Thanks to you all for the links to your recordings! I have some listening to do.
kuba, can you identify which files contain which microphone positions? It's not clear to me which is which by the file names. As we've now hit 25 pages, I'll lock this thread after you post that information and start a continuation thread. I've figured the focus of the follow-up thread would primarily be OMT mixing and post production, yet I find there are still a few microphone setup variations I want to experiment with-
I went back and listened to a couple of recordings I made indoors in a medium-sized music-club type place recently and decided I may change my OMT recommendation for reverberant or otherwise difficult rooms. I'd recorded Magpie Salute on a Friday and Marcus King band on a Sunday at the same place, from the same position, using two different setups. For Magpie I used the 4-channel "tough room OMT setup" without omnis, described on page 2 of the booklet. For Marcus King I used my reference 6-channel OMT setup, modified slightly by angling the supercards forward +/- 45 degrees instead of having them pointed 180 degrees apart as in a standard OCT setup. Granted not all extraneous variables were held constant- the biggest one being the sound in the room was mixed considerably better for Marcus King Band. I also used different microphones- for Magpie Salute I used a pair of Microtech Gefell M210 supercardioids at +/- 45 degrees, along with a Mid/Side center pair consisting of a MG M94 cardioid + Naiant X-8S. That setup had the microphones spaced somewhat less widely yet with the center pair pushed out in front somewhat more. For Marcus King I used my now standard 6-channel all-miniature-DPA setup, with the DPA supercards somewhat wider and with the center mic less far out in front, forming a flatter central triangle. I need to do more tests in small rooms to confirm, but the standard 6-channel setup with the minor modification of angling the supercards forward +/- 45 degrees was far superior this time around and may end up being the recommended "tough room OMT setup".
That got me thinking about what variant I think I'll try next- Instead of trying to place the Naiant X-8S figure-8's coincident with the omnis to make them into Mid/Side Strauss-Packet pairs and gain control over their fore/aft directionality (as indicated in a few of the "not-yet tested setups" in the booklet), I'll instead place them coincident with the sideways facing supercardioids. In that way I'll gain the ability to steer the side-facing OCT supercards towards the front or back rather than the omnis.
I think that should make for some interesting tests. In a practical sense it will also be far easier to setup and run for a few reasons 1) Although not overly large, the X-8S are relatively heavy, and are far larger than the miniature DPA omnis. I cannot support them along with the wide omnis at full extension using the lightweight telescopic TV antenna arms I'm currently using as an adjustable mic-bar. I can support them at the mid-way points where the sideways-facing supercardioids are located however. Also, like the supercards, the bi-directionals are more wind-sensitive than the omnis and require more extensive wind protection. I can put the miniature-supercard + X-8S Mid/Side pair inside a single Sure A81WS windscreen and support that in the mid-way out position, while the omnis at the far ends only require a small foam screen.
Here's a drawing of it, which I'll work into the OMT booklet at some point-