Posted by: "Rob Danielson"
>> >BTW your original file is odd in that there is more S than M, IE unless=
you
>> >reduced the amount of S in the de-code your LR stereo will contain quit=
e
>> >some amount of out of phase info - but that's odd
>
> Its not unusual or detrimental; the mkh80 side mic has more output.
You should be adjusting the gain on your recorder to optimum for each
channel when you record, which would adjust for the extra output of the
MKH80. Don't gang the gain of the two channels in M/S. Set each
independently and correct according to your headroom preferences. This
will give the optimum recordings to work with.
Note that this usually results in a side that if mixed without gain
adjust is too strong and tries to push the stereo wider than it wants to
go. So, during decode you also adjust gain separately.
> Summary from my viewpoint: If I couldn't locate the M-S originals and
> could only locate the LR output, I'd kick-up the file to 24 bits if
> it was 16 bits and use the +matrix plug to get an M-S virtual state
> if I needed to process it further like equalize. Its not as easy as
> loading up the original MS->LR mix for me, personally, but its a
> workable option. Rob D.
The bottom line is to maintain a good archive of your original M/S and
the issue won't come up.
Note that the relative gain of the two mics when originally decoded
won't matter in a perfect M/S system. It does determine the width of the
stereo field and is adjustable, one of the advantages of M/S. But the
side component and mid component still are discrete and recoverable.
Only if you pan one or both of the mics in the mix when decoding, or
process after decoding will you get a poor recovery going backwards. Or
at least poor in terms of reproducing the original, it may be exactly
what you need in reality. What you will recover will be in the same
ratio you had when you fed it into decoding, or close enough to be
trivial. Then when you process back forward you can adjust the gain
again to get what you want. Don't get stuck on one setting for M/S
decoding. It's very flexible.
One of the problems with the digital age is this concept that everything
will be perfectly reproduced and always must be. In analog no such thing
bothered people. Yet analog processing produced excellent recordings.
What counts is the sound of the recordings you produce, not test results.
Walt
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