Mid-Side field questions

T

Thebes

Well-known member
Hello, for a Doc I am planning, and for other purposes, I am looking at getting some new sound equipment.

One thing I would really like is to be able to get good ambient sound mixed in with directional sound. It seems a Mid-Side mic is ideal for this, and in particular I am looking at the AT835ST because of my budget (ie, I am not going to spend over a grand on a mic).

Looking at the polar plot of the AT835ST's mid channel, it looks more like a hyper-cardioid to me than any of the shotgun polar plots I've seen. Am I understanding this correctly? Ie, would this be a good choice in situations where I want a mic with less reach than a shotgun, like indoors?

Also, what are my options for monitoring if I want to record the mid and side signals separately? Right now I am looking at maybe recording to a Edirol R-44, which can decode M/S, but I would want to only decode for monitoring purposes, doing the final mixing of the stereo image width in post.
 
One body MS mics have either cardioid or hypercardioid M microphone, there really would be no much point to have a shotgun in the middle (at least the demand for such constructions would be too small). Of course you can wire a shotgun and an MS mic together with only S mic live if you need one for special occations and it works better.

I just used a Pearl MSH 10 yestarday on an indoor static shot recording 9 people seated on both sides of a long table. Turned out nice with great image. I used to have a Shure VP88, great field mic, but heavy and a bit noisy. You can find those used at well under 1k$. Pearls are about twice that.

I do not know about Edirol, my SD722 can monitor in MS even when tracks are recorded pure M&S. In a pich you could first monitor pure M&S to hear that all is good (both channels work), then listen to levels by listening only M channel. If it is possible in Ediroll.
 
Petrus said:
One body MS mics have either cardioid or hypercardioid M microphone, there really would be no much point to have a shotgun in the middle (at least the demand for such constructions would be too small).
Click to expand...

Er - the Sennheiser MKH 418-S is a one-body MS microphone with the equivalent of the MKH 416 as the mid + a fig.8 side - outputs on a 5-pin XLR and is a very popular mic.

The Neumann RSM 191 is also a single body MS with an interference tube mic. foe the mid - shorther and less directional than a 416, though.
 
Ok, so it would seem that I get the choice of patterns, though the Sennheiser is probably out of my budget unless I find a good used deal (not even going to consider the Neumann possible). Its nice to know about the VP88, thats around the same price as the AT.

Also, thinking about this, couldn't I get (or make? if needed) a headphone mixer? Do any headphone amps have a mixer that would decode M-S to a stereo mix?

For the mic I am also considering 2 mics that I make a custom holder for. Some of the time this would be on a boom. I looked at the Oktava MK-012 and it seems highly regarded, I could get both cardioid and hyper for a very attractive price, and there is now a figure-8 head as well. I would get a lot of flexibility for my money. Would this be a good choice? Would this figure-8 work, it looks to have 2 elements?
 
Using two mics for M-S ought to work out well enough, provided the two mics are fairly closely matched in terms of frequency response. Rycote makes back-to-back mic clips for their 4-point suspension systems, although for best results you'll likely need a larger diameter windshield than you would for a single mic.

However, two mics tend to make a boom pole pretty heavy as the day wears on. Production dialogue is very rarely recorded in stereo, and even more rarely cut and mixed that way. A good stereo kit is handy for gathering effects and atmospheres, but I wouldn't recommend one for dialogue.
 
"The Neumann RSM 191 is also a single body MS with an interference tube mic. foe the mid - shorther and less directional than a 416, though."


but better sounding.

Ty Ford
 
tyreeford said:
"The Neumann RSM 191 is also a single body MS with an interference tube mic. foe the mid - shorther and less directional than a 416, though."


but better sounding.

Ty Ford
Click to expand...

But not so good in the wet ;-)

Personally, I prefer the MKH 60, though, as a gun mic.
 
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