"Scott Dorsey" wrote in message
...
soundhaspriority wrote:
What is the preferred pickup characteristic of mics for coincident use,
such
as with an ORTF holder?

For a real ORTF (which is not coincident), strictly speaking you want
cardioids. The actual spec on file with the ORTF specifies cardioids.

However, it depends on the room. If you want to get closer, you will
want wider pattern mikes, splayed out a little more. If you want to
get back, you will want narrower mikes, pulled in a little.

I have a pair of old Audio-Technica AT33R hypercardioid condensers, and
(coming soon), some Marshal MXL603s subcardioids.

In the real world, off-axis response trumps actual pattern any day. Use
the mike that has the best response off-axis and then live with the
placement
that gives you.

I recorded a smal ensemble with the AT-33's; a violinist, harmonium, and
vocalist, using the AT-33's in ORTF config, but was not completely
satisfied
with the result. To my ears, the mics were not as clean as I hoped. The
Marshalls are newer technology, and should be better, but will subcardioid
mics work in a coincident configuration?

No, the Marshalls are actually older technology and probably don't have
as good pattern control as the AT. None of these are particularly good
microphones for the job.

What is a good mic for the job? Since the Marshalls are supposedly almost
omni, how about using them to construct a baffled coincident array?