To bring things back on topic, Ive been focusing on Mid-Side and coincident=
lately - the coincident has a slight twist with the mics being a pair of e=
ars.
Over easter the motorway din has been quite low and today I set out with th=
e idea of testing a couple of rigs, the pair of coincident ears and a ribbo=
n mid-side using all dynamic mics. -except by the time I reached the destin=
ation the motorway traffic din returned - typical...
While testing the ears, I also took out a fully dynamic rig consisting of t=
he Audix i5 dynamic mic and a generic made in china Ribbon mic. (RB100) - t=
he ribbon mic has been modified with a much thinner ribbon to increase the =
sensitivity.
The ribbon rig rolled into the Sony D50 with the cold shorted to the shield=
. The ears into a Korg MR1 and also the D50 (water section) running on plug=
in power.
What I found interesting in the recording was the extended high frequency r=
esponse of the ribbon and realisation that given the amount of noise at the=
location its a viable rig when static on a tripod. Its also more sensitiv=
e, and literally the side lets it down.
Heres the demo: (with a lot of eq to remove the motorway din at 800Hz and l=
ow end rumbles)
http://soundcloud.com/urlme/sec-ears-ribbonms-earswater
A version with no eq or ms->lr matrixing is available if interested.
>From a technical standpoint, the dynamic rig is in the region of 74dB SNR o=
r 20ish dB self noise. This is 6 dB more than the ear rig and this doesn't =
consider the mechanical gain due to the ear shape. 20 dB is on the high sid=
e for nature recording, 16dbA or less is preferred - one possible exception=
may relate to how well the ribbon takes eq vs condensor.
one question for the old timers, Were mid/side setups using ribbons common =
for nature recording before condensor mics?
BR
Mike.
|