i am trying to figure out a better way to capture that full room sound, but also trying to get the good loud sound coming mainly from the stage, the instruments and vocals. a clearer sound. with more separation, better bass, cleaner highs, etc.
The
Improved PAS technique works well for almost everything that you're after. Since you mentioned 'better bass': if you run PAS with cardioids (especially lower cost ones), you must distance them with respect to to the subs and bass cabinets to take advantage of or avoid the
proximity effect depending on your bass level tastes. For metal, the mics would ideally be fully powered, configured for low sensitivity and able to handle very high SPLs without distortion. To my ears, it's hard to beat the full audio frequency impact of omnis in the right spot, but I've never tried PAS with them (I use HRTF & AB).
It sounds like you have permission to run open with some degree of flexibility. Give PAS or AB a try with a band where you aren't worried about making an archival recording. Ideally, there would be crowd noise levels similar to the events you do want to archive while testing.