naturerecordists
[Top] [All Lists]

Re: Minimics from Microphone Madness for field recording?

Subject: Re: Minimics from Microphone Madness for field recording?
From: Walter Knapp <>
Date: Fri, 04 Feb 2005 14:23:03 -0500
From: Curt Olson <>

> 
> Walt wrote:
> 
> 
>>From: Curt Olson <>
>>
>>>I'm currently favoring a simple barrier array (183s mounted 
>>>side-by-side and facing forward on opposite sides of a plywood 
>>>barrier). I like the excellent L/R imaging and rock-solid mono 
>>>compatibility. It also seems to deliver noticeably higher gain than 
>>>the spaced arrays I've tried, but with a slightly hyped high end 
>>>depending on the exact material used. Size of the barrier seems to 
>>>have a big effect on L/R imaging, so it gives a lot of room for 
>>>tweaking. The two biggest problems I would report are: 1) barrier 
>>>arrays can get bulky; 2) handling noise can be "off the charts," and 
>>>foam padding doesn't  seem to help much.
>>
>>What you are describing is a crude Jecklin disk setup. Hunt up info on 
>>that. You'll find there are a bunch of variations.
> 
> 
> It is crude, that's for sure, but somewhat different from the Jecklin 
> in that I'm mounting mics directly to a thin plywood barrier, with the 
> barrier itself as the only spacing between them. As Rich indicated, the 
> concept is probably a little more along the lines of a PZM.

How directly are the mic's diaphragms acoustically coupled to the 
barrier? It's only a PZM if they are coupling to the boundary layer 
directly by facing it. Unless the surface of the diaphragm is parallel 
to the boundary and either in the boundary plane or only separated by a 
tiny gap it should not be considered a boundary mic. Since yours is mics 
facing forward it's just two mics with a barrier in between. You will be 
getting reflected sound with variable path length off the barrier, 
something that boundary mics avoid.

>>To take care of handling noise you need some form of suspension 
>>between you and the mic. A solid path carries the sound.
> 
> 
> True indeed. I've created suspension systems for other arrays, but 
> pretty much ruled it out in this case in favor of simplicity and 
> ruggedness. But now you've got me thinking about it as a possible 
> future refinement.

You will find that something as simple as a o-ring supporting the mic 
will help a lot. Though if your handling noise problem is reverberation 
of the barrier a lot more will be needed.

Walt




________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________

<Prev in Thread] Current Thread [Next in Thread>
Admin

The University of NSW School of Computer and Engineering takes no responsibility for the contents of this archive. It is purely a compilation of material sent by many people to the naturerecordists mailing list. It has not been checked for accuracy nor its content verified in any way. If you wish to get material removed from the archive or have other queries about the archive e-mail Andrew Taylor at this address: andrewt@cse.unsw.EDU.AU