Somebody on this board (VWMule?) has run LSD2 blumlein outdoors at Wanee amphitheater with great results. Outdoors you normally have no reflections, so in my mind "add that to the good list".
I ran Blumlein here http://www.archive.org/details/dtb2007-11-13.lsd2.flac16f and that is what I consider one of my "successes". It's an old opera house, pretty reflective, but I was hung off the balcony rail, right in front of the little "balcony wall" so I think perhaps that smothered some of the reflections from the main walls in the room.
Another "success" is this one, where I flipped the switches from XY cards to Blumlein half way through the show. In this case, the PA and stage were within that +/- 45 degree rule, and the noise from the front was loud enough that overpowered whatever was reflecting back. http://www.archive.org/details/rads2007-06-20.lsd2-sbd-mix.flac16f
If you have a bunch of chatty people behind your mics, then the back lobes pick them up clearly, whereas something like cardioid XY would tend to reduce them, so in my mind that is not an ideal use of blumlein.
One of the classic uses of Blumlein I believe is for a bunch of bluegrass players that circle around the mic. Some are on the front lobe, some are on the back lobes (phase inverted), but there is nothing to cancel out.
The times I've tried to run Blumlein "from the section" next to the SBD in a big room have all been "throw aways".
That's my observations.
I really love the vivid stereo image you get with Blumlein and use it whenever it makes sense, which is generally when I can set up close enough to a group of musicians to convey a sense of being in the middle of the action. It usually provides a very realistic soundstage whether listening through speakers or headphones. Some recent examples:
bluegrass circle jam at 2010 Folk Alliance, circa 4:30 AM (unamplified)
http://thespps.org/mp3s/partners/sppsshowcases/fa2010/mp3/bluejam2010-02-18.mp3f/bluejam2010-02-18t09.mp3Della Mae doing Gram Parsons at 2010 Folk Alliance (unamplified)
http://thespps.org/mp3s/partners/sppsshowcases/fa2010/mp3/dellamae2010-02-18.mp3f/dellamae2010-02-18t04.mp3Session Americana's 2009 holiday shows at Club Passim
http://tapers.org/mp3s/sessionamericana2009-12-12.matrix.mp3f/sa2009-12-12d1t03.mp3The above recordings were all made with a Blumlein pair of Milab DC-196s placed right in front of the performers (actually in the middle of a circle of 9 players in the first sample). In the first two recordings, the main Blumlein pair was supplemented by Milab VM-44 Links configured DIN on the same stand and mixed in at about -12dB to add a little depth to the soundstage. In the last, a mono board feed was mixed in at about -6dB to boost the vocals so the separation is actually a little diluted. I did pick up a lot of crowd noise from the enthusiastic audience seated behind the mics in the Club Passim recording, but for me that just adds to the feeling of being there. Thankfully the audience mostly refrained from talking to each other during the songs.
Never had a problem with deficient bass myself, but judging from their plots the DC-196s have much less LF rolloff as figure-8s than most multi-pattern mics.
I've never even attempted running Blumlein in a typical FOB situation at a rock club or theater show, can't imagine it would sound very good for the reasons Joe alluded to. I'm actually surprised his Derek Trucks show sounds as good as it does, but I suppose it's not much different from running XY if there's nothing in back of the rear diaphragms.
Yet to try it outdoors, but I plan to change that this summer!
Topic: Blumlien Question (Read 7933 times)