Topic: 3 mic mix - Where to set levels?

[Brian Skalinder]

So really a 3 mic mix was meant for rounding out the sound from a pair of shotgun mics?

I don't know if that's why Nak designed their mixer for 3 channels, but that's how tapers have used the setup, yes.  Shotguns provide a very (to me) tunnel-y, colored sound, not very natural at all, and the omni/card mixed in helps the recording sound more natural and open.  Some view it as the best of both worlds - the very direct sound of the shotguns with a little ambience mixed in.

[MattH]

So really a 3 mic mix was meant for rounding out the sound from a pair of shotgun mics?

I don't know if that's why Nak designed their mixer for 3 channels, but that's how tapers have used the setup, yes.  Shotguns provide a very (to me) tunnel-y, colored sound, not very natural at all, and the omni/card mixed in helps the recording sound more natural and open.  Some view it as the best of both worlds - the very direct sound of the shotguns with a little ambience mixed in.

All of my 3 mic mixes have been with cards as L/R. I like an omni for center mic when taping on-stage but otherwise card for center indoors.

3 mics just seem to pick up more of the overall image to me.

[taper420]

I'm pretty much just getting started with serious recording. I've patched for years with my minidisc, but just now I'm starting to take the whole setup much more serious. I have a pair of Sennheiser me66's that I've been using for a while and I'm very pleased with the crisp, clear sound. I'll concede that their is a bit of coloring but I don't notice a tunnel effect. It's not like having toilet paper rolls attached to your ears, it really just does a good job of making the music sound closer. That said I've been thinging about adding a third mic to the mix as well, mostly to get a better bass responce. You know the shotguns I have, what do you think would be a nice third mic to add to the mix? Keep in mind the low end is what is important here. One with a choice between omni and card would be great for the versitiity. Price range should be around the same as the shotguns.
I'm gonna record to three seperate channels and mix later. I've been putting alot of full shows on dvd and the third channel would go right into the 2.1 mix. So for the two scenarios of a 2.1 mix and for mixing down to stereo would I want to cut everything above a certain frequency on the onmi/card and let the shotguns pick up from there? Or should the omni/card be brought in with all frequencies intact?
And just a quick technical question. I always point my shotguns right at the speaker stacks. The closest term I can find for this is NOS but the angle isn't always 90 degrees. Whats the technical term for my setup? And if I crossed the mics in a setup closer to XY, how would this change the sound? All of the mic setups are pretty exact in terms of degrees, but I know the flattest responce on the shotgun is directly in front, and most of the setups are refering to cards. So am I wrong to want the mics pointing directly at the stacks? It's always sounded pretty good. Ok thanks for the help.

[Brian Skalinder]

So for the two scenarios of a 2.1 mix and for mixing down to stereo would I want to cut everything above a certain frequency on the onmi/card and let the shotguns pick up from there? Or should the omni/card be brought in with all frequencies intact?

I'd mix the omni/card in fully intact.

And just a quick technical question. I always point my shotguns right at the speaker stacks. The closest term I can find for this is NOS but the angle isn't always 90 degrees. Whats the technical term for my setup?

PAS.  Point At Stacks. 

And if I crossed the mics in a setup closer to XY, how would this change the sound? All of the mic setups are pretty exact in terms of degrees, but I know the flattest responce on the shotgun is directly in front, and most of the setups are refering to cards. So am I wrong to want the mics pointing directly at the stacks? It's always sounded pretty good. Ok thanks for the help.

With Shotguns, trust your ears and keep running PAS.  Most of the configs like NOS, DIN, ORTF, MS, Blumlein baffled omnis, etc. are designed for use with specific polar patterns (omni, subcards, cards, hypers, figure-8 - not shotguns).