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Gear / Technical Help => Microphones & Setup => Topic started by: millhouse412 on March 09, 2005, 12:20:02 PM

Title: ill admit this question may be stupid but i need to ask......
Post by: millhouse412 on March 09, 2005, 12:20:02 PM
what does everyone use to make their angle and spacing measurments in the field? How percise is everyone ussually??

thanks
dan
Title: Re: ill admit this question may be stupid but i need to ask......
Post by: jesse on March 09, 2005, 12:47:09 PM
I have cardboard cutouts of DIN and ORTF.  They work pretty damn well
Title: Re: ill admit this question may be stupid but i need to ask......
Post by: charles on March 09, 2005, 01:25:08 PM
I just eyeball it. I like to use my own little config creations as well. As for how much difference it really makes....I'm too new to this to give my own opinion on this....but others opinions seem to vary. I know some people who have been taping a long time who always use exact measurements. I knoiw other who have taped just as long that don't worry themselves with it. If I were you, I'd try both out and see what suits you best. It seems with all of this taping stuff that everyone has different opinions and that in the end all that matters is what you find that works for you through your own trial and error out in the field.
Title: Re: ill admit this question may be stupid but i need to ask......
Post by: MattD on March 09, 2005, 01:30:05 PM
DPA XY/ORTF mount. No guesswork! :)
Title: Re: ill admit this question may be stupid but i need to ask......
Post by: bhtoque on March 09, 2005, 01:31:01 PM
I've got 45* and 55* marks on my t-bars. I've got a small ruler/protractor in my bag, but I almost never use it anymore.

JAson
Title: Re: ill admit this question may be stupid but i need to ask......
Post by: greenone on March 10, 2005, 11:18:50 AM
I've got a small ruler/protractor in my bag, but I almost never use it anymore.

I just keep it next to my slide rule in my pocket protector... ;D
Title: Re: ill admit this question may be stupid but i need to ask......
Post by: pfife on March 10, 2005, 11:35:57 AM
I have cardboard cutouts of DIN and ORTF.  They work pretty damn well

same here
Title: Re: ill admit this question may be stupid but i need to ask......
Post by: bagtagsell on March 10, 2005, 11:53:30 AM
I actually bought a protractor.  Go team precision taping!!!  But I forgot it 3 times in a row.
90 degrees is a real easy angle to see.  So XY and DIN, are easy on the angle side.  Or if you can't eye it up, look for a piece of paper or anything around that is 90 degrees.  Tons of stuff are like that.

Now the question becomes how far apart should my mics go.  I havent found a good answer yet.  But if I'm running DIN I put them so the screw on my 481s are just outside of my shock.  It gives me a reference point to make sure both mics are equally spaced 
Title: Re: ill admit this question may be stupid but i need to ask......
Post by: d5 on March 10, 2005, 04:17:07 PM
I've got a small ruler/protractor in my bag, but I almost never use it anymore.

I just keep it next to my slide rule in my pocket protector... ;D

I use a plastic protractor also... I feel like a complete geek when I use it. I do ORTF more often than not and I rather be more precise than trying to eye ball 110.
Title: Re: ill admit this question may be stupid but i need to ask......
Post by: creekfreak on March 10, 2005, 08:06:45 PM
with the TL's I eye ball it for the most part......with the mk41's I am happy to have a DINA bar....
Title: Re: ill admit this question may be stupid but i need to ask......
Post by: Swampy on March 10, 2005, 08:13:03 PM
If I spread my hand, from my thumb to my pinky is 20cm, and I pretty much always run DIN, so it works out. The angle isn't really hard to eyeball...
Title: Re: ill admit this question may be stupid but i need to ask......
Post by: dklein on March 11, 2005, 10:16:28 AM
If I spread my hand, from my thumb to my pinky is 20cm, and I pretty much always run DIN, so it works out. The angle isn't really hard to eyeball...
small hands, smell like cabbage  ;D  You some kind of carny or something?
Title: Re: ill admit this question may be stupid but i need to ask......
Post by: Tall Adam on March 11, 2005, 10:25:30 AM
i too made a cut out but mine is a little different, its 30cm long, w/ a 90° included angle...then its marked again on one side, parallel to the edge at 20 and 17 cm. then i drew a slightly wider angle line at 110° for ortf. it was a big triangle but i cut off the bottom making it a trapezoid, about 3in tall. then i cut into the middle of the shorter part (the side that doesnt have angles marked) a 90° corner for XY or other 90° checking. basically, i can put it in between my mics (stacked vert bar style) and see if the mic is parallel with the line it should be, and if the cap is in the middle of the marking for distance. i hope that just made sense.

also, i have learned that w/ my homemade vert bar and SP c4s and SP shocks...NOS is mics in middle of shocks, shocks extended to full length, DIN is mics in middle, shocks bent to 90° angles.  ORTF is the only one i really bust out the cardboard for.
Title: Re: ill admit this question may be stupid but i need to ask......
Post by: Brian on March 11, 2005, 10:56:52 AM
i usually eyeball everything.

i can't remember the last time I used an EXACT  stereo config strict to their descriptions when not using XY.  Every venue I tape in I need to run some sort of modified angle and spread.  for intance at the pageant, because the stacks are so far apart from eachother I'll run Hypers, 20cm at an angle of around 100º or so.  Front rail at mississippi nights,  same situation, wide stacks, but smaller venue.  Cards, 17cm, 120º.
Title: Re: ill admit this question may be stupid but i need to ask......
Post by: Kevin Straker on March 11, 2005, 01:20:47 PM
When I ran full bodies I used a ruler and a protractor, but then again I'm a nerd. It's a lot easier with the active caps since you just have to snap them onto the bar.
Title: Re: ill admit this question may be stupid but i need to ask......
Post by: Gordon on March 12, 2005, 05:16:20 AM
If I spread my hand, from my thumb to my pinky is 20cm, and I pretty much always run DIN, so it works out. The angle isn't really hard to eyeball...

yep.
Title: Re: ill admit this question may be stupid but i need to ask......
Post by: Swampy on March 12, 2005, 03:53:11 PM
If I spread my hand, from my thumb to my pinky is 20cm, and I pretty much always run DIN, so it works out. The angle isn't really hard to eyeball...
small hands, smell like cabbage ;D You some kind of carny or something?
Huhhh? Is there somthing Im not getting?
Title: Re: ill admit this question may be stupid but i need to ask......
Post by: dklein on March 12, 2005, 04:16:34 PM
If I spread my hand, from my thumb to my pinky is 20cm, and I pretty much always run DIN, so it works out. The angle isn't really hard to eyeball...
small hands, smell like cabbage ;D You some kind of carny or something?
Huhhh? Is there somthing Im not getting?
yeah...my bad joke.  I measured my hand spread and it was 25 cm.  Which then led me to the Austin Powers reference about 'carnies'.  You know that scene where he talks about what scares him - "carnies (carnival workers), small hands, smell like cabbage".  It's just a quote, no insult intended.  I am often too obscure for my own good. ;)
Title: Re: ill admit this question may be stupid but i need to ask......
Post by: Swampy on March 12, 2005, 04:17:46 PM
If I spread my hand, from my thumb to my pinky is 20cm, and I pretty much always run DIN, so it works out. The angle isn't really hard to eyeball...
small hands, smell like cabbage ;D You some kind of carny or something?
Huhhh? Is there somthing Im not getting?
yeah...my bad joke. I measured my hand spread and it was 25 cm. Which then led me to the Austin Powers reference about 'carnies'. You know that scene where he talks about what scares him - "carnies (carnival workers), small hands, smell like cabbage". It's just a quote, no insult intended. I am often too obscure for my own good. ;)
Ahh, no harm done! I was thinking it was a quote, but I just couldn't put my finger on it. It made me laugh now that I remember what it was from! ;D
Title: Re: ill admit this question may be stupid but i need to ask......
Post by: Tim on March 12, 2005, 04:25:11 PM
yeah, I thought he meant this Carnie...
(http://www.geocities.com/HotSprings/6698/wilson.gif)

;)
Title: Re: ill admit this question may be stupid but i need to ask......
Post by: Swampy on March 12, 2005, 04:25:55 PM
 :-X
Title: Re: ill admit this question may be stupid but i need to ask......
Post by: F.O.Bean on March 14, 2005, 01:03:56 AM
i eyeball it myself, and like brian said, i vary everynite i tape w/ angles and stuff usually, tho lately ive been running DIN/DINa, and the way i can tell is measuring at home and remembering markers on my mics
Title: Re: ill admit this question may be stupid but i need to ask......
Post by: Swampy on March 14, 2005, 01:14:03 AM
Ya, thats a good point, exact stereo configs were never designed to be used for live PA recording. I really think that configs are a good place to start, then you need to cusomize it to the situation you are in.
Title: Re: ill admit this question may be stupid but i need to ask......
Post by: mhibbs on March 18, 2005, 02:06:29 PM
If I spread my hand, from my thumb to my pinky is 20cm, and I pretty much always run DIN, so it works out. The angle isn't really hard to eyeball...

That's great.  I run Schoeps now so it's not an issue, but when I still had my 480s I did exactly the same thing you are describing.  The spread from my thumb to pinky spread out Hawaii "hang loose" style is right at 20 also.

mitch