Topic: Portable Preamp with M/S ?

[boa]

Thanks for the awesome feedback and killer information! ya'll are great. I ended up finding a Sound Devices Mixpre-D from a kind member here, so I am set. 

[Gutbucket]

Good to hear boa!

Following up on the Dual-M/S aside above in response to Voltronic, I said in my previous post [bold added here]..

Extending the analogy drawn earlier even further..  We really need control over pattern, angle, spacing, and position, as recording position will always be the primary determinant of the direct/ambient ratio.

The next thing affecting direct/ambient ratio after the all-important recording position is choice of polar pattern combined with the direction we point the microphone.  But the best the choice of pattern and direction can do is to work with whatever direct/reverberant balance exists at the recording position.  And because we are talking about stereo recording using a 2-channel microphone pair rather than a single microphone, we are are rather limited by configurations that provide good stereo even if we have total control over the spacing between microphones.

Dual M/S partly breaks that constraint by introducing an additional channel.  In addition to unlinking the choice of angle and pattern, it is the addition of that independent rear-facing channel that allows us to gain a bit more control over the direct/reverberant balance that exists at the recording position. 

I made a recording yesterday with my multichannel recording setup that includes a rear-facing near-spaced pair in addition to the main M/S pair, forward-facing near-spaced pair, and wide-spaced omnis. That's a whole lot of channels, but I run that many and the rear-facing pair in particular partly as a way of gaining as much control over adjustment of direct/reverberant ratio afterwards as possible, without affecting the stereo image of the primary stuff in front.  Listening back last night, after dialing in a good initial balance all around, I could then easily adjust the overall direct/reverberant balance by changing the level of the rear facing pair or muting them entirely.  I'm still constrained to achieving no higher direct/reverberant ratio than was available at the recording position, but I can easily decrease it as desired, dialing in additional ambient reverberant room sound to taste.

The freedom to make that adjustment afterward without otherwise affecting the stereo image at the same time requires additional channels.