I have been using a Sony ECM MS907 with a minidisc recorder to record discos - not direct with a line input from the disco unit, but "ambient" from the speakers, to include audience participation(!) and other chat and background noise (for atmosphere!)
I am not happy with either the frequency response (no bass) or stereo image (none!) when recording discos this way.
Assuming I can only set up a microphone (or pair) lashed up with a minidisc recorder somewhere in the hall, what would be a good stereo mic to consider?
Must be easily portable, physically convenient (quick to set up/take down) and smallish (unobtrusive), and not look (or be) too expensive (risk of theft of unattended gear). Budget - hopefully in the £100-£300 range?
For the stereo image problem - how are you mixing the mid/side channels to get your final stereo result?
For the bass response, I seem to remember (could be wrong) that there is a frequency response curve printed on the packaging - at what point does the response start to drop for low frequencies?
Thanks, Richard:
Stereo image: I have always assumed the mic mixes the mid/side channel internally with the forward channel to give a stereo (left+right) output on the stereo 3.5mm jack plug supplied. Re-reading the spec certainly implies this - it refers to a "Microphone cord: with...stereo miniplug", "Connect to ...MD, DAT..." and a diagram showing it plugged directly into a minidisc Walkman-type recorder.
Bass: Spec says "100Hz-15kHz" - but doesn't specify drop off levels, or give a curve (doh!).
Curious. I had understood that the main point of mid-side was so that you could either mix for mono without "coloration caused by time delay", or for stereo. If the output is simply Left and Right it hardly matters what the internal arrangement is.
One possibility suggested by Jay Rose in "Producing Great Sound for Digital Video" is the Emesser from Ambient (http://www.ambient.de), that is a "miniature bi-directional mic, designed to fit on the shockmount of a conventional hyper or shotgun, so you can create your own" (mid-side setup, that is). Price seems to be about £450, e.g. (http://www.firstsense.co.uk/Ambient/mics.htm).
I'm interested in what you finally decide on, as I am looking for something similar for video work. The Sennheiser MKH 418S looks good, but is nearly a foot long, and over a thousand pounds (http://www.sennheiser.co.uk/products.jsp?id=05284).
Richard
Just bought a Sony MS907 for a minidisk, and recorded a concert in a school hall about 60ft from the stage. Most of the sound was from 4 speakers, two each side of the hall.
I don`t know how steep the bass rolls off, but there`s plenty of it. The mic`s on both the Panasonic DS15 and the S-vhs NVS88 suffer from overload caused by the AGC. Also a lot of HF noise.
I have rigged an external stereo input to the minidisk to prevent this.
The camera mic`s when they didn`t overload, produce a lot of top, and not a lot of bass. Under normal use this is ok.
The MS907 produced a clearer sound all round, but a gentle HF lift may improve things if recording from a distance. Looking at the level indicators in Cool Edit, the stereo image was more pronounced from the camera than the MS907. But it was stereo. Rock groups will produce more bass than anything else.
Hope this helps.