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Re: X-Y -> M-S & Perfect Reversals

Subject: Re: X-Y -> M-S & Perfect Reversals
From: "Dan Dugan" dandugan_1999
Date: Sun Mar 18, 2007 2:37 pm ((PDT))
Max, you wrote,

>Earlier in this thread the relative volume of the side-channel was
>discussed, should it be recorded to make a 'natural' stereo-image,
>or should it be recorded louder to achieve best saturation of the
>medium?

A matter of personal style. I argue that the best original MS
recording is one that decodes into a realistic stereo image without
adjustment. Of course that means that the meter for the side channel
will read lower when you're recording a frontal sound, but that's the
way it should be! Same thing for surround channels--pre-mix a
reasonable balance in the field, tweak later.

Think about this. When you are recording stereo, and the main sound
source is mainly on the right side, should you turn up the left
channel so the meters read the same? I don't think so.

My rationale for that is to give my recordings "legs," so that people
can make use of my archives after I'm dead and gone. If somebody
pulls up one of my MS recordings a hundred years from now, I want
them to be able to hear it the way I think it ought to sound in
stereo without adjustment.

In the field this means monitoring through a decoder, and setting the
m/s ratio so the width sounds right. It can always be adjusted later,
but in my opinion a natural balance is the starting point.

-Dan Dugan




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