I regularly record four channel surround with the DR2d using 4 x DPA 4060 miniature omnis into 2 x Church CA-UGLY preamps (0-20dB gain, each the size of a 9V battery holder). This is the smallest, reasonably-high quality 4 channel surround setup I am aware of. It fits in one or two front pants pockets easily. I store the entire recording rig in a small shaving kit bag along with extra media, batteries, and other gear.
If you wear the mics you can position them so that your body effectively acts as a baffle, with outstanding results as long as you position yourself well and remain still during the recording. The quality of this system is more than satisfactory to my ears and playback system, and I'm rather critical of sound quality.
You can add a stand and telescopic arms for a surround Decca-Tree-like setup that trades the baffling for additional spacing between mics and frees you from wearing them, offering obvious advantages for many situations, yet I still prefer the simple baffled technique on purely sonic grounds when it is appropriate. Details on a few variations on that idea are documented in a long thread first here:
http://taperssection.com/index.php?topic=96009.msg1517359#msg1517359, and later here:
http://taperssection.com/index.php?topic=96009.msg1713305#msg1713305. Below are a few photos of that arrangement, with sphere attachments for the 4060 and the recording gear in the small shaving kit bag attached at the base of the stand-
I also use a Coresound Tetramic, and have thought about ways to use it with the DR2d which has potential for an equally small system, but doing so without it's bulky phantom power adapters would require a custom-built powering box at least, or preferably a preamp with a single variable gain control for all four channels to keep gains identical (accurate gain matching between channels is critical with any ambisonic mic). The Soundfield SPS2000 requires phantom power to operate, so it doesn’t need the adapters, but also has less potential for a super small recording package using a non-phantom providing recorder like the DR2d. Both systems are fascinating and powerful, and can record full sphere 3-D sound fields, but are much 'techier' and require comfort with ambisonics and the postproduction workflow. I use the Tetramic with the adapters into recorders that provide phantom power for all four channels, and preferably gain linking between channels. The smallest rig I use for it is an Edirol R-44 plus a similar sized if slightly smaller package of the four phantom adapters gaff taped together (no gain linking on the R44) or a Tascam DR-680 with the same phantom package (with gain linking).
I've not measured them, but self noise levels for the DPA 4060 system and the Tetramic are probably comparable- I find them fine for quiet acoustic music and many ambiences, but may be excessive for very quiet ambience and nature recordings. The 4060 is more sensitive, has less self-noise and more dynamic range than the 4061, and is better suited to quieter recording situations. 4061 performance is similar with amplified music.
Topic: REQ: stealth (smallest) field recording setup HQ with Tascam DR2d (Read 3342 times)