Sanken CMS-10 Camera Mountable Stereo Shotgun Microphone

The Sanken CMS-10, the world’s first camera mount Stereo Shotgun microphone,was developed in conjunction with NHK forHDTV broadcasting of the Nagano Winter Olympics. Since its world debut, it has become the new industry-wide standard microphone for use with HD cameras. While compact and lightweight, the CMS-10 provides extremely high-resolution audio to match today’s advanced picture quality.

Unique Design
The CMS-10, uses M-S design to provide stereo or mono with superior frontal directionality and a rejection of sounds from the sides and back,making it ideal for noisy shooting situations or reverberant environments. The built-in Mono/Stereo switch allows output of a highly directional mono signal to both L/R channels or a L/R stereo signal. (The CMS-10 is also available in an MS version. It is M – S output only. ) The supplied suspension camera-mount eliminates vibrations from both camera and operator movement. The condenser elements use exclusive PPS (Poly -Phenylene Sulfide) diaphragms to provide exceptional response and optimum humidity /temperature stability.

Conventional shotgun microphones use a line capsule array and a pipe with slits in front of the capsule to create high directivity by utilizing phase interface within the casing. With the traditional design, maintaining high directivity at low frequencies requires a length of more than 20inches in length.

Unlike conventional shotgun microphones, theCMS-10 uses a unique second-order pressure gradient design, enabling precision directional response through multiple cardioid elements in a front-back array. The capsules combine line microphone performance and second-order gradient response in a single compact [8.6 inch long] system.

Versatile
For episodic television, film/video documentaries,and major broadcast events, it has become desirable to record targeted sounds precisely,with the added option of capturing realistic stereophonic perspectives. In many cases,engineers have accomplished this with a pair of shotgun microphones, or with the combination of a shotgun mic and an MS-stereo mic. Both methods are lacking because of problems in stereo localization, accurate width of the sonic image and clarity of the audio. In addition,multiple microphone configurations impair field mobility and sonic consistency.

Stereophonic localization depends primarily on signal accuracy and channel separation in the400Hz to 3kHz range. Pattern control of the CMS-10 has been optimized in this range. Very low and very high frequency response has been optimized along the frontal axis so that the” target ” on-axis sounds are clearly delineated.The result in play back accentuates the frontal image, with side signals positioned slightly behind.