Petros Kolyvas Posted December 29, 2009 Report Share Posted December 29, 2009 Please be gentle. My primary boom/shotgun is a 416. I wanted to look into adding a side microphone for M-S recording of rooms, sound effects, and (not with the 416) some music. I'm looking at a lot of angry birds, but can really only have 1 stone for now. The plan would be to get an MKH40 or 50 later on down the road. I had also looked at the Ambient Emesser but there are a few comments/notes about self noise. Would I have a useable M-S setup with the MKH30? Should I be looking elsewhere/putting my head in the sand? Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zack Posted December 29, 2009 Report Share Posted December 29, 2009 If most of your MS recordings are to be very ambient low level sources, then ya you'll want a low noise mic. I tested a Emesser a while back which was a little noisy, about the same as my MK-012 Fig 8 mic I use for my MS rig, but both work fantastic for louder s/n source recordings. Emesser will be cheaper, lighter, and more convenient to work with, but MKH30 should give better results from what I've heard from others. Get the mic that will best suit your needs, cost effectively that is. If u're curious about the MK-012 MS rig I put together you can check some test samples out here: MK-012 MS rig Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
studiomprd Posted December 29, 2009 Report Share Posted December 29, 2009 " Would I have a useable M-S setup with the MKH30? " well, ah, yes... as you would with the emmesser, or any of many other bi-directional mic's... obviously the MKH series components would match up rather well, but of course, it depends on your subjective judgment as to what you would consider usable... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Petros Kolyvas Posted December 29, 2009 Author Report Share Posted December 29, 2009 I guess that particular question regarding usability was that I have never recorded MS with a shotgun as a "mid" microphone, and curious if I would get a rather "eggheaded" stereo image since the shotgun can reach very far forward while the side mic would be picking up sources farther back. (Hope I'm being clear there.) Though I guess that would be the same irrespective of side mic choices. But I do thank you all for your kind, patient, input. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
studiomprd Posted December 29, 2009 Report Share Posted December 29, 2009 well then, as you can see, a number of respected, high end, manufacturers have been making M-S stereo shotguns for years... once again the difference that having an interference tube M mic will make for the situation(s) you will use it for is something you have to decide on. I would suggest that the M-S stereo shotgun microphones have been popular products... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Simon Paine Posted December 30, 2009 Report Share Posted December 30, 2009 I use an MKH-30 as part of my M-S setup. It's a fantastic mic. Very quiet. I generally use it with an MKH-50, but I did try it with my MKH-60. It sounded OK, certainly useable, but I prefer the sound with the 50. Only issue i can see, is you may want to check if they make a "double" clip for holding these 2 mics together. I use a Rycote rig, and they make a "double" clip that is designed to hold 2 of the fatter MKH mics together (or the double squared shape of the back of the mic.) I'm not sure if they make a clip that can hold the smaller diameter 416 with the fatter 30. Of course, there are always workarounds. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Freeheel Posted December 30, 2009 Report Share Posted December 30, 2009 The Mkh30 sounds great and has extremely low self noise. It will probably make your 416 sound a bit hissy (higher noise floor) in comparison, especially for quiet ambiences. As for the shape of the stereo field, it depends on the shape of your sound source. If you are surrounded by a complex and multidirectional sound source, eg in the middle of a marching band, the instruments closest to the 3 lobes of your midside are going to be loudest and your mid lobe will be quite narrow and have quite a bit of off axis sound in it (which will not necessarily sound great) In this case you'd want a cardioid or even an omni in the mid position. If you are recording a wolf howling in the distance down a valley, the 416 will bring it in closer and the side mic could get the echo off the valley wall. Nice! So it kind of depends on what you are planning on recording with this rig. If you are indoors, the limitations of the 416 are still there (comb filtered off axis sounds and reflections) and most of the time we are trying to limit the sound of the room so you don't really gain much by recording in m/s stereo. I recorded some guys singing in a large bare plaster room with a midside rig a few weeks ago. Using an MKH 50/30 combo. When I played it back, the room (coming through the 30) sounded kinda awful and I dialed the side part of the recording way down to make it sound nicer. A nicer sounding stereo field probably would have been created by an XY pair pointed at the each of the 2 singers. A bit of a rambly post. Just wanted to make it clear that mid side can be tricky and is not the end all, be all stereo tool. And that using a 416 and a 30 together is not in itself right or wrong, but is a decision based on what you are recording! cheers, Brent Calkin Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alidav Posted February 27, 2020 Report Share Posted February 27, 2020 What blimp do you use for this combo, i have the big stereo kit.but is really too big especially when working with bag. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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