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Hi-Rez Highway: Re: The reality of figure of 8 microphones: by regreene

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Re: The reality of figure of 8 microphones:

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"A little learning is a dangerous thing".

Geijsen has posted a lot of technical material, some of which is accurate, and deduced therefrom completely incorrect conclusions.

A few points:

1 stereo imaging: The point of Blumlein stereo is not just that things are in the right place(though they indeed are). Rather , the point is that things are SOMEPLACE. Spaced omni recordings present confusing and internally contradictory locational cues to the listener to the point that things are not exactly anywhere. It is well known that the ear/brain tries to locate all sounds, and when it cannot do so, it continues to try. This creats uncertainty and anxiety. (Indeed one of the classic pictures of panic is being startled by a sound seemingly from out of nowhere). I cannot say that no one likes fuzzy spaced-omni stereo , but I surely do not, for this reason among others.

2 Coloration: The BBC, who have done more work on this sort of thing than anyone else, arrived at the conclusion that the least colored(or should I say coloured) vocal sound was that of the Coles ribbon(a figure 8). So much for the coloration claims for omnis.

3 Spaced -omni stereo has no playback reciprocity paradigm whatever. Moreover, the mixing of the mike outputs in the recording process and/or on playback creates wild comb filter effects. To check this out, play a mono pink noise signal through two speakers. Now move from the central axis,even a little way. The sound changes wildly and unpredictably. This is what happens when a sound source is picked up by two spaced omnis and played back in stereo, if the sound is anywhere except EXACTLY on the center line. Comb filtering like mad.

4 Omnis pick up diffuse field sound in abundance, but there is no reciprocal playback mechanism for diffuse soundfield. This is a bit thorny to explain in detail, but it is still true. (The ears diffuse field response is a lot different from its direct arrival, as from speakers, response).

In short, the whole idea that omnis do anything that one can describe as predictabe, playback-paradigm sound reproduction is simply a misconception. (The famous Bell Labs experiments were reproduction of sound IN AN AUDITORIUM--where the hall was providing a lot of reverb. This has essentially NOTHING to do with the reproduction of sound for a home environment).Even if omni mikes were perfect(which of course they are far from being), the spaced omni stereo process would produce a confused, colored, and inaccurate sonic picture.

REG

PS I have described all this in much more detail on www.regonaudio.com. Have a look!


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