Topic: Rode XY Mic's attach to iPhone and iPad's - New at NAMM '13

[Chimney Top]

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/910477-REG/rode_ixy_stereo_recording_microphone.html

[Chimney Top]

http://tascam.com/product/ixj2/

[DigiGal]

There was an earlier thread on this, here is a link...

http://taperssection.com/index.php?topic=160099.0

[DSatz]

They're using two cardioids at 90°--a setup which results in an extremely wide (180°) stereophonic recording angle. The sound sources that you're trying to record would have to fill an unusually wide arc in real space, relative to the microphones, in order to be spread across the virtual space between your loudspeakers in playback.

That could work for recording business meetings, or for headphone-oriented recording in general, but not usually for live music outside of a studio environment if the goal for the recording is to sound good over loudspeakers. If it's a solo performer and you're a foot or two away, OK, or if a group of performers fans out into something like a semi-circle and you place the microphones at the focal point. But if you record a performance from anywhere farther back, the direct sound pickup would occupy only a more or less narrow range of left/right space in the reproduced stereo image, i.e. the reproduction of the actual music would be essentially mono, with only the mid- and high-frequency room sound getting picked up in any degree of stereo.

I guess this arrangement has become something of a visual trademark for them, which their marketing people probably think is great, but in terms of recording quality it's not a good corner to be painted into in my opinion.

[JasonR]

I agree with David that X-Y cardioids at 90 degrees results in a large stereo recording angle, but it's actually even worse than 180 degrees - it's 195.9 degrees.  Certainly a wider angle included angle between the mics would improve things in regards to the wide recording angle, but I'm guessing a near-coincident approach would be more to your liking for recording music in the audience, and most of us would agree.  Tascam took that approach with the DR-05 where the mics are spread only about 2" and appear to be over 110° -- perhaps closer to 125.5° where the included angle is the same as there stereo recording angle (at this 2" spread).  Not that that's meaningful at all, but you will notice that a wider included angle results in a narrower stereo recording angle -- something we may not intuitively expect.

On the plus side, X-Y @ 90° will be mono-compatible, have a strong center image, is very tolerant of orientation issues, and might generally be a good choice for recording in a classroom, boardroom, or other venue where soundstaging and imaging are practically irrelevant.  Given the "iXY" name, I suspect the product design grew out of the marketing department rather than the other way around.