Gain before Feedback

• Sounds Amazing with Piano Lid
Up or Down

• Virtually No Leakage from
Surrounding Instruments

• Quick, Simple and Easy Setup

Architectural & Engineering

Specications

40kHz Random Incidence Omni

The microphone shall contain a matched ste­reo pair of back-electret condenser type ele­ments with a wide-range uniform frequency
response of 9 Hz to 40 kHz. The microphone
shall be calibrated for random-incidence re-

sponse for a diffuse sound eld operation.

The microphone shall have omnidirectional
polar characteristics uniform in all planes,
with no more than 5dB deviation from on-axis
response at any angle of incidence at 10kHz.
The microphone shall have an output level
of 15 mV/Pa. The microphone shall have an
impulse response with the rise time no longer
than 20 microseconds, and total settling time,
including the rise time, no longer than 100
microseconds. The microphone shall accept
sound pressure levels up to 148 dB producing
no more than 3% THD. The microphone ele-

ments shall be mounted on exible necks no

shorter than 4 in. (10cm) and attached to an
expandable rod with minimum length no more
than 46 in. (115cm) and maximum length no
less than 60 in. (150cm). The microphone
shall require 48V phantom power. The micro-

phone shall be made of metal with black n­ish. The Earthworks PM40 is specied.

Conventional Methods of Piano Miking

To date, the numerous methods of miking a piano have
all been less than ideal. Such conventional methods in­clude placing a microphone inside the piano on a pillow, or
mounting microphones on mic booms and extending them
into the piano. Other approaches involve pressure-zone
microphones mounted inside the piano, various types of
electromechanical pickups in addition to mounting con­ventional microphones inside the piano with clamps on
the piano frame or suction cups stuck to the piano lid. Not
only are these mounting methods less than ideal, there
are far more important issues affecting the sound. Con­tact pickup devices or other types of electromechanical
pickup methods typically sound muddy and have no real
detail or transparency in the sound. When miking pianos
for sound reinforcement systems, cardioid microphones
are typically chosen in an effort to provide ample gain be­fore feedback. However, the proximity effect of cardioid mi­crophones will create an undesired low-frequency boost.
When using conventional microphones there is always the
problem with gain before feedback in addition to leakage
from other instruments into the piano microphones.

What Contractors and Studios Really Want

Many sound contractors have expressed the need for a
better way to mike pianos in churches, performance art
centers and recording studios. They have tried all the vari­ous types of microphones and microphone pickup devices
for pianos. No matter what they have tried, they either
didn’t like the quality of sound they were getting or didn’t
like the mounting system or microphone stands in front
of the piano. When using conventional microphones they
couldn’t get enough sound level before feedback, and they

Impulse Response

were getting leakage of other instruments into the piano
microphones. Engineers in recording studios have always
found it nearly impossible to simultaneously record an acous­tic piano with other instruments in the same room.

The New Earthworks Approach

When we showed a prototype of the Earthworks PM40 Pi­anoMic™ System to churches and recording studios they
were amazed. Churches were able to get a piano sound
that was far better than ever before, with an incredible
amount of gain before feedback. The microphones were
not visible outside the piano and there was virtually
no leakage of other instruments into the piano micro­phones. Recording studio engineers were also astound­ed – they could now record acoustic piano in the same
room simultaneously with other instruments. They all
said that the PianoMic™ System was incredible, hands
down! For pianos in churches, performing arts centers or

Specications

Frequency Response:

Polar Pattern:

Sensitivity:

Power requirements:

Peak Acoustic Output:

Min. Output Load:

Mic Gooseneck Length:

Dimensions:

Product Weight:

Shipping Dimensions:

Shipping Weight:

9Hz - 40kHz
Omnidirectional
15mV/Pa (-36 dBV/Pa)
48V Phantom, 10mA
148 dB SPL

Output:

XLR-3 (pin 2+)
600 ohms between pins 2 & 3

Noise:

20dBA

4.875” (12cm)
64”(160cm) fully extended
46”(115cm) fully collapsed

8.8 lbs. (4kg) pdct. in case
49x10x8 in. (1245x254x203mm)
13 lbs. (5.9kg)

(random incidence)

Turn over page for additional information

The Ultimate Piano Microphone System
That Will Change Piano Miking Forever

recording studios, you will be amazed when you see and
hear the new Earthworks High Definition PianoMic™
System in action.

Random Incidence
High Denition Microphones™

The heart of the PianoMic System is two omnidirectional

40kHz High Denition Microphones™ with a frequency

response from 9Hz to 40kHz, incredible impulse re­sponse and very short diaphragm settling time. The

40kHz High Denition Microphones have been designed

for random incidence pickup. When microphones are

placed inside a piano they are within a sound eld that

has multiple sound sources: i.e. every string, the sound
board, multiple reections of the sound from the sound
board, the sides and the lid of the piano. All these sound

sources and reections produce sound waves that arrive

at the microphones from all directions. This is called a

diffused sound eld, and the PianoMic System™ High
Denition Random Incidence Microphones are designed
to perform optimally within such diffused sound eld. In

more sound level than the choir members could stand
without being anywhere near a level that would cause
acoustic feedback.

Virtually No Leakage of Sounds from
Outside the Piano

One might ask, “How can you use omni microphones and
have essentially no leakage of sounds from outside the
piano?” There are two important elements in the answer:
(1) the microphones are placed inside the piano shell
and are somewhat isolated from sounds outside the
piano; (2) microphones are placed 3 to 6 inches above
the piano strings, making the sound level of the piano
picked up by the microphones phenomenally louder than
sounds coming from outside the piano. Therefore any
outside leakage picked up in the piano mics is dramati­cally lower in level than the sound of the piano itself.

Quick, Simple and Easy to Set Up

The PianoMic™ System works differently from any other

ment options using the PianoMic™ System. As various
makes and models of pianos differ in their size and con­struction, the highly adaptable PianoMic™System will
provide you with optimum results on any grand piano.
The center section of the tube can be moved as much as
eight inches to the left or the right if you desire to favor
either the low or high strings of the piano (see Figures 2-A

and 2-B). In addition, the ex arms allow the microphone

heads to move approximately four inches to the left or
right (see Figure 3-A) as well as up or down (closer or fur­ther from the strings, see Figure 3-B). This illustrates the
versatility of the PianoMic™ System and the ease with
which it can be adjusted.

The innovative PianoMic™ System incorporates all of
the Earthworks High Denition Microphone™ propri­etary technologies and some new ones. The PianoMic™
System provides extended frequency response from 9
Hz to 40kHz, incredible impulse response, very short
diaphragm settling time, near perfect polar response,
is time coherent, has high SPL handling, low distortion
electronics and is optimized for random incidence pick­up. The PianoMic System is a dream come true for live
sound and recording applications. Call us and request a
demonstration so you can hear this incredible new piano
microphone system for yourself. You will be impressed!

addition, these omni microphones have no proximity ef­fect and the sound will remain the same (no increase or
decrease in low frequency levels) no matter how close
or how far the microphones are from the piano strings
or sound board. When these technologies are combined,
you can enjoy exceptional sound quality with the piano lid
either up or down.

Incredible Gain Before Feedback

The large amount of gain before feedback is achieved
because the microphones are placed very close to the

sound source and are within the sound eld of the piano.
When we rst tested the PianoMic System in a church

sound reinforcement system, we were able to make a pi­ano sound louder than a loud pipe organ, and there was
a great deal more gain available before reaching feed­back. These tests also showed that feeding the piano
sound into choir monitor speakers would produce far

microphone approach used on piano in that it uses an
adjustable telescoping tube that is supported by the
sides of the piano case. The telescoping tube can be
adjusted to any length from 46 to 64 inches to easily ac­commodate any type of grand piano. The support arms
that sit on the side of the piano case are smooth with

a protective coating that will not harm the nish of the

piano. They are less than 1/8 inch thick, so the piano
lid can be easily closed on top of them with absolutely
no danger of stressing the piano lid hinge.

The telescoping tube spans across the piano over the
strings and can be moved so the two microphones can be
placed close to the hammers (see Figure 1-A) or further
away from the hammers (see Figure 1-B). The telescoping
tube can be placed on the piano with the microphones
facing the keyboard or with the microphones facing away
from the keyboard (as illustrated in Figures 1-A and 1-B).
This exibility allows a wide range of microphone place-

Expertly Hand Made in the U.S.A.

Earthworks, Inc. • 37 Wilton Rd. • Milford, NH 03055

Phone: [phone], ext 114 • Fax: [phone]

[e-mail] • earthwo rksaudio .com