MS with shotgun and LD

[shilshoolon]

Hey there, I was wondering if it will sound OK/correct to record MS with a MKH416 and a C414?

[nathand]

What will you be recording?

[shilshoolon]

Atmos mainly and things that arent too close to the mics. I'm guessing if I will record close objects i would lose some of the sides due to the shotguns pattern. I never done it before and i was wondering if this is the way its done. unfortunately this is the only way I could record things which will sound like stereo.

[shilshoolon]

Bump

[pkautzsch]

Outside, you're gonna get into REAL wind trouble with the 414, or any other LDC. Won't really fit into any "basket + dead cat" windscreen.
Maybe better rent an MKH 418S?

You won't lose anything, but things from the side would come out very hard panned.

[santacore]

Those microphones don't seem like a very good match to do MS. The 416 is very sensitive and directional and the 414 is just the opposite, not too directional and not sensitive. Each mic is going to pick up very different information which might not blend well.

There is only one way to know for sure, give it a try and let us know. I think you would have better luck with different microphone choices.

[shilshoolon]

Thanks for the help:-) These are the only mics that I can get access to, so I have no other way to do MS right now. I did do some recordings but I'm not really sure what sounds right and what doesn't if that makes any sense? I'll try to upload something for you guys if you don't mind.

[danijel]

sorry for the late reply:
i used exactly this combo a few times, recording rock concerts for documentaries. it was also a 'forced' choice, since those are the only two condenser mics i have. they turned out to be a win, because on 416 i had lots of band, while on 414 (figure of eight) i had much more audience (and reverb, if it was an interior concert), so i could later mix the two with pleasure.
there is no problem with sonic differences if you are making stereo out of it, as both mics get blended on both channels in decoding. however, if you will be making surround ambiances (with only M for center), i'm sure the difference will be noticeable, as they are completely different. i personally don't see this as a big problem in common dramatic scenes, because center channel carries very different information anyway.

a side rant: i stopped recoding MS altogether, when i realized it is absolutely incompatible with mono. where i live, all TV is broadcast in mono, and lots of folks have mono TV sets (and they're mostly not aware of it, because there are two speakers on the screen sides), so even if they watch the movie off DVD, they won't hear any of the audience and reverb i mentioned above.....

[shilshoolon]

That's great to hear. Thank you very much