Yes, the holophone is a bad deal for the money. I think an experimenter
could devise a similar unit with the same noise specs for a fraction of the
cost.
I wonder if the Holophone involves any kind of signal manipulation in the
various channels? For instance, for 5.1 where there is correlated signals in
the rear channels, some engineers roll off the highs in the rear channels to
reduce interference. And then there's always the delay trick: add a little
delay in the rear channels and the front imaging will be strengthened.
Michael Sokol, a surround sound expert, did this using two SASS units faced
in opposite directions without a barrier. He added a slight delay to the
rear channels and got very nice 5.1.
But remember that 5.1 isn't truly surround. It is a forward-directed
listening format that includes a spacious ambience provided by the rear
speakers. It is designed for folks facing forward while watching movies or
sitting on a couch and listening to music that was produced on a frontal
sound stage.
From: Dan Dugan <>
>
> Lang Elliott, you wrote,
>
>
>>They use DPA 4060 series miniature mikes in the pro unit. I just checked and
>>found these little mikes have a whopping A-weighted noise rating of 23dbA,
>>clearly unsuitable for nature applications. You can find specs at
>>www.dpamicrophones.com, under their miniture microphone classification.
>
>
> I don't think 23 dBA is so bad; my little Shure WR183s have a noise
> level rated at 22 dBA, and they're quiet enough to record quiet
> ambiences if you don't crank them up unnaturally high.
It all depends on your definition of quiet ambiences. If they are loud
enough, or have limited dynamic range, then even noisy mics can record
them acceptably. But, as the ambience sound level drops, or you want to
look deeper into it's dynamic range, a 23 dBA mic will intrude lots of
times when a 10 dBA mic won't.
So, what self noise does is set limits of where and for what purpose you
can record. Lower self noise sets less limits if everything else is the
same.
I agree with Lang, 23 dBA is too often too high.
And remember, we are not talking a mic as cheap as the Shure. If it was
that cheap, we would not expect that low noise. But at thousands of
dollars, I do expect the low self noise. Making the holophone a bad deal
for the money.
Walt
"Microphones are not ears,
Loudspeakers are not birds,
A listening room is not nature."
Klas Strandberg
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