Which microphone is unidirectional and hears very little to its left and right, little behind it, and everything in front of it?

• A. Lavalier Microphone
• B. Cardioid Microphone
• C. Boundary Microphone
• D. Shotgun Microphone

Answer: (D)

Directional pickup patterns are about focusing on sound from one direction while rejecting sounds from others. A shotgun microphone uses a long interference tube that shapes its response so sounds coming from the front are picked up strongly, while sounds from the sides and rear are greatly attenuated. This makes it highly unidirectional: you hear everything in front of it, but very little off to the left, right, or behind.

That strong front-focused behavior is what sets it apart from other mics. A lavalier is small and often wired to pick up sound from close to the source and can be either omnidirectional or cardioid, but it isn’t designed to reject off-axis noise as aggressively. A cardioid mic is directional, but its pickup is less narrow than a shotgun, so it still captures more from the sides and behind than a shotgun would. A boundary microphone sits on a surface and tends to pick up sound more from all directions, not from a single, narrowly defined front direction.