I am curious why more folks on TS.com don't seem to be experimenting with ambisonic mics like the Soundfield and Coresound Tetramic lines.
It would seem that they literally do exactly what we usually want - "record the room" - but then allow you to mix down, through software, down to virtually any pattern. I realize some of the Soundfield mics are very expensive (the top of the line one being $6000 and requiring an extra piece of gear), but this software-based one, the SPS200, doesn't require a big piece of gear to be lugged around and seems to price out at $2700- far from cheap, but about the same as some used Schoeps, Neumanns or DPAs and much less than new ones. I know people have their issues with Core as well, but that mic is only $1000 including the software.
I listened to some samples on the LMA from a couple of tapers down south and was pretty amazed by the spaciousness of these recordings. Definitely a very different feel to say, a stereo pair of hypers. I find the recordings very enjoyable to listen to - they feel very "natural" to me.
Soundfield SPS200:
http://www.archive.org/details/amt2010-04-11.stereo.flac16http://www.archive.org/details/moe2010-03-13sps200 (this one is not as good; sounds like a boomy, echo-y venue)
http://www.archive.org/details/um2010-02-11sps200.flac.16http://www.archive.org/details/phood2010-03-13 (decoded m/s and really nice)
Coresound Tetramic (jazz)
http://www.archive.org/details/BostonHorns2010-04-02.tetramic.flac16Coresound Tetramic (rock)
http://www.archive.org/details/moonalice2010-03-28.tetramic.flac16So, I assume there is a catch. For one, there is obviously more software work involved. I am also guessing that by nature, since the thing has mics aimed all over, it picks up a lot of chatter, so you end decoding back to hyper or something anyway a lot of the time. I'm curious if you do so, whether the software eliminates the information that you don't want (i.e., a chatter-y channel from a mic aimed down at the crowd). It also seems like from Soundfield's site that these are more commonly used for film rather than music. But then, a lot of the mics we use are really designed for relatively up-close studio use, and not what we are doing, also.
I'm also curious whether placement is a difficulty - could you run one of these from a balcony just as easily as regular mics? I tend to think so, since again, the software can presumably reject unwanted information... but I am curious.
Anyway, I would be curious to hear the opinions of those who have used these. It seems, in theory, to be a lot easier and more versatile to just carry one mic around rather than two or even four typical SDCs.