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Gear / Technical Help => Microphones & Setup => Topic started by: caitjim on October 05, 2018, 11:25:42 AM

Title: Newbie question
Post by: caitjim on October 05, 2018, 11:25:42 AM

Am I being stupid here? Do 2 mics make a difference with a live music concert stealth recording? The stereo separation will only be about 2 feet at most. Is it better to have one good mic or 2 less good but a stereo recording? Sorry if this seems obvious but I'm new to this.

Thanks in advance.

Title: Re: Newbie question
Post by: relefunt on October 05, 2018, 12:21:04 PM

It’s not about how far away the mics are. Your ears are only a few inches apart but you wouldn’t want to lose one, right?

Title: Re: Newbie question
Post by: robeti on October 05, 2018, 12:29:37 PM

When I started doing audio, after years of video only,I did mono tapes with one Nakamichi cm300.
That lasted 2 recordings.

Mono is boring and not the way you hear it during the show.

Bought another Nakamichi cm300 mic and never looked back.

Hope that helps.

Title: Re: Newbie question
Post by: caitjim on October 05, 2018, 02:09:52 PM

relefunt - explained perfectly. I'll go for 2 mics. Ta.

Title: Re: Newbie question
Post by: DSatz on October 05, 2018, 03:50:40 PM

caitjim, just to put icing on the cake--the two microphones that you use for a stereo recording can even be directly on top of one another (!) and still create a really good stereo effect IF they are "directional" microphones (i.e. their response is selective as to the angles of arriving sound), and IF they're oriented with an awareness of their directional pattern so that each one picks up a largely separate region of the space in which you're recording.

The majority of two-mike stereo recordings are made either that way, or (more often) with directional microphones that are oriented according to the same general approach, but also having some space between them--usually just a few inches or so. That can give the recording a much better feeling of spaciousness than it would have without the spacing between the microphones.

--best regards

Title: Re: Newbie question
Post by: twatts (pants are so over-rated...) on October 05, 2018, 03:57:52 PM

I'll add that there are "Stereo" mics, like the Audio Technica AT8022, that are essentially two microphones in a single microphone body.  These give you stereo sound with only one mic.

Terry

Title: Re: Newbie question
Post by: twatts (pants are so over-rated...) on October 05, 2018, 04:04:13 PM

I'll also add that if you're doing stealth tapes, you might want to research "binaural" or "HRTF"...

Terry

Title: Re: Newbie questioncha
Post by: seethreepo on October 06, 2018, 01:18:27 AM

Running multiple mics also has the advantage in the event there are talkers or other issues with one channel but not both, simply cop6 anD paste the good channel over
 the affected one

Title: Re: Newbie question
Post by: caitjim on October 06, 2018, 09:21:13 AM

THANK YOU EVERYONE - perfectly explained.

Title: Re: Newbie question
Post by: willndmb on October 06, 2018, 10:40:57 PM

To answer your question about "cost"
I would take one good mic and save up for the second vs two cheap mics you will not be happy with down the road anyway