Shock Mount article
Shock Mount for Beginners: A Complete Guide
A shock mount isolates your microphone from stand vibration — this beginner's guide covers what to buy, how to set it up correctly and what goes wrong.
If you have just bought a condenser microphone and your recordings are picking up low-frequency rumble — desk bumps, footfall from a floor above, the vibration of a fan or hard drive — a shock mount is the first thing to add. It is a small elastic cradle that holds the microphone away from direct contact with the stand, isolating the capsule from vibrations that would otherwise travel directly into the signal.
What to Buy First
Some microphones include a suitable isolation mount in the box — check what came with yours before purchasing separately. If yours came with only a standard thread clip or adapter, you will need to buy one. Look for a unit that lists your microphone's body diameter in millimetres among its compatible range, and confirm the weight rating covers your microphone's mass. For most large-diaphragm condensers, this information is available in the manufacturer's product listing.
Setting It Up
Thread the shock mount onto the boom arm or stand thread before attaching the microphone. Once it is secured on the stand, open the cradle and slide the microphone in horizontally from the side — most designs have a break point in the elastic lattice that allows entry. The elastic should hold the microphone under light, even pressure with no slipping. If the cradle feels loose, the diameter may be too large for your microphone; if the body is distorted by pressure, it is too small.
Position the microphone and stand so that the cable exits cleanly without pulling against the cradle. Cable tension pulling down on the microphone body can defeat the isolation by creating a rigid connection between the microphone and the stand. Use a cable clip on the stand shaft to take the weight of the cable before it reaches the cradle.
Common First Mistakes
The most common beginner error is letting the cable hang loose from the microphone directly to the stand, transferring vibration back into the capsule. The second is using the wrong-sized cradle: a shock mount rated for a wider diameter range than your microphone's body will let the microphone move excessively rather than float freely in a controlled way. The right shock mount grips the body evenly and keeps movement minimal in all directions. Check that the elastic holds the body firmly when the stand is stationary, with only a small amount of free movement in any direction.
For more detail on selecting the right model, see our complete buyer's guide, and our guide to common mistakes covers what goes wrong in practice and how to fix it.
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