Topic: Konos 80-element MEMS Array Microphone

[rocksuitcase]

Not sure if self-promotion is allowed but I can answer some questions if people have them.
We just released Konos 2 with recording on the device so the signal path is full digital.
Also added a few other features such as an input for LTC, Info LCD, Battery slot and smaller.

Same website updated info.
https://www.konos-sound.com/

Very cool to come onboard here. This does seem optimized for things other than music. The 50Hz low frequency cut off is a bit high for audio tapers. We typically use microphones which go 20Hz-20Khz, although some mileage may vary.
Thanks for the new model link.

[Gutbucket]

Yes. seamusrowe, big thanks for joining the discussion here.

rock- I assume the primary target application is as a boom mic, but should be applicable anywhere a traditional shotgun mic is called for.  Will be interesting to find out how smooth its pickup patterns actually are, since that's on of the weak points of traditional interference tube microphones.  In the case of this mic the electronic summing of the elements in it's MEMS array takes the place of the acoustic summing of wavefronts passing though the interference tube. In addition to providing switchable, acceptance angle, the scheme may or may not provide improved performance in comparison to an interference tube microphone.

seamusroew- I've a feature suggestion which should make the mic more widely attractive, and may not involve much difficulty depending on the geometry of the MEMS array.  Add an option allowing the user to choose between 1) the rear-facing complementary output as currently implemented, OR 2) a bi-directional Side-channel output, which gets routed to the 2nd analog output / written to SD card.  That would allow use as a Mid/Side stereo mic, without any need to sacrifice the highly tuned mono Mid pattern.  In other threads here at TS we've discussed methods which could be used to create a stereoized output from this mic as it is currently implemented.  That involves a phase manipulation of the rear/complementary output which allows it to better serve as side channel.  However, providing the option to output a true fig-8 Side-channel output would allow true L/R stereo output from the mic.

[morst]

Yes. seamusrowe, big thanks for joining the discussion here.

seamusroew- I've a feature suggestion which should make the mic more widely attractive, and may not involve much difficulty depending on the geometry of the MEMS array.  Add an option allowing the user to choose between 1) the rear-facing complementary output as currently implemented, OR 2) a bi-directional Side-channel output, which gets routed to the 2nd analog output / written to SD card.  That would allow use as a Mid/Side stereo mic, without any need to sacrifice the highly tuned mono Mid pattern.  In other threads here at TS we've discussed methods which could be used to create a stereoized output from this mic as it is currently implemented.  That involves a phase manipulation of the rear/complementary output which allows it to better serve as side channel.  However, providing the option to output a true fig-8 Side-channel output would allow true L/R stereo output from the mic.

Gut's upgrade would tend to make me want to try recording music with it... or nature sounds maybe!? That bird over there???

[goodcooker]

Using this away from AC power would make it difficult for many users particularly tapers who often rely completely on battery power.

From the spec page -

Operating time on battery power
~1hrs (17wh NP-F)

[VibrationOfLife]

Looks like V1 ran on USB.  That would make it much more practical.

[Gutbucket]

Potential for stereo output from this microphone in its current form (please ignore if uninterested) -

A follow up on this..

In other threads here at TS we've discussed methods which could be used to create a stereoized output from this mic as it is currently implemented.  That involves a phase manipulation of the rear/complementary output which allows it to better serve as side channel.  However, providing the option to output a true fig-8 Side-channel output would allow true L/R stereo output from the mic.

^
One might of course use this microphone as the Mid channel of a Mid/Side stereo pair, along with a figure-8 microphone serving as Side channel.  But its also possible to create a "stereo" output using just the "front" and "rear" outputs from this microphone on its own without an additional fig-8 microphone.  As an example of that, below is a link to a folder containing several examples of a technique I use when I have only front and rear facing microphone channels available rather than left/right or mid/side channels.

The technique alters stereo image distribution using Mid/Side processing in combination with a manipulation of phase.  It assigns the forward-focused primary channel as Mid, and the complementary rear/everything-else channel as Side after treating it with a phase rotation process so it more closely emulates the behavior of a bi-directional microphone.  The result is that the forward-focused, primary on-axis content inhabits the center of the playback image and the complementary, rear-facing content spreads out from the center to either side of the stereo image.  It's open and spacious with depth although it lacks any specific left/right location directionality. The dry, direct, on-axis, forward-focused sound inhabits the center of the stereo image and the off-axis, reverberant and ambient content spreads from the center out to either side in a spacious and diffuse kind of way.

The original recording used for these examples did not actually use a front-facing/back-facing microphone pair, but rather a typical near-spaced L/R stereo pair placed at stage-lip with the center axis of the pair facing directly forward (actually a mix of two pairs sharing the same center axis). That's all quite normal, what's not was that the drum kit was setup stage-right, sideways to the audience, so all drum content is heard as coming from the left in the recording.  The demonstration uses this technique to redistribute instrument placement, particularly drum content, few different ways without changing the relative level balance between instruments.

Use of an fig-8 microphone as Side channel would further expand the stereo output with acutal left/right image placement differentiation, but the lack of that isn't as much of a deal killer as one might imagine.  In the various demonstration samples, only the original file (the one with schoeps in the file name) features left/right stereo differentiation.  All the others invert that into variations on Mid/Side or "front/back" stereo with no specific left/right differentiation.

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1m1UuL6aD38-zHr4mrsrmuTXxmaKwC41E?usp=drive_link