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Re: Stereo Parabolic recordings

Subject: Re: Stereo Parabolic recordings
From: "Rich Peet" <>
Date: Fri, 11 Jun 2004 21:46:31 -0000
I will try and put some examples up later today. I am packing for a 
few days recording outing and trying to tie up some other ends.

I will also scope my examples to determine if they are mono 
compatible.  I believe mine are mono compatible but will double 
check.  I more often phase reverse one channel and sum to add 
additional noise reduction than attempt to combine the two channels 
which results in an overall drop in dish gain.

If you start your barrier at the mic diaphram and only project it 
back away from the dish, then you will still have your cows in 
stereo and try a 1" seperation of the diaphrams for your dish.  For 
mine I use 3".
You would then be using the whole dish for each microphone rather 
than having reduced it to half.  Also with separated mics your 
targets at a distance will sound like wide separation stereo even 
though they may be only 10 degrees separated.  The down side is two 
fold this way.  One, the amplified stereo sounds will be fliped in 
image from the off axis stereo sounds. Two, if you are slightly off 
aim on a variable freq bird such as your grousebeak then the high 
notes will be lower volume from the low notes which occationally 
makes the location of the bird in image flutter from side to side.

Not better, just a different flavor.
Rich

--- In  Lang Elliott <> 
wrote:
> Yes. My setup is basically the same as used in the Telinga Stereo 
Dat Mike.
> 
> http://www.naturesound.com/telinga/telinga.html
> 
> Rich, what is it you "hear". I believe that you prefer spaced 
mikes with no
> barrier. Do you have any good examples for listening?
> 
> Lang
> 
> By my ears it appears that you run a partition between the two mkh-
> 20's, correct?
> 
> Rich
> 
> --- In  Lang Elliott <>
> wrote:
> > Re: Stereo Parbolic recording
> > 
> > I've been doing lots of recording using my custom stereo Telinga
> MKH20
> > setup. Go to the address below to listen to a recording I made
> last weekend.
> > It features a Rose-breasted Grosbeak plus the sounds of some 
other
> animals,
> > big critters of some sort. Maybe someone in this group can tell 
me
> what
> > creature so rudely interrupted my grosbeak recording. Be sure to
> listen
> > using headphones so that you can fully appreciate the marvelous
> stereo
> > effect:
> > 
> > http://www.naturesound.com/mp3/rbgroby.mp3
> > 
> > Studying the waveforms of my various stereo parabolic recordings
> on the
> > computer, I've discovered the following important fact. Unless 
the
> target
> > bird is exactly focused, with the bird's song being identical
> amplitude in
> > both channels, there is often a resultant phase difference 
between
> channels.
> > This occurs even when the target bird is "slightly" off-axis.
> > 
> > This can cause major problems when one desires a monaural
> recording and sums
> > the two channels to obtain it. Phase cancellations then reduce 
the
> amplitude
> > of the target bird's song, and may also result in other 
anomalies.
> For this
> > reason, it is not a good idea to mix the two channels to 
monaural.
> It is
> > better to choose the channel where the target bird is the loudest
> and use it
> > as your monaural source.
> > 
> > This negates my earlier conclusion that the stereo parabolic 
setup
> produces
> > a monaural recording superior to that of a monaural parabola. 
This
> is true
> > in theory, but only if the target bird is perfectly focused and
> there is no
> > phase variation between the two channels. In actuality, it turns
> out that
> > this is rarely the case, unless the target bird is in direct view
> and
> > focusing becomes foolproof. When the bird is not seen and one
> focuses the
> > parabola "by ear", it seems to be the norm that it will end up
> slightly off
> > axis, with phase differences evident.
> > 
> > It follows that if one chooses the loudest channel in a stereo
> parabolic
> > recording to produce a monaural version, then this will produce a
> result
> > that is somewhat inferior to that produced by a monaural 
parabolic
> setup. I
> > haven't tested this in a controlled situation, but I expect that
> using only
> > one channel will result in a loss of signal-to-noise of 3-5 db or
> so. Maybe
> > one of you tech-heads can tell me what would be expected in 
theory.
> > 
> > I expect that the Telinga Stereo DAT mike exhibits the same
> behavior as my
> > custom setup. A quick preliminary test revealed that this is
> indeed the case
> > (I noticed similar phase differences between channels).
> > 
> > In spite of this potential "problem", I am totally sold on stereo
> parabolic
> > recording. If you listen to the mp3 I've posted, using 
headphones,
> then
> > you'll hear why. The listening experience is far more pleasurable
> that one
> > has with mono. Off axis sounds come from their proper directions
> and the
> > sense of spaciousness is superb. Listening at home becomes a real
> joy, and
> > monitoring while recording in the field is much more exciting.
> > 
> > Lang
> 
> 
> 
> "Microphones are not ears,
> Loudspeakers are not birds,
> A listening room is not nature."
> Klas Strandberg 
> 
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