Topic: when the PA is stereo...

[drumminj]

Thinking about a few things (I should stop thinking in general)....

If the PA is mixed in stereo, I'm guessing the best bet is to be DFC in that case?

And if you can't, how do you accomodate with your mic placement?

Pretty vague questions, I know.  Please throw out any information/ideas you think are relevant.


J

[HydroPANIC]

The actual "sweet spot" may very venue to venue...  But setting up in the center about the same distance from the stage as the Stacks are apart.  Will put you in the ballpark.

As far as recording from off center:
Mics only record the sound around the area your standing...  (except for shotguns)  always setup your mics in a typical stereo pattern.  paying close attention to the angle & spacing between the capsules.  This will help improve the sound stage of your recordings.  Then use your gains to even out the levels from being off center.

Being in the "sweet spot" will guarantee better stereo seperation on tape...  But not setting your mics up properly will give unsatisfactory results no matter where you setup....  Hope this helps.

[Swampy]

Ya, what he said ^^^

If you are off to one side, dont fret. Ive been over to one side and run din, cranked up the further channel a bit, and still had the nice panning that was in the pa.

[drumminj]

Thanks Alex.  That's what I'm worried about/trying to figure out.  It seems that, by being off to one side, even if you crank up the further channel, you'd still lose the panning.  The mic pointed towards the "far" speaker is going to pick up more of the closer speaker and less of the far speaker than if you're DFC.  Do you compensate by changing the direction the mics are pointed (assuming mics are already fixed in a stereo config)?  

[Swampy]

If your at a big venue and your directly infront of a stack on one side, your probably out of luck. But, Ive probably been 10 feet away from dfc at some medium sized  outdooor shows and still got stereo from the pa. I run din most of the time, so I try to get the mics even as to what they are pointing at. Like, if im to the left side, Im not gonna have the center of the mics right to the stage, ill point the configuration a little to the right. So that they are pointing around the same place on both sides... I dont know if that^^ makes any sense...

[dmonterisi]

even way off center, you can pick up plenty of the other stack, you'd be amazed at how directional the mics really are...you will certainly get more of one stack, but it won't be like a mono blob or anything...what i do off-center (and i don't actually think too many others do this, but it's worked for me so hey, whatever), is orient the center axis between a stereo pair at the area between the stacks and bring the included angle in a little bit from 90*.  so with cards, i'd end up with about 20cm spacing and about 70 degrees of spacing...it works nice and you still get a good stereo image, a little narrower than with 90*, but it will still be very listenable.  another option i found works well is X-Y oriented between the stacks...i wouldn't do ortf from far off-center

[wboswell]

While I don't change the included angle of my mics, I may try to change their orientation slightly by shifting the t-bar so that the cap furthest from a stack recieves a more direct blast from the PA.  This will balance out the recording, but I have not yet determined its effect on imaging.  

[HydroPANIC]

Here's an excellent book on the subject of psyhco acoustics and how the mind perceives stereo images...

Goes indepth into why or how to setup mics in stereo configurations
http://www.stereosoundbook.com/

[drumminj]

wait, you want me to READ?!?!!  Thanks for all the feedback guys.  It's all about what I figured...

[greenone]

what i do off-center (and i don't actually think too many others do this, but it's worked for me so hey, whatever), is orient the center axis between a stereo pair at the area between the stacks and bring the included angle in a little bit from 90*.

another option i found works well is X-Y oriented between the stacks...

This is exactly what I do...X-Y aimed at the middle of the stage. Like Damon I'm not sure how many other folks do this but it's worked out just fine...