Topic: Mid-Side levels question...how to?

[KLowe]

No luck on the mic board......so

quick question for MS'ers.

Do you set the figure 8 levels at just below peak or match the gain of the front facing cardiod mic?

does that question make any sense?

Thanks for the help.

[BWolf]

the question doesn't really make sense.... but i'll tell you what i do.

i set the card so that its just like i would if i was running in stereo.  then i put the side to just about the same gain, but a little less usually.  i think i probably run 55/45 mid to side.  so if i get the mid to about 30 and its peaking on the v3, i'll set the mid to about 26-28.

its worked well for me so far, and i never travel with headphones (although I probably should), so i can't play with it while i'm recording.  i have been pleased with my results....

[KLowe]

I guess it doesnt make sense....so I'll clarify...i hope.

On the UA-5 I normally set the front facing card to just below peak level.  (occassional peak light blinking).

Should I set the fig-8 cap to just below peak light blinkage (which would be more gain than the card level)... or set it at the same gain level as the forward facing card? 



Thanks for your help Brad.  (FYI...your Umphreys bonnaroo M/S is what caused my Neumann M/S purchase).... sick, sick sound.

[Shawn]

if you are using the UA-5 I assume that you are doing all of the M/S decode in post. If that is the case then I suggest running both at about the same level and then adjusting the volume of the side signal in post.

[BWolf]

I like to keep them about the same (50/50) or the card a little higher then the mid.  i wouldn't put more mid then side unless you have headphones to listen and make sure it sounds ok.  you want the side to compliment (or add) the mid and not the mid to compliment the side (unless, like i said, you can listen while your recording).

i just keep them about the same on gain with the mid just slightly lower.  i should probably start taking headphones with me and play around with it and see what the other combinations sound like...  i used to have a pdf that showed what the different combinations of mid and side did to your stereo pattern.  i'll look for it...

[BWolf]

http://taperssection.com/index.php?topic=66414.0

also, check this thread out.  this was the image i was looking for.  its the second image.  something thats interesting to note is that if you are running 50:50 it seems like you'd acutally be running about 120 degrees.  i tried to work through the math, but i something is missing.  first off, its in radians, and second, it references an image i've never seen, so i can't be sure i know what they are talking about...  but either way, you can see what happens in these three cases where you have M:S as 70:30, 50:50, and 30:70.

[Brian Skalinder]

I've always set my levels evenly.  Ultimately, it doesn't matter if you're decoding in post, as you have complete control over the process.  So I figure make sure each channel gets good levels (fairly aggressive at 16-bit, less so at 24-bit) and deal with it in post.

[midside]

I set them fairly close to the same and with plenty of headroom.
After matrixing in post, you will get higher peaks.
So, I wouldn't let either channel peak above -8.

[KLowe]

Thanks yall for all the advice.  Going to record NMAS tonight in 24bit so...I'll be sure to leave the headroom and mess around with it in post.

much appreciated.

Kevin

[BayTaynt3d]

I set them fairly close to the same and with plenty of headroom.
After matrixing in post, you will get higher peaks.
So, I wouldn't let either channel peak above -8.

That's what I was thinking, but I don't know anything about MS really. But I was thinking that one channel is creating by summing right? So you better leave some headroom because if the summing causes clipping, that would be a bad thing. In a way, that might set a limit to the amount you can sum. I guess you could lower the levels to each channel before summing, but that's not as optimal as leaving some headroom. But like I said, I know nothing about MS...