MIC UNIVERSITY

d:mension™ 5100 Mobile Surround Microphone is a plug and play solution for 5.1 capture. It employs five miniature pressure transducers with interference tubes and acoustic baffles.

MS Stereo combines two different microphone characteristics and a special matrix to create the stereo image and localization. M is an abbreviation for Mid, and S for Side.

The NOS setup consists of two first-order cardioid microphones spaced 30 cm (11.8 in) apart and angled 90°.

The ORTF stereo technique uses two first order cardioid microphones with a spacing of 17 cm between the microphone diaphragms, and with an 110° angle between the capsules.

The A-B Stereo Technique – also known as the Time Difference Stereo – involves two spaced (usually omnidirectional) microphones to record the sound stage.

Multi-track recording techniques are mainly built up around a main stereo pair using the A-B Stereo principle. The stereo image is created from the main stereo pair and it is therefore extremely important to place the microphone pair correctly before any support microphones are set up.

The Binaural recording technique uses two omnidirectional microphones placed in the ears of a dummy head and torso, also referred to as “Artificial Head”.

The Blumlein stereo setup consists of two bi-directional microphones (the Blumlein Pair) placed at the same point (horizontally) and angled 90° to create the stereo image.

The DIN Stereo principle is based on two first-order cardioid microphones spaced 20 cm (7.9 in) and angled 90° creating the stereo image.

The Decca Tree is a stereo microphone setup with three omnidirectional microphones arranged in a triangle. This set up is often used to record an ensemble or orchestra.

The stereophonic recording techniques are based on the knowledge of how directional information is perceived by the human hearing system: When reproduced by loudspeakers in a two-channel system, the first arriving, and/or the strongest sound produces this directional information to the listener.

When selecting microphones for stereo or multi-channel recordings, it is crucial to ensure that the frequency response and sensitivity are virtually identical.  Carefully-matched stereo pairs and surround sets are key to successful stereo or multi-channel recordings.