Schoeps SUPER-CMIT-2U Digital Shotgun

The Super CMIT defines a new category of shotgun microphone, with directivity that goes beyond anything previously known. It offers the recording engineer entirely new possibilities.

The SuperCMIT can be a problem-solver wherever diffuse sources of noise (such as street noise, wind noise, room sound, or audience and passers-by) which might interfere with a recording. Unwanted noise is greatly reduced in level - even at low frequencies - without altering the tone color of front-arriving direct sound. Even a shotgun with a long tube can't do that. This makes the Super CMIT ideal for complex film sound applications and for sport events. The Super CMIT also increases the reach of indoor recording.

Digital signal processing in the Super CMIT recognizes sound energy arriving from various directions, and determines whether that sound has a discrete, persistent direction of arrival or not. It uses this information to suppress diffuse sound and to focus on discrete sound. This allows the reach of the shotgun microphone to be increased significantly, without causing the usual sound-color artifacts. The Super CMIT is the first microphone in the world to combine such high directivity with high sound quality.

The Super CMIT has three pushbuttons which control the filters and presets of the microphone. The two filters are indentical to those of Schoeps' CMIT 5 analog shotgun microphone:

- High-frequency boost (+5dB at 10kHz) compensates for losses due to windscreens.

-Steep low-cut (18dB/oct. below 80Hz) suppresses low-frequency wind and boom noise.

The second output channel always carries the signal of the regular shotgun. The "preset" button controls the directivity for the signal on the first output channel (Super CMIT). Two settings are available:

-Preset 1: Moderate directivity increase (green LED); ca. 11dB reduction in diffuse sound (5dB greater than a Shoeps CMIT or channel 2 of the Super CMIT)

-Preset 2: Strong directivity increase (red LED); ca. 15dB diffuse sound reduction. This setting is reserved for special applications since sonic artifacts can occasionally be heard.

-By pressing each of the three pushbuttons two times each quickly in succession, the gain can be increased by +30dB and reset again to the standard value. Also by disconnecting the microphone from its power supply, the gain setting is reset to the initial value (0dB).

FEATURES

• New type of digital shotgun microphone with increased directivity, based on Schoeps extremely successful analog model CMIT 5
• Diffuse sound is suppressed to an extraordinary degree
• Completely new operating principle with two transducers
• Uses digital signal processing algorithims from ILLUSONIC (patent pending)
• Two-channel output, with Super CMIT signal in channel one and (direct, single-transducer) CMIT signal is channel 2
• Schoeps sound quality: transparent sound

SPECIFICATIONS

• Firmware Version: 1.33
• Sensitivity: -31 dBFS at 1 Pa
• Equivalent noise level (A-weighted): Channel 1: 14dB-A // Channel 2: 16dB-A
• Equivalent noise level (CCIR): Channel 1: 27dB // Channel 2: 28dB
• Maximum SPL: 125dB SPL
• Filter(s): Switchable: 80Hz with 18dB/octave // 5dB lift at 10kHz (shelving)
• Powering 10V digital phantom powering (AES42)
• Current Consumption: 170mA
• Output: AES42, Mode 1, sample rate: 48kHz, resolution: 24 bit // Channel 1: Super CMIT // Channel 2 regular CMIT (shotgun signal only)
• Latency Period at 1kHz: Channel 1: 3.4ms // Channel 2: 1.6ms
• Length: 11"
• Diameter: 0.83"
• Weight: 4oz