Dave,
Others have already answered most of your questions. I'll just add a
bit to some items.
On Jul 7, 2006, at 9:34 AM, thxdave wrote:
>
> Also, assuming that you record the audio into separate M and S tracks,
> does it make any difference to the decoding process if I record in
> mono .wav as opposed to poly .wav files?
You can do either, but since you are editing in Bias Peak, I would
suggest that you use the poly format. That will create a stereo file
that you can easily edit in Peak. If you create two separate files, you
will need an extra step to combine them into a stereo file before
editing. Note that some other editors have the reverse preference.
>
> My final bit of frustration came last night when I tried to decode my
> first m/s files and play them back on my computer. I'm using Bias Peak
> 5.2 which includes a plug-in (mda Image) that SEEMS to decode m/s --->
> Stereo, but the files (sometimes) play back incorrectly. For instance,
> I did some "walk-around" tests where I set up my MHK's on a stand and
> I circled the mics with my 722 at the end of a 25' mic cable (Star
> Quad cable wired to XLR-5 ends) and recorded myself as I called off my
> relative positions (center, left, right, 1 o'clock, 2 o'clock, etc.)
> so that I'd have a good way of knowing whether the mics were working
> correctly or that I had wired my cable correctly. When I played back
> the files in my headphones using the 722's built-in decoder, my
> recorded positions were clearly audible and tracked perfectly as I
> moved around the mic array. However, when I played these same files
> later at home using Peak and the m/s decoder plug-in, nothing seemed
> to play back correctly without a LOT of futzing using the slider
> controls of the plug. Can anybody recommend a fairly simple m/s
> plug-in that I can use so I can make sure that I'm doing all of this
> correctly?
I also use the mda image plug-in with Peak, and it works quite well.
However, it has one quirk that may be affecting you. The top slider
controls the conversion performed. Unfortunately, it defaults to
"LR->LR" which has no effect. You want to click it one notch to the
left, which is "MS->LR". All of the other defaults are what you will
probably want most of the time. Play with them a bit to see what they
do, but usually keep the top slider at "MS->LR".
One interesting aspect of this plugin is that it also has an "LR->MS"
option that allows you to convert a normal stereo file to M/S. You can
then make any changes you want and convert back using another copy of
the plug-in. This gives lots of flexibility that I seldom use, but it's
good to know it's there if I need it.
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