Stereo Microphone Techniques

Mauro Tonolli, guitar & recording.
The sound is dry, no effects (no EQ, no compressor, no reverb).
AB technique: pair of Neumann KM 184
XY technique: pair of Neumann KM 184
ORTF technique: pair of Neumann KM 184
MS technique: 1 Neumann KM 184 - 1 Rode NT 2000
Audio interface: Apogee Element 88
Sala Michelangeli, Conservatory of Bolzano (Italy)

[@JAROCHELOcesarcastro]

People! Make sure you also have a good room, musician, guitar, mics, interface and mixing technique. This video is amazing, very helpful!

[@maurotonolli]

Thanks! 🙂

[@sebbityseb]

MS for 3D, ORTF for feeling like one is literally sitting there with you in the room. Having said that, all sound wonderful of course. Great playing and great space!

[@brudduh]

The MS technique is my favorite because it sounds so wide yet centered too. Exactly what you'd expect for Mid/side.

[@midnightwind8067]

Absolutely the most excellent demonstration I could have ever hoped for and more. Thank You!

[@DanMarcelino]

mid-side has always been such an awesome technique.. especially in a beautiful space!

[@9uweeoncbmd890]

This video is fantastic. Thank you so much for making it. I'll keep it as reference of these techniques for sure.

[@hethaerto1]

MS is the best to my ears.

[@BachClub]

Thank you - beautiful playing and such informative demonstration!

[@mareaumusic]

Very useful comparison to get known to the different recording techniques. Thank you.

[@MrAndyStenz]

This is SOOOOO helpful. Thanks! I have been a fan of MS for some of the choir work I've been doing but it's fun to hear it all right in a row (and without having to do the work to set it up myself) ;-)

[@SergeUnplugged]

loved this demonstration , great playing as well

[@nikkomakinen6582]

I really liked the MS! It picks up both the direct sound of the guitar and the room ambience extremely well. The problem with the XY and ORTF is the fact, that neither of the mics are pointing directly at the guitar, which results in loss of detail. Compared to human hearing, they might be the most natural techniques yes, but artistically I would choose MS in this type of a situation anytime. AB was ok too, just couldn't capture the room as well as the MS.

[@PM-yz8fx]

Fantastic demonstration, thank you!

[@AustinCobbMusic]

The MS was amazing to me. Thanks for sharing.

[@Qagan]

i like ortf most for its intimate and balanced direct capture of the sound. ms sounds really big and the room sounds really nice as well.

[@raffaelepilia2293]

Fantastico video, grazie mille!

[@OReitmeier]

Great playing! Great video, very useful! Thanx

[@MusicalLivesInc]

Nice demo, thanks!

[@mikenaughton4298]

Excellent. Thank you!

[@altravolta]

Thanks for the video. Very useful.

[@TheBreckMcGough]

Fantastic video!

[@esteve-communication3826]

MS is the best! thank you for that great job!

[@BruceBurger]

Omg Mid side was amazing 😍

[@royzturbo]

Fantastic!

[@BriceandFarmer]

Thanks for this, I liked MS. Would love to hear a blumlein pair in this room.

[@MrBinthestudio]

Great job on this video!

[@EricSkyeMusic]

I think I preferred the M/S, then A/B, then maybe ORTF. Never been a big X/Y fan, and this didn't change that for me. Great stuff. Thanks for this.

[@antman2826]

I really like the stereo field of the ORTF but I also like the MS

Great video!

[@hobbyrx2267]

Im a fan of MS.

[@antoineaudioengineer]

yeah, and then adjust the amount of Sides you want!

[@bensilicate]

I have heard this on my phone and ... The music is cool.

[@r0psu674]

Midside..YES!!

[@mareaumusic]

Imo: MS, ORTF, AB, XY. Excellent video, thanks for sharing!

[@maurotonolli]

Thank you Renè.

[@bbfoto7248]

+Mauro Tonolli Excellent performance, excellent hall, and excellent demonstration of the different microphone techniques. Thank you for creating this video and comparison! Can we download a short segment of each WAV file for better comparison quality??? From the video, at this microphone distance, and in this space, I prefer the ORTF recording, with the A/B spaced pair being my 2nd favorite. If you had some figure-8 microphones, I usually prefer a Blumlein + Center arrangement (Blumlein with a center coincident mono microphone mixed in). The KM 184 are great on a lot of sources! :) Have you tried the Josephson C617 set? These are truly fantastic as well for acoustic sources. And my new favorites are actually the AT5045. But most amazing are the cardioid AEA KU4 ribbon microphones! The KU4 provide an amazing 3D Holographic image like no other I have heard. Also fantastic: Mesanovic Model 2/2A ribbon mics. ;) But there is absolutely nothing wrong with these recordings using the KM 184. :) And the Apogee Element seems to be doing a fair job as well. Thanks again. Very nice video quality as well. 👍

[@OverdriveMusic]

Great vid!

[@appledomer]

I Like the melody :-)

[@stefankieling5362]

A very good video! However, imho the XY-configuration could have been setup a bit better here. As it is now the stereo image is very narrow. With another mic angle or some simple post processing (XY->MS->XY) the stereo image could be wider. It would sound comparable to the MS. My favourite would be something between AB and ORTF.

[@studioflymielec]

perfect! thank you :)

[@Gretsch0997]

Yup they’re all good

[@alarconclaudio]

great video! MS +1

[@felipeyamahata]

excelent!!!!

[@palometoncio]

i prefer ORTF. thhx for the video

[@YHRS]

Very well done! The ambiance of the Mid/Side was surprising to me. Also surprising was how similar the other arrays sounded, even though they were placed several inches apart. That guitar is a monster! It really sounds fabulous, especially in that environment. What type of guitar is it?

[@bobbyjarvisjr9818]

Thanks great video ad awesome playing. What was the second piece you played?

[@therocinante3443]

Oh how I love mid-side.. If it was a human, I would marry it.

[@pandoraefretum]

They all sound good to me ; especially M-S

[@robertkent4929]

In this room, the MS sounds beautiful

[@adriano375]

Adriano Tonolli ...I from Brazil.

[@igorlogewsky]

Thank you for a great test! MS stereo would be better if the creator of this video adjusted the ratio of the mid and side components of the signal more precisely. Since the side component is much more than required! And even deeper sound can be achieved using two tape microphones using the Blumlein system

[@curly_]

Yepp as always with those shootouts, ORTF it is for me. MS is also a great option. AB i use more for faraway things or as Main Pair. XY i actually never use.

[@mamonejeanpierre4398]

Pour moi c'est MS technique first. ORTF en deuxième position

[@guruzinholuigi]

Very good video! And it's nice to hear Brazilian music around the world!!! Great performance of Heitor Villa-Lobos

[@ElmoSyr]

AB is to me clearly the best sounding. ORTF is the most neutral if you will. XY lacks focus, and I always prefer blumlein to xy whenever possible. MS seems like a fancy party trick: seems wide and punchy, but somehow lacks substance. What a great comparison video!

[@MrMidiman33]

ORTF is my Favourit

[@cristieturri2054]

non ascoltarli Mauro :) l'ortf e' perfetta con la chitarra classica ed in un contesto simile , si sente un corpo ed una dimensione perfettamente coerente con lo strumento suonato nessuna perdita di dettaglio neppure i piu' sottili particolari , una vera incisione professionale complimenti

[@clusterchord1]

AB sounds most natural to me, as sitting 3m in front of the performer. XY is great when you want a narrow quasi mono sound, that still retains some life, yet avoid the colapsed small sound of the actual mono recording (i.e. single mic.). M/S can be larger than life, and here it captures a lot of that beautiful room. tho if side channels were mixed little lower in the mix, it would go more towards realism. but this big wide sound is definitely seductive. have to admit i am not a fan of km184 for this application tho. i feel it accentuates top end too much. consequently, using Rode, that hasn't the extreme sdc detail, for the side channel in the m/s pair here, worked out quite well imo. as it somewhat balances out the km184. thank you for doing this demo.

[@SPLMixing]

MS ftw

[@MIMCKMedia]

I really like the transition from ortf to XY 😅 AB with headphones sounds like the guitar plays inside my head while ortf has a wider spread so it sounds it comes from left and right side. Combination of both would be nice

[@MikeyohMikey]

It was a hard pick for me between these two and now I feel like we're the unpopular opinion. 😅

[@cletuswa]

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Decca_tree :-D

[@SergeUnplugged]

MS hands down

[@alexandergrimes6959]

X/Y is very narrow, almost like a more spacious mono signal. I could see that being useful as a mid tree signal in addition to a further spaced pair as outriggers.

[@alexbanaszkiewicz3065]

czy można używać dwóch różnych metod w tym samym czasie?

[@yonggaotang2274]

MS is the best

[@maurotonolli]

I have a new video dedicated to the MS technique planned, it will be released soon on my channel. Maybe you might be interested!

[@analogpushervintagemicrophones]

wow

[@onemic-theminimalist]

I got a lot done with one stereo mic and have over thirty videos showing the process if anyone is interested.

[@lappleman]

How far away are the mics from the instrument? It looks like about 1.5M from this view. Great performance and sound.

[@estudiotransiente]

Distance between guitar and mics?

[@soundknight]

With EQ on the side address the MS would be the best, but the ABC was the best. ORTF has waves of frequencies between the stereo field that aren't prefect in phase, or kind of annoys me, though it does have the most pleasant treble response.

[@ensembleLaSelva]

For me A-B is the best! Thanks for the video

[@CyrilleBoucanogh]

And why not Blumlein?

[@MrNicknayme]

Thanks. It sounds like the ORTF is left/right reversed..?

[@austinj9852]

I wanna be on hold forever

[@ericpersson8753]

What spacing was used for the A/B pair?

[@drivendown84]

What song are you playing beginning around 3 minutes??

[@maurotonolli]

Choro n.1, composer Heitor Villa-Lobos (1887-1959)

[@akashdhar5871]

which camera did you use?

[@maurotonolli]

I used a GoPro Hero 5.

[@MichaelWynneCAS]

thank you for posting, great video ! AB was my fav. I really like how the omni directional pattern of this dual mic technique puts the guitar in the room space, I didn't care of the MS as much as I felt the frequencies we're being comprised by phase issues. Curious, if you phase inverted the side when you duplicated it and how wide you chose the stereo pattern to be.

[@MxxRie]

Michael Wynne omni? What omni.

[@MichaelWynneCAS]

Hi MxxRie the AB technique / mic pair are both omni directional mic polar patterns.

[@waltertomaszewski1083]

Michael Wynne KM183's are omni; the KM184's are cards.

[@noobpower96]

Indeed. But usually AB is done with 2 Omnis

[@tomtohmas9370]

@@noobpower96 correct

[@-Megasonic]

No micpreamp?

[@nickgoogle4525]

Thanks for sharing. Interesting to listen to. I found that recording nerve-wrecking and very unpleasant to listen to. Likely part due the overexposure of the highs with the KM184. I also did not like that there was too much room in the recording, which IMO did not fit to that kind of music.

[@kipling1957]

How far were the AB spaced?

[@maurotonolli]

30 cm

[@kipling1957]

Thank you - the "classic" distance that has no rationale. It sounds wonderful in any case.

[@avantapres1582]

Thank you, it's very interesting. I prefer *MS* for CARULLI and *ORTF* for VILLA-LOBOS. The conclusion I draw is that it's better to choose the position of the microphones based on the kind of repertoire and the room.

[@harrij.9542]

So you would have to try out many different positions every time you record? How do you have time and possibility for this?

[@marxtwin826]

Grazie, utilissimo confronto e ottima performance, graditissimo!! Una domanda, la distanza ottimale dei microfoni dipende dalla grandezza e dall'acustica della sala o ci si regola solo sulla distanza ottimale dallo strumento? Ci sono delle preferenze a seconda del tipo di registrazione stereo adottato? Insomma come decidi il loro piazzamento?? Prima o poi approfondirò con il testo di Bruce Bartlett ma una dritta sarebbe preziosa..

[@maurotonolli]

marxtwin ciao, dipende dall’acustica della sala, in questo video più che una sala é un’auditorium. Poi dipende da quanto mic usi, se ne usi solo due bisogna stare molto attenti se ne usi di più stai tranquillo e poi in mix regoli. Per avere un suono naturale non stare più vicino di un metro, se la sala è acustica lo permette anche di più. Sempre se la chitarra suona da sola, se hai altri strumenti sei obbligato a microfonare più vicino.

[@marxtwin826]

@@maurotonolli Grazie mille Mauro, gentilissimo, spero di poterti vedere live prima o poi se passi in quel di Trieste, un caro saluto

[@enricogozzoli]

Bel video complimenti. Ma chiedo: devo regolare il panning o balance a livello di mixer tutto dx e sx, parzialmente a dx e sx, oppure lasciare al centro?

[@maurotonolli]

Tutto dx o sx sì, non parziale.

[@maartenlernout3073]

what is the music? liked the MS still the best...

[@juancrespo5280]

no se exactamente el segundo es un tango, pero si te gusta la guitarra clasica con esos aires te recomiendo a abel fleury y a tarrega por el lado de lo español

[@ebvs5ou]

I like Short AB most, it sounds natural. MS is more impressive, but somehow artificial, you won't hear this kind of sound live, XY is to dry for me, ORTF enlarges the stereo field - nice, but less natural

[@FKA_Skull]

In my opinion those mics are all too far away. I would have liked to hear this comparison with the mics inside of 2 feet where micing an acoustic is usually done. Too much ambience for me to decide which I really like best.

[@gino3286]

Grazie veramente per l'eccellente video. Bellissimo. Posso chiederLe perchè ha scelto la Element 88 come interfaccia audio ? Grazie ancora e cordiali saluti, gino

[@christopherhafer3783]

MS "wins", because it has the most (nice) Room (or "Side")-Information - not by default but in this setup! Other position, greater angles (for XY), other characteristics (omni for AB !) will change the result dramatically, as well as mixing less Side-Signal from the MS-Setup. So this demonstration is misleading, sorry. On a side note, *this* MS-Setup is not commendable. It needs the counterpart to the KM184 - the rare+expensive KM120, or at least *any* small-diaphragm figure-8 condenser. Large-diaphragm / U87-Style mics on figure-8 like this Rode are a big compromise: 1. The capsules are not close enough...! 2. The figure-8 on dual diaphragm mics is not very accurate 3. Both mics should have the same sound-characteristic.

[@marcusdolby1]

MS had a little too much room for my taste but they all sound great.

[@danield2000]

AB technique should be a pair of omnis.

[@tatalito]

MS

[@SteveStockmalMusic]

Beautiful...but good lord, why did you place you TEXT on top of all the mics? What a mess. See all that space to your right (our left) out in the middle of that massive kick ass room? Next time : ) Great video by the way, loved it.

[@palometoncio]

ortf :)

[@AndreGranjo]

AB with Cardioids is ot true AB at all! AB should be with omnis and at least 30 or to 50cm apart

[@ernstrcoutinho]

Totally agree. No wonder this AB doesn't sound good at all, to my opinion.

[@JonathanSao]

ORTF and XY will work better if more closer to source.

[@vincenteoppolo9025]

No longer a fan of XY or MS..... ORTF has been my favorite .. for years

[@ColocasiaCorm]

Ortf is king

[@SusoRamallo]

IMMO AB is the best

[@bachglocke3716]

Not convincing, because the guitar is a point-like source of sound. It would be better to record the large organ with the various microphone combinations so that the stereo panorama can also be displayed convincingly.

[@hxhdfjifzirstc894]

You're on the right track, however it's a recording of a _solo_ guitar _in a room_ which _is_ stereo, in reality (if you assume that human hearing is 'reality', and two ears are the standard for human hearing). You can switch the audio to mono, to confirm that it doesn't sound more convincing. If it was a large ensemble, this one guitar would be more of a 'point like source', but that would still exist within a stereo field, according to the physical placement of the players. If 'convincing' is your goal (and it most certainly is my goal), the most important thing is to have ONE perspective, through which all tracks are recorded. For me, that means one set of mics (whatever that may be) and one gain setting that are locked in for the entire recording. Overdubs are possible, as long as the microphones absolutely do not move, within the room, and the gain is unchanged. Performers can change their location in the room, to adjust their location/volume within the mix, as well as adjusting their performance dynamics to suit their proximity to the microphones. For the most 'convincing' sound (especially for overdubs), no two performers should perform in the same location of the room (since that would be physically impossible, thus totally 'unconvincing') -- you can mark boxes/spots on the floor with tape, and lay everything out on paper beforehand, to plan 'depth' within the stereo field, for every track.

[@mikeriesco6174]

Useless if you don't know what those acronyms mean...?? Definitions??

[@tonstudiometzingen]

great! I liked the AB most, followed by XY. ORTF lacks center image, not a good choice for a single solo instrument like guitar. MS was useless as the only mics. combined with a single mono mic it might work very nice. thanks for doing this comparison!

[@nikkomakinen6582]

I think the MS did have the proper center channel also, otherwise it shouldn't be called mid/side in the first place. It also says in the description: "MS technique: 1 Neumann KM 184 - 1 Rode NT 2000". I found the sound very balanced and pleasing, and it would sound very disturbing and unnatural if it only had the side channels.

[@danyar91]

ortf is more musical

[@sondang2546]

MS sounds great but not real, feel like a long looong guitar. I prefer XY, the guitarist sit right in front of you :)