[Sonnova]

On Sun, 10 Feb 2008 07:27:38 -0800, Ray Thomas wrote
(in article ):

Simonel wrote in
With omnis you have more options where and how
to position the mics, but audience noise will be a problem if it's a
live performance

I disagree with this, even though my preference is for using small-spacing
(eg from head spacing to around 15" max) omni mics pairs whenever possible.
With such omni pairs you have fewer options for getting correct placement
as, in the most critical situations, even a few inches of siting the mics
further back from the optimum balance point (ie the point at which
direct:ambient ratio of sound is ideal) results in a sound which is too
washy with room reverberance and becomes indistinct. Thus there is MORE onus
on the engineer to get omni pair placement 'just right' than there is with a
similar pair of XY stereo cardioid mics, which can be placed at about 1.8
times the distance from the 'sound source' to derive the same ratio of
direct: ambient sound as the omni pair. Let me re-state, my preference is
always for an omni pair when I record, but wish to emphasize that correct
placement of them is not a trivial or 'forgiving' process. A curious
phenomenon however, is how forgiving the human ear is capable of being, when
it is placed anywhere within the concert hall (but perhaps not in one's
preferred seat !)...we seem to be able to make adjustments for the variable
ambience and reduced HF perception (the treble muting due to distance) in
our brains which microphones are far more critical of. All hail the
ear/brain interpretive mechanism !

What I'd like to know is how you obtain any stereo image at all using omni's
spaced that close together without some form of a baffle between them. I have
a single-point Avantone CK-40 stereo mike (looks exactly like the highly
regarded Telefunken ELA-M-270 http://tinyurl.com/2bbmaj) which has
switchable patterns: Omni/Cardioid/Figure-of-eight. When I select omni, I get
dead mono, and why shouldn't I? Both capsules are directly coincident (one
atop the other) and both have the same pick-up pattern irrespective of which
way they are pointed.