At 5:16 AM +0000 7/21/10, jtudor2005 wrote:
>
>Anyone here use the Tascam DR 680?? I can't seem to find any info
>about it having an M/S matrix.
>
Hi John--
A few additional things to consider in the overall picture in case
they'll help with your decisions.
When positioning an M-S mic array, some recordists find it easier to
find the sweet spot not using M-S monitoring. Its great to have many
monitoring options, but not essential. Here's how I'd summarize the
non M-S monitoring technique I use the most for critical micing:
(1) Turn-up the gain on the left (mid) channel only and position the
mic to create the right distance perspective, the fore-ground to
background relationships. Its like a ratio between the primary sound
source(s) and the background sound levels. One of the strengths of
M-S is good depth in the center of the stereo field if one does this
step separately and carefully.
(2) Facing the same direction as the mid mic, take off the
headphones and listen to the background sounds. Are there loud, low
frequency background sounds on one side that are not on the other?
If so, I consider moving my mic position so the loud background is in
the center of the stereo field. Located in the center, they are
easier to lessen/adjust with EQ and the stereo image will feel much
more balanced. If the background sounds are located evenly around me,
I turn up both record gain settings to get good saturation and roll.
After working with the same mic arrays over time, one might find
oneself using headphones less and less. I often use mine mostly to
make sure there are no problems with cables, noise etc. The spatial
attributes of the setting can be very important and many of the
recordists I know who are good at capturing these, leave their phones
off for most of the decision-making process we might call, "micing."
Its a little like a photographer who studies at the entire field of
light when setting up a shot.
With simple M-S encoding/decoding plugs like Tom Erbe's freeware
"+Matrix" that don't introduce other variables, one can confidently
convert a encoded field recording into a decoded one for work in
post. In A/B tests I've did, I couldn't detect any difference between
a file I mistakenly encoded in the field and decoded in post and one
I waited to decode in post. Of course, these are important
adjustments to make in any case.
Also, using a pair of the same plugs when mixing and inserting a good
parametric EQ plug in between them, one can use M-S processing in
post to adjust the balance/volume and tone of the sides separately
from the center with material recorded with any stereo array. This is
a remarkably powerful trick that works with any mic array. Rob D.
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