Topic: Zoom’s 32-bit float m/s - Instamic Pro Plus C

[chewed]

Today I discovered the main disadvantage of such a small recording unit like the Instamic. After a day of recording on a train, in the station, by the river, in the city centre, I’ve just returned home looking forward to listening to the results only to find that the Instamic is no longer with me, it is lost 

That is unfortunate. Can we convince the people at Zoom/Instamic to make some sort of clip mount?

[meltycrayon]

Today I discovered the main disadvantage of such a small recording unit like the Instamic. After a day of recording on a train, in the station, by the river, in the city centre, I’ve just returned home looking forward to listening to the results only to find that the Instamic is no longer with me, it is lost 

That is unfortunate. Can we convince the people at Zoom/Instamic to make some sort of clip mount?

Or findable via the app, like an Apple AirTag?

[Gutbucket]

Any tips for the M/S mode, decoding with MSED how exactly works? Do I need to pan ever time?

MSED is a simple but multifunctional plugin that does more than just decode a Mid/Side signal to Left/Right. 

But using it for straight decoding to L/R is straight forward, just make sure the Mode button is set to "Decode", and input Mid to ch1 and Side to ch2.  You needn't use the panning controls or any others.  Adjust stereo width using the "Side" gain control.  Zero Side channel gain = mono.  Using more Side channel gain increases the stereo output width.

The panning controls are useful for recordings that need stereo balance correction. You can tweak placement of the mono center image using the Mid pan knob, and the left/right balance of the stereoized Side content using the Side pan knob.  And you can swap Left and Right channel outputs using the "S180" button, which inverts the polarity of the Side channel.

Those are pretty much the only controls you'll need to use regularly.

[lpmaskman]

Any tips for the M/S mode, decoding with MSED how exactly works? Do I need to pan ever time?

MSED is a simple but multifunctional plugin that does more than just decode a Mid/Side signal to Left/Right. 

But using it for straight decoding to L/R is straight forward, just make sure the Mode button is set to "Decode", and input Mid to ch1 and Side to ch2.  You needn't use with the panning controls or any others.  Adjust stereo width using the "Side" gain control.  Zero Side channel gain = mono.  Using more Side channel gain increases the stereo output width.

The panning controls are useful for recordings that need stereo balance correction. You can tweak placement of the mono center image using the Mid pan knob, and the left/right balance of the stereoized Side content using the Side pan knob.  And you can swap Left and Right channel outputs using the "S180" button, which inverts the polarity of the Side channel.

Those are pretty much the only controls you'll need to use regularly.

I tried but even I set to decode, the left channel is still louder by default, this is why I panned the mid and side, also tried the volume levels but it was still strong on the left. I'm using Reaper DAW. Reaper's built in M/S decorder given me the same result, this is why I tried the Voxgeno VST.

[Gutbucket]

In that case the imbalance was already present in the Mid/Side recording, and the pan controls of MSED may be of some help in correcting it.  After the decode did it sound like L/R stereo, even though being overly biased toward the left side?

The Mid pan shifts/places the central mono content stuff, while the Side pan shifts the L/R stereo content.  You may need to play around with both to push the balance around to something closer to what you want.  Were you able get the result you wanted by using the pan controls?

For a correct, appropriately balanced Mid/Side recording you should only need to select decode mode and then adjust Side gain to taste.

[Ozpeter]

The stereo image from mid side recording can be very sensitive to exactly where the mic was placed relative to the source and how accurately the mic was directed. Maybe the imbalance you are hearing is due to that. To check the device itself, you could for instance set it up carefully in front of your hifi, correctly centred and aligned, then record a mono playback, centred first, then slowly panned across with the hifi balance control. Check the replay on headphones.

It's worth mentioning in passing that MSED can also be used at one pass to convert any signal from L/R to M/S and back, manipulating width and balance as required. I guess the key difference between real M/S and M/S created from L/R is the polar patterns of the mics, when the centre of the mid mic would capture a fully on-mic sound from the centre of the soundfield.  A crossed pair captures the centre of the soundfield slightly off mic of course.

[lpmaskman]

I placed it on the middle of my desk, about same lenght from both speakers and the stereo recording was nearly balanced, no noticable panning, but the M/S came out so weird on the left.

[Ozpeter]

As memory serves me, M/S not correctly converted to L/R does sound left handed.  And that may happen if you actually record in A/B then feed it through MSED thinking you are converting M/S.  Are you using MSED and is it set to decode?  Unfortunately I'm not at home so can't be more specific as my system is far away and my memory is going downhill!

[mepaca]

I placed it on the middle of my desk, about same lenght from both speakers and the stereo recording was nearly balanced, no noticable panning, but the M/S came out so weird on the left.

sounds like un decoded m/s to me

[Gutbucket]

Standard L/R stereo playback of correctly recorded but undecoded M/S will reproduce the Mid channel content from the Left speaker / ear phone, and Side channel content from the Right.  For most recordings that will translate as sounding louder and more focused on the Left.

[tedrockwell]

Recently acquired the Stereo version of the Instamic Pro Plus C and have been experimenting with it the past week or so.
I walked around New Orleans and recorded in a variety of settings from festival stages, to small rooms with traditional jazz, to noisy bar rooms, to street performers.
A few notes:
1. the bluetooth app connection is spotty at best. It is important to set your levels as you start recording bc there is no guarantee your phone and Instamic will remain connected. The best result I had was keeping the app open and phone screen on, but every recording session the app and the phone disconnected before the end of the recording session.
2. figuring out how to turn the mic off, or stop a recording, once the app and phone were not connected was a little touchy. I generated a ton of 3-5 second recordings due to me not properly turning the mic off.
3. I did not record in 32 bit float mono, mainly bc I wanted to test out its "stereo" effect. This meant setting levels was paramount. I found that a setting between -18 and -24 was perfect for loud amplified music.

I ended up recording George Porter Jr. at the Maple Leaf in New Orleans and experimented with two techniques;
- the early set I 'mounted' the instamic to the support beam in the ceiling on the floor. There happened to be a nail almost dead center on that beam and the magnetic mic clip the instamic ships with held securely. I still think the mic would've rested on the beam without that nail, but it definitely added to me peace of mind knowing there was a magnetic connection on that beam.
- the late set I attached the mic to the inside of my t shirt - Having the 'wart' of the mic on the outside of the shirt I felt VERY exposed (since I was essentially standing on stage with the band) so I decided to just have the magnet on the outside and the mic inside the shirt.

Last night I recorded a LOUD punk/psych band named Ty Segall at the Ogden in Denver. For this I attached the mic to a seam on my shirt and stood as close to dead center I could and about 12 feet away from the stage.

I present these links for your information and reference.... all in all I find this recorder to make some very good recordings and can definitely handle the sound pressures rock concerts pump out.

Let me know what you think!

George Porter Jr. at the Maple Leaf April 13, 2026
https://archive.org/details/gpjrp2026-04-13

Ty Segall at Ogden Theater April 18, 2026
https://archive.org/details/tysegall2026-04-18

[Gutbucket]

^ Thanks for those!

Encourages me to scheme further on using three, placing an M/S stereo one in the center, and other things.

[dallman]

I have 2 of the stereo mics, and 2 of the mono mics. I recently tested all 4 mics at a show, using the app to start and stop recording as well as powering the mics off at the end. I name the 2 stereo mics "Left" and "Right" which shows up as "Left" and "Righ", and names the 2 mono mics "Lmon" and "Rmon". The app worked great, I was easily able to assemble the files in SoundForge as Left and Right, for both pairs, with timecode matching all 4 mics perfectly. All 4 mics sounded identical sonically. the 2 right mics were placed very close together and the 2 left mics were placed very close together. My reason for now owning 4 is more because I have 2 locations where I keep gear and I want to keep a pair at each, but it is worth noting that they all perform well together.

I bought the 2 stereo mics before I knew that you can only run a single mic in stereo at 24 bit. I think trying to not overload or underload these mics would be tough, so I plan to run 32 bit probably always. that is why it seemed to make sense on the 2nd pair to just get the 2 mono mics instead. For my purposes, at 32Bit, in real world use, they seem identical. My 2 cents for anyone contemplating a purchase.

In terms of physical identification, I have a small red dot on each "right" mic, and a silver dot on both mono mics, so all 4 are easy to visually identify.

[Gutbucket]

Nice! Great to get confirmation on group control of multiple units and proper sync up afterward.  Timecode sufficient for matching separate L and R devices without noticeable phasing or shift of image balance?