1st Order Pattern

Standard microphone patterns like cardioid, supercardioid or figure-of-eight are known as first-order patterns. Their polar equations are composed of various ratios of unity and cos θ taken to the first power. The patterns range from omnidirectional (basically order 0), when the cosine term is zero, to bidirectional, when the constant term is zero. The various combinations of these two basic patterns yield the family of cardioid patterns. Omni ρ = 1 + 0 cos θ Subcardioid ρ = 0.7 + 0.3 cos θ Cardioid ρ = 0.5 + 0.5 cos θ Supercardioid ρ = 0.37 + 0.63 cos θ Hypercardioid ρ = 0.25 + 0.75 cos θ Figure-of-eight ρ = 0 + cos θ