Topic: Church Audio B-99M Stereo omni Binaural Mics in studio application?

[GroundHog420]

Hi!

There was an old thread about the SP-TFB-2 binaural mics, but as I started to post in that thread, I got the "older than 120 days" message, prompting me to start a new thread.  I've been using the Church Audio B-99M Stereo omni mics for the past four years, and I'm curious if anyone who used both of these has any thoughts about the similarities / differences between the two, when it comes down to stealth recording?  I rarely do stealth these days, but once in a while it becomes necessary, and I thought the SP-TFB-2 set-up looked pretty discreet, but I've heard that in-ear positioning is not a good application of binaural recording.  On the other hand, I've used the Church mics for stealth, but I can never be sure that they're hidden enough - particularly in small venues.

I love the Church Audio pro-binauaral mics, and as it's my understanding that "binaural" is an application, rather than a specific type, I've been using them as any other type of omni mic.  I've recorded tons of shows in both large and small venues, as well as outdoor festivals, etc, and tried to pick what seemed like the best configuration for the mics in each situation, mounting them on a stereo bar, and (hopefully) making good choices as to the height of the stand.  basically, finding the "sweet" spot in every case, as though I had the luxury of listening to the show from a vantage point of 12-15 ft in the air, for example. (I used to do the same thing with both Tandy and Crown PZMs, and got some pretty incredible results just by pushing the configurations a bit!)

Besides recording tons of bands for fun, every now and then someone wants a semi-"professional" recording done, without having a lot of money to spend.  It seems to me that with a minor bit of tweaking to a standard field rig, I should be able to offer something that combines the best of live recording with studio-type mixing.  I don't like most studio recordings that have been noticeably "produced", and want to use the live approach to recording, in making a studio-type recording.  I've had some good luck making CDs for a variety of artists, using little more than my live rig, but I'd like to expand a bit with the application of the mics I'm using.

I like the way the Church Audio binaural mics reproduce sound, and have been trying to find out for a while, if anyone has ever removed them from the splitter cable, and run them as individual mics, in a mixing board.  It seems feasible, but I don't understand some of the finer points of the electronics.  It seems to me the way they are wired together, they would share a load.  If that is correct, and they are separated, would something need to be done to compensate for this?  Given that the binaurals have the mini (1/8") plug, would anything be compromised by converting the plug to either a 3-pin or 1/4" connector?  Also, what would be a good rule of thumb for the maximum limit of cable that could be used for each individual mic?

Thanks in advance for any advice!

[oscoastierob]

Whats up J? I wondered if I'd see you chime in on here after Project Earth.. Chris can probably answer your questions a lot better as to seperating the mics...You might be able to use some adpaters to convert the steroe mini plug into another type of input but then you're going to have powering issues. But as far as getting that live sound in the studio you best bet would be to get some kind of 4 channel hard drive recorder and running 2 channels in from your mics and two channels off of the sound board and creating a "matrix" recording. An Edirol R-4 like I was running at Project Earth is a good affordable 4 channel option.

[GroundHog420]

An Edirol is definitely in the plans for an upgrade, as soon as we sell the house and move west, but I'm not spending any more before we move.  Part of what I was wondering about was what type of powering issues I might encounter if I run the mics separately, as opposed to the joined stereo plug.  The issues I expect to run into would be at the plug itself, and the length of the cable.  I'm not as technically savvy in a lot of ways as some of the folks I've seen post here, but I trust my ears, and I like what I get from the Church Audio binaural mics.

I generally like to avoid having to use a board feed for a signal - I think that with good placement, it's possible to get enough live signals to create a decent mix.  I also don't believe in using too many mics, so if I could position, say four of these where I want them, I think it should be entirely possible to get a good mix in a small room.  For bigger live events like Project Earth, I'm happy to stick with a simple 2-mic set-up - after all, they do a fine job, and its just for posterity.  I have done some pretty cool small studio live recordings with a handful of PZMs and a couple of sound baffles, and I'm more interested in pursuing projects like that, only with the binaurals.

[oscoastierob]

One of the cool things about the R-4 is that you can use the Stereo x2 feature to run a matrix. Instead of all for channels going into one file you get two seperate files for each feed. That way if the board feed sounds like shit you can scrap it and you still have you nice mic feed on the other two channels. Or if it turns out then you have a nice matrix.. As for powering the mics...I run my Church Audio STC-11s into a Church Audio BAT-2B (battery box) then into the R-4 with 1/4" right angle adaptors.

Oh and with the R-4 you can also run the mics in Mono X4 and you wouldn't need to split up the mic cables..

[Church-Audio]

Hi!

There was an old thread about the SP-TFB-2 binaural mics, but as I started to post in that thread, I got the "older than 120 days" message, prompting me to start a new thread.  I've been using the Church Audio B-99M Stereo omni mics for the past four years, and I'm curious if anyone who used both of these has any thoughts about the similarities / differences between the two, when it comes down to stealth recording?  I rarely do stealth these days, but once in a while it becomes necessary, and I thought the SP-TFB-2 set-up looked pretty discreet, but I've heard that in-ear positioning is not a good application of binaural recording.  On the other hand, I've used the Church mics for stealth, but I can never be sure that they're hidden enough - particularly in small venues.

I love the Church Audio pro-binauaral mics, and as it's my understanding that "binaural" is an application, rather than a specific type, I've been using them as any other type of omni mic.  I've recorded tons of shows in both large and small venues, as well as outdoor festivals, etc, and tried to pick what seemed like the best configuration for the mics in each situation, mounting them on a stereo bar, and (hopefully) making good choices as to the height of the stand.  basically, finding the "sweet" spot in every case, as though I had the luxury of listening to the show from a vantage point of 12-15 ft in the air, for example. (I used to do the same thing with both Tandy and Crown PZMs, and got some pretty incredible results just by pushing the configurations a bit!)

Besides recording tons of bands for fun, every now and then someone wants a semi-"professional" recording done, without having a lot of money to spend.  It seems to me that with a minor bit of tweaking to a standard field rig, I should be able to offer something that combines the best of live recording with studio-type mixing.  I don't like most studio recordings that have been noticeably "produced", and want to use the live approach to recording, in making a studio-type recording.  I've had some good luck making CDs for a variety of artists, using little more than my live rig, but I'd like to expand a bit with the application of the mics I'm using.

I like the way the Church Audio binaural mics reproduce sound, and have been trying to find out for a while, if anyone has ever removed them from the splitter cable, and run them as individual mics, in a mixing board.  It seems feasible, but I don't understand some of the finer points of the electronics.  It seems to me the way they are wired together, they would share a load.  If that is correct, and they are separated, would something need to be done to compensate for this?  Given that the binaurals have the mini (1/8") plug, would anything be compromised by converting the plug to either a 3-pin or 1/4" connector?  Also, what would be a good rule of thumb for the maximum limit of cable that could be used for each individual mic?

Thanks in advance for any advice!

Thanks for the complement.. The pro binaural mics were one of the first set of mics I ever made.. I use a primo capsule in them... I like the way they sound too... The mics can only handle a maximum of 10 volts dc. The cables are joined because my preamps and "most" minidisc recorders at the time were 3.5 mm stereo jacks for the mic inputs. So thats why the cables are they way they are. You can get me to build you a custom cable if you want for very little $$$. Or you can get someone like Nickspicks to build you a really nice cable for these mics, I will give him any info he needs to build it as I do a few strange things inside that cable. Or you can use a high quality headphone extension cable that is shieleded. The longest run I would use for these mics is 20 feet. Anything after that could cause issues with noise. These mics can be run from Phantom power there is a circuit floating around here that shows how to wire "unbalanced" mics to phantom power its a very simple circuit. And yes you could "cut" the Y cable and use the mics individually.

Chris