Walt:
Unfortunately, I do not currently have a working model so I can't provide a
photograph at this time. The technique I tried at the conference worked,
although I know it can be improved upon. What I did was take a 4' X 4' sheet
of 1.5" thick insulation board (pink Corning extruded polystyrene
insulation). The insulation comes in 2" X 8" sheets. I cut a sheet in half
and then taped the two pieces together. They fit together snugly with the
help of the tongue-and-groove design.
Then I cut a rectangle in the center that will accept two SASS units, one
placed on the top the other and each facing in different directions. I taped
them together snugly, wrapping the tape around the rear portion of the SASS
housings. Then I inserted the piggybacked SASS's snugly into the rectangular
opening in the insulation board.
This resulted in the front-facing SASS being separated by a large barrier
from the rear-facing SASS. In this setup, the right mike of the front SASS
and the left mike of the back SASS are separated by about 6"-7" with the
large barrier in between. I wondered what effect this would have on imaging
to the sides.
When we played the four channels back using a quad speaker setup, the
results were quite amazing, as I have already described. The imaging even
held together when one turned 90 degrees to the right or left. And, as I've
mentioned, a listener could turn in whatever direction he liked, and the
soundfield remained stable.
My improved version will look more like a quad-SASS, or maybe even a
quad-Jecklin disc setup, where there are barriers between each omni mike
that extend out maybe a foot or so. While such a barrier would not deter low
frequency sounds, it might very well be enough to attenuate mid-frequency
and high-frequency material, thereby reducing the phase effects. It is
important, I believe, to keep the mike elements spaced at ear width. And the
whole affair should be perfectly symetrical. There would be no defined
"front". Or else a "front" could be chosen after the recording is made,
depending on what happens where.
In any event, the 360 degree experience was a whole new listening
experience. It leaves stereo in the dust and 5.1 doesn't provide such
complete surround with excellent imaging in all directions. There really is
no comparison. When you can hear sounds coming from all directions and can
turn and face whatever sound you like, you are approaching a realistic
listening situation.
Lang
From: Lang Elliott <>
> I have thought up a basic four channel miking design that combines the best
> principles of binaural with equal attention to the matter of de-correlating
> mike pairs as much as possible. The result is a kind of "quad-SASS", but
> with the addition of somewhat larger barriers between any of the four mike
> pairs. I tested a version of this at the Nature Sounds Society workshop in
> May and the results were excellent, though they have not scrutinized in
> detail.
Can we see some photos, descriptions? For those of us not located where
we can go to such meetings.
Walt
"Microphones are not ears,
Loudspeakers are not birds,
A listening room is not nature."
Klas Strandberg
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