Topic: What's the deal with figure 8 patterns?

[Nick's Picks]

interesting.
I have an old sony f99 mic that is a stereo mic w/two cards facing 180deg.  I've not used it though to comment on how it sounds.

[qpwoei]

This may help someone sometime:

after using for a couple weeks the AKG CK94 capsule as a side mic and a Senn KE66 as mid, I could'n t get any decent stereo image. Why so, the mix was done correctly!! (btw, there is a free VST Voxengo plugin which does the trick wonderfully). Yet I started to consider suicide because it sounded MONO !! :-)

Fortunately in the end I got it: if you combine a very powerful mid mic (as the ME indeed is) with the figure-8 AKG you have to balance signals from both mics in order to get a true m/s recording. I mean you *must* lower signal from most power one until it is about the same power as that coming from the side mic (the reason in my case being that CK94 is  only 12 mV sensitive vs 40 or so mV of the Senn). If you *dont*, the mid mic will saturate both left and side channels of the mix and ... no stereo whatsoever. Concludingly you need a decent mixer/interface to go M/S

cheers

[RebelRebel]

and the nulls on the side of the figure 8s are very useful...blumlein is the best pattern going, imho..nothing touches it.

[Nick's Picks]

blumlein is the best pattern going, imho..nothing touches it.

yup.
all things being equal, blumlein will always be superiour in its realism.
thats why I have such a hardon for Soundfield mics.  they do blumlein like no other.

[RebelRebel]

blumlein is the best pattern going, imho..nothing touches it.

yup.
all things being equal, blumlein will always be superiour in its realism.
thats why I have such a hardon for Soundfield mics.  they do blumlein like no other.

I dont mind the blumlein capability..but the whole surround thing is unwanted baggage to me. I dont, and never will(dont think so anyway) do surround mixing.

[Nick's Picks]

ne neither.
what makes the soundfields so kick ass is the "Z" factor of up and down info as well as X and Y.
when that is mixed down to two channels, it gets very realistic sounding.