Behind The Mics: 5 Questions With Austrian Audio’s Senior Acoustic Engineer + Videos

Get to know the Austrian Audio team a little better! Austrian Audio’s Senior Acoustic Engineer, Christoph Frank answers five key questions:

1. What is your role at Austrian Audio, and what were you doing before this?

I studied audio engineering and finished my masters degree in 2010. I then joined the market leader for mobile phone speakers and worked there until 2015. Afterwards I joined AKG working on automotive microphones until they shut the Vienna premises down, and we found our new home with Austrian Audio.

As you can see my audio past is very diverse, nevertheless our CEO, Martin made me the lead acoustic engineer for the OC18 and OC818, where I brought in a lot of ideas – as I financed my studies by doing studio and live sound engineering. So I see myself as a user of our devices as well. Now I work on our new projects in the professional microphone area which I can‘t tell you about just yet…

2. What was the inspiration behind the mics?

The main idea behind the OC18 and OC818 was reimagining the famous CK12 capsule, but without copying it as the cost would be too high with everything being made in Austria – and there are enough clones out there already; some better, some worse!

So after we succeeded in this by using new technologies such as technical ceramics, we wanted to make sure to preserve this sound even in the mic housing, so the next goal was making the microphone ‘acoustically transparent’ without compromising on robustness.

The third thing we wanted to do is give the user total control over the polar-patterns – this resulted both in the bluetooth PolarPilot app control and the dual-output, and the Polar Designer app.

3. Do you record at home?

Since the birth of my first son in 2015 I no longer do live sound engineering as it collides with family life, especially on the weekends. I still do studio recordings from time to time, but no full album productions.

I still have my studio rehearsal room in Vienna together with some friends, which I frequently use for Austrian Audio, as measurements are not enough when you design new microphones – you constantly need to evaluate the sound on various sources/instruments.

4. What makes the mics unique?

Definitively the capsule and its versatility. Users send us emails about using the mic and plugin in ways that we didn‘t even think about when we developed them! Also the fact that the OC18 and OC818 sound so similar that you can use them as a stereo pair is extremely valuable.

5. Explain the PolarDesigner Plugin…

The PolarDesigner gives you full control over the polar-pattern in post production when you record with the OC818 to two tracks with the dual output. You can choose any pattern, from omni, to figure of eight in up to five frequency-bands.

For instance, you can have an omni characteristic for a certain frequency-range where you want to capture the sound of the room, but a tighter super cardioid where your recording room doesn‘t sound good.

Or you can have a certain frequency band where you use a cardioid to one side of the microphone and another band with the cardioid facing the opposite direction. The possibilities are endless!