Michele,
It is possible to monitor undecoded Mid and Side signals in headphones on t=
he FR2-LE, though you=92ll be playing some mind games to remind yourself th=
at what you=92re hearing in your left ear is what will be in the middle of =
your eventual image, and what you=92re hearing in the right ear will be out=
to both sides. The unconscious urge is to move the mike so that the primar=
y sound is centered in your head.
But you can at least monitor to make sure each channel=92s signal is of ade=
quate volume level, clean and undistorted. You can also slip off the right =
earpiece and just concentrate on the left headphone to aim your mike by lis=
tening to just the mid mike=92s signal. Or get or make a little switch box =
or plug adapter that can let you choose to listen to just the left channel =
(Mid mike) or right channel (Side mike) in both ears of your headphones.
Or as Klas mentioned, get a special transformer that can passively decode M=
S to LR. Such a device was mentioned in past posts several years back on th=
is list. You may want to search the archive for =91transformer=92 and see w=
hat turns up. I bought one of those transformers at the time it was discuss=
ed on the list, but have never gotten around to wiring it up since I have a=
ccess to other options for doing MS recording.
And don=92t rule out microphones that have internal MS decoding to LR just =
yet. In this age of computer audio programs, it is possible to rebalance an=
already-decoded MS-to-LR stereo file in post production to make more or le=
ss middle or side volume. Rebalancing to narrow an image (strengthening the=
middle, weakening the sides) is as easy as panning both sides of a stereo =
file in toward the center.
Widening the image is a little trickier and involves using a =91stereo widt=
h=92 plug-in, or knowing how to set up faders on an audio app=92s mixer to =
route the signals through MS processing TWICE: once to convert your decoded=
stereo file back to Mid and Side signals for rebalancing, then again to re=
-decode to left and right signals. (BTW this method can be used to narrow o=
r widen ANY stereo recording, not just ones that use Mid and Side mikes.)
=97Flawn
On Jan 26, 2014, at 4:47 AM, wrote:
> 1a. Can you monitor mid/side in the field without an M/S matrix?
> Posted by: "Michele Vanoncini" mvanoncini
> Date: Sat Jan 25, 2014 1:32 pm ((PST))
>
>
>
>
> Hello everyone,
>
> I'd like to get into mid/side recording and I was
> wondering if I also need to upgrade my recorder (Fostex FR2 -Le) since it=
doesn't
> have a built-in M/S matrix decoder... which would mean monitoring the
> mid channel with one hear and the side channel with the other.
> Does that make sense, or would it sound really bizarre?
> I'm considering a set-up with a shotgun microphone as the mid channel.
>
> I definitely want to keep the option of working the m/s mix in post,
> which rules out any microphone with an internal m/s matrix and L/R
> output.
>
> Any advice will be welcome!
> Thanks
> Michele
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