ODRATEK BV has published a new site named Micpedia, which is now the world’s most comprehensive and authoritative source of information on microphones. The site offers technical information regarding vintage and new microphones for audio professionals, recording engineers, studio owners, videographers, home recording enthusiasts, podcasters, and DIY musicians. The database is free to use and hosts complete, neutral, technical information for almost 4500 models of microphone. The site offers user virtual mic lockers, a comparison tray, guides, and community-based blind shootout gallery.
Complete microphone electrical characteristics and physical specifications are available for the current and past models produced by 220 of the world’s leading manufacturers, including the complete production catalogues of Neumann, Microtech Gefell, Schoeps, AT, AKG, AEA, DPA, Sony, Royer, and Røde. Every mic is described with the manufacturer’s published data and normalised to the same units. The Compare feature allows users to compare up to four microphones side-by-side and see their characteristics and curves in a single view. These include frequency response, graphs and polar plots, sensitivity, Max SPL, self-noise, impedance, recommended load, powering and connector options, tube information, pads and filters, physical characteristics, and accessories list.
Micpedia allows users to maintain an inventory of their collections, called “Lockers”, where they can be annotated with purchase date, price, and serial numbers, keeping this information safe. The coming Shootout Gallery will be a community-driven feature allowing users to upload audio samples of their mics compared to other models. Users can thus quickly compare the sound of different microphones recording the same instrument in the same environment. Shootouts are evaluated blindly, helping users to avoid prejudice in their assessments. An extensive collection of guides, recommendations, and articles written by some of the most eminent people in the audio industry put the data into context and is being published in weekly installments.
The data behind Micpedia was and is curated by experts, led by mastering engineer Riccardo Ricci (owner of Velvet Room Mastering and Gearspace’s moderator for the mastering forum). Micpedia’s data builds on a previous database named microphone-data.com, a project launched in the 1990s by Rycote Microphone Windshields at the behest of Rycote’s owner, Vivienne Dyer. Chris Woolf, a senior consultant and product designer for Rycote at the time, took it on, collating all the records he could find into a book as a resource for the design of Rycote’s suspension and windshield systems. Microphone-Data was initially published as a book and then a desktop database on CD before eventually becoming a website, which at one point counted over 50,000 registered users. In 2009, Rycote decided to hand the project over to Chris and one of his colleagues, Hugh Robjohns, editor of SoS Magazine, as co-editor. The team comprised Gui Andrade (design), Stephen Wolff (developer), and Julian Stopps (project management). The site continued for several years as a labour of love attached to Chris’ day-to-day business. Rycote then repurchased the site back from Chris Woolf in 2017 before selling it to Røde Microphones in 2018. In 2019, the site was finally acquired by ODRATEK BV, who rebranded the site Micpedia.com and has since worked on updating and cleaning the database and expanding it to its current collection.
Micpedia has updated the previous site’s content, style, and features and offers a vastly expanded Mic Library. John Anderson now operates the site for ODRATEK, a technology incubator with extensive experience in the pro-audio industry. Anderson owns the world-class recording studio “The Spheres” (the-spheres.com) in Montesilvano, Italy, where most of the classical, jazz, and world albums of Odradek Records (odradek-records.com), ODRATEK’s parent company, are recorded.
For more information, please visit micpedia.com or see a complete list of features and sign up for the newsletter here: micpedia.com/newsletter/.
