Topic: coincident omnis ?

[Nick's Picks]

Carl and I have been wondering...

what do you get when you run a mic like his c34 (or 422, 426, soundfeild..etc) in omni mode?
there is no seperation between the capsules, and I dont know how much directional info you'd get w/them facing differrent directions as in an XY setup.

we'll probably try it tomorrow, just to see.

[Ray76]

Carl and I have been wondering...

what do you get when you run a mic like his c34 (or 422, 426, soundfeild..etc) in omni mode?
there is no seperation between the capsules, and I dont know how much directional info you'd get w/them facing differrent directions as in an XY setup.

we'll probably try it tomorrow, just to see.

from earthworks:It is general belief that near co-incident omnis don't image well. That's what I thought, too. Earthworks mics don't image like other mics, even other omnis. One reviewer noted that they sounded farther apart than the B+K 4006s he was comparing ours to. Closely placed omnis are supposed to give you at best a fat omni or very narrow image. You'll have to try it for yourself. Place two Earthworks mics with the tips close together (near coincident, X/Y or crossed.) Position the pair 6 to 8 inches from the sound hole of an acoustic guitar or in fairly close proximity to any instrument or small ensemble, like drum overheads or vocals. Listen through headphones. Check for mono compatibility. If you are not thoroughly impressed feel free to let me know.
so i guess unless you are using earthworks, you are hosed. 

[Patrick]

They will either blend to be very monaural (little imaging) or have some phasing problems because of the overlap of pickup?  I'm not sure, I can just see that happening.

[JasonR]

Probably useful if you think of it as running two identical mics (in a mono situation) in case one fails.  The press people do it all the time with a pair of vocal mics, so if you've got the recorder and preamp channels, I suppose it might not be a complete waste. 

FWIW - take a look at the graphs for most omnis and you'll find that they're somewhat like subcards up in the top half octave.  Not that that's particularly useful either of course...

- Jason