tell it like it is. I dont really see the point of strict patterns either, in a lot of PA taping situations.
I also found that listening to pa tapes ive made , the fact of them being 24 bit only enhanced the reasons that I dont like some PA taping to begin with. 16 bit, PAS
I can see that in an onstage or acoustic type situation adhering to placement conventions would make a pretty big difference
but from what ive heard and the little that I have learned, the music is so processed, filtered, baffled, drugged, smoked, blasted through 100 dollar PA speakers , rode hard and put away wet.......how would strict techniques make much of a difference???acoustic is where its at..or stage lip.
I agree Jason, you need some angle or space to yeild a decent stereo image. Not to say you Jason, but people who get out the protractor and ruler to make a perfect ORTF DIN etc really bother me. Here they are in a shitty club 15' off center, a giant pole directly to the left..(not to mention the horrible sound guy!) you get my point. Sometimes you need to improvise. I don't always run "accepted" patterns. In an ideal location, true patterns are best and yield the most accurate imagine, I understand, but a lot of times when I don't have a choice where I am I run hypers and just aim them at the outside of the stacks. my .02
Sorry for the rant.