Got lucky with unmatched mics...

[Andy Eng]

Hello All,

Attended a local Jazz event played in a nice medium-small'ish
auditorium and got to record them. Went in having never heard them or
this room before. They're mic collection was a mix of low-medium
budget mics commensurate with a small Community College's budget.

Used four mics at the rear (~80') of the room about 25' above the
stage -- An unmatched X-Y pair in the center and two spaced further
apart in the corners (-50' apart). None of the mics were the same and
I don't recall the live performance sounding like the recording.
Seemed though like the recording sounded better which was a bit
unintended -- the instruments seemed a bit better pronounced and best
of all, the performers were happy. Listing the actual mics used may
cause arguments so we'll just leave it at that... :-)

May consider using unmatched mics for future room recording
projects?!?!?!

That's it...

Andy

[Fletch]

On Mar 21, 7:14 am, "Andy Eng" > wrote:
> Hello All,
>
> Attended a local Jazz event played in a nice medium-small'ish
> auditorium and got to record them. Went in having never heard them or
> this room before. They're mic collection was a mix of low-medium
> budget mics commensurate with a small Community College's budget.
>
> Used four mics at the rear (~80') of the room about 25' above the
> stage -- An unmatched X-Y pair in the center and two spaced further
> apart in the corners (-50' apart). None of the mics were the same and
> I don't recall the live performance sounding like the recording.
> Seemed though like the recording sounded better which was a bit
> unintended -- the instruments seemed a bit better pronounced and best
> of all, the performers were happy. Listing the actual mics used may
> cause arguments so we'll just leave it at that... :-)
>
> May consider using unmatched mics for future room recording
> projects?!?!?!
>
> That's it...
>
> Andy


Well, as has been noted before, on the pricey mics, you should not
need to spend the extra money on a "matched pair", as the QC is
generally so good that any two mics of a given type, say a U-87,
should be 'identical' enough to be considered a matched pair, as long
as they have not been abused.

On lesser quality mics with questionable QC (can you say China?), then
you're at the mercy of whomever decided to 'create' a "matched pair".

If you find some system that works in employing mics of differing
characteristics, that's fantastic. Remember, back in the old days,
engineers would be quite creative in their use and application of
their tools to create or "pull" the sound they wanted out of the gear
they used. And we got the benefit of their expertise and
experimentation.

--Fletch

[Carey Carlan]

"Andy Eng" > wrote in news:1174486485.537429.101140
@n59g2000hsh.googlegroups.com:

> Used four mics at the rear (~80') of the room about 25' above the
> stage -- An unmatched X-Y pair in the center and two spaced further
> apart in the corners (-50' apart). None of the mics were the same and
> I don't recall the live performance sounding like the recording.
> Seemed though like the recording sounded better which was a bit
> unintended -- the instruments seemed a bit better pronounced and best
> of all, the performers were happy. Listing the actual mics used may
> cause arguments so we'll just leave it at that... :-)

The recording sounded better because your (I'm guessing directional?) mics
had a boosted high end. That adds definition and crispness. Is that
better? Sometimes. It's a matter of taste.

Different brands of microphones in an X-Y pair would be more apparent
without your outboard mics on the corners. As the outboards contributed
essentially separate mono signal to each side, any discrepancies in the
main pair were covered.

In an unmatched stereo pair, the center sound will appear to shift left and
right with frequency depending on the frequency response of the two
microphones. You may also hear differing levels of noise in the two
channels.

Just about any two microphones with the same pickup pattern will yield a
listenable stereo image in X-Y. It's the "solidity" of that image that
changes as the pair is better matched.