Hi, just noticed this thread. Wasn't sure when the public would first hear of this new capsule type, so was keeping mum.
Yes, its pattern is between wide cardioid and "classic" cardioid, and no, it isn't an imitation of anything else. Yes, it works very well for live stereo recording. I'm a huge fan of Schoeps' wide cardioid capsules, but unfortunately I don't get to record very often in what I consider to be the right acoustics for their use. These new capsules can be used in more situations, and they do bring a lot of the sonic goodies of the wide cardioid.
You'll see many references to spot miking in Schoeps' promotional literature because that's where the original demand for this capsule design came from--and of course because that application represents a much larger target market than we do.
Someone asked about the capsule's frequency response, which I've posted as an attachment below.
About the terminology: There's no "official" scientific, non-proprietary name for the pattern which some people call "wide cardioid" and others call "subcardioid" or sometimes "hypocardioid." All three terms refer to any pattern near the mid-point between cardioid and omni. Where exactly a given design falls on the spectrum will depend on the manufacturer. Schoeps' MK 21 "wide cardioid" is intentionally not exactly in the middle, for example; its particular characteristics were decided through experimentation and practical listening tests. (Several of the engineers at Schoeps are into live recording.)
OK, I gotta go to my day job ... here's the frequency response graph. Note that the MK 22 has stronger low-frequency response than the MK 4 cardioid, which is no slouch.
--best regards
