DMS system - Double M/S system
DMS system - Double M/S system
The M/S (mid/side) system is well-known for its use with stereo microphones. Its advantage is that it allows one to adjust the width of the stereo impression in the final mix. This makes it very versatile and flexible.
A DMS system can produce the same results with two different setups.
Version 1:
Four small diaphragm condenser microphones with cardioids pattern
The equipment needed is the same as with the IRT-Cross. The main difference here are the positions of the microphones.
Lets have a closer look at a DMS system with four "cardioids" first.
The microphones are used as follows: The two microphones at the "lower" level are the "back cardioid" (the left one) and the "front cardioid" (the one on the right)
In the level above there comes an interesting trick:
These two microphones are referred as a "virtual figure of eight" microphone. The microphone on the right is the S or S+ and the other is the S' or S-. Both routed to a sub bus (mono!!!!) will be the figure-of-eight microphone, that is expected in the plugins.
A regular "figure of eight" has just one capsule, but more on this in the other setup, shown below.
After AKG stopped building the CK 94 capsule for their blue-line Series, there is no affordable "figure of eight" microphone on the market, when we leave the "used market" aside. But you have to very (!) lucky to get one.
Instead, there are plenty of SDC with cardioid patterns available for an attractive price.
So we only need to more such cardioids and two sets of the thread adapters mentioned in the Shopping list
You may think, this setup looks almost the same as an IRT Cross and you are kind of right.
The necessary items are the same, except for the two additional sets of thread adapters.
Do you know where I'm heading? You can take one setup with you and have two solutions in your bag. Nifty, isn't it?
The main difference occurs in post after the recordings have been made. There, you should use the DMS Plug-in from Schoeps, which works perfectly with non-Schoeps microphones, too. The best thing about this plug-in is that it's available for free on Plugin Alliance and works with every known DAW.
If you're into ambisonic, as we are, you'll love the "ab Encoder MS" from the Audiobrewers. It costs about 15 USD, but it's well worth the price. It's so intuitive and easy to use, and it provides great first-order ambisonic. (It's just our humble opinion and we won't get anything in return for saying so!)
As this is a little bit tricky, we provide an extra article on this HERE. But don't worry, once you followed the instructions thoroughfully it will work like a shine.
Version 2:
Three small diaphragm condenser microphones
Now let's have a look to another version of the DMS system.
This time we build it with two SDC cardioid microphones and an additional figure-of-eight microphone. The main advantage is that it only uses three channels on your 4-channel handheld recorder. This leaves one channel free for additional recordings like an extra LFE or a contact microphone, if you like
This is the first version. The microphone with the blue-ringed XLR connector is a figure-of-eight microphone, and the others are cardioids, front and rear.
The setup has been improved, but the rubber bands are still the best way to position the microphones.
As soon as the new pictures are available, we will update this page!