VO-BB - 20 YEARS OLD!

[Rob Ellis]

....how do you do it? I have a Mackie 1202 VLZ and tried plugging both mics in and then panning each in opposite directions, no go....do I need to route each channel of the Mackie to a different interface (I have two) while recording in stereo?

Just wondering......

[Bish]

I tried something similar the other day...

Mackie 1202 - Channel 1 - Heil PR40 - pan left
Mackie 1202 - Channel 2 - Shure SM58 - pan right
Mackie main outs - inputs 1 & 2 of my H4n recorder set to stereo mode and just running as a USB interface (not a recorder) into Sound Studio 3 on the MacPro.

Result - stereo file that was just two identical L&R channels - scratch head?

My usual configuration uses a single channel on the H4n from the left channel of the Mackie. I had set the H4N to "Mono Mix" so the single input was duplicated both L&R. By connecting the second input, the "Mono Mix" setting aggregated the two giving the unwanted dual mono output. Flipping the setting to "off" put everything the way I wanted (i.e. a normal stereo signal)

So, you don't need two interfaces... in my case it was just telling the single one to act properly! I guess it all depends on the idiosyncrasies of your particular interface.

Cheers
Peter
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Bish a.k.a. Bish
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I will not feed the trolls... I will not feed the trolls... I will not feed the trolls... I will not feed the trolls.

[Eddie Eagle]

Do you want mono that has both signals mixed together?

[Chuck Davis]

Here in Pro-Tools I can pan one left, one right on my Mackie 3204 then create two channels. One recording input one (left) and input two (right).

That gives you control and separate processing options for each mic for the mix.
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[Mike Sommer]

If your feeding into two different interface, you can pull audio from the "main out" and the "tape out", and just Pan Left and Right to separate the channels.

Generally you need to reverse the phase of one of the mics. If you don't you can get some odd sounding dynamics (with the crosstalk or bleed) "phasing" and even cancel out some frequencies upon playback or while recording. Some mixers and even some stereo preamps have a phase reverse switches -but this unit does not.
I had this problem this weekend while on a shoot. Whenever one talent would move closer to the other talent you could hear the phasing; even though we separated each mic (paned Left & Right) I had to physically rewire the phase on one of the cables. Problem solved.


FYI
If it's for stereo imaging, you would need two exactly matched mics or a stereo mic for it to work properly. Or at least very "closely matched."

Then there is BI Micing, This is the best reason to use two mics for VO. This will give depth or add richness to the sound; one mic filling in where the other is lacking. One of my favorite combos is an RCA 44-BX or a RCA 74-B and a Schoeps MK41. This = warm, interesting, captivating sound!
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The Blog:
http://voiceoveraudio.blogspot.com/

Acoustics are counter-intuitive. If one thing is certain about acoustics, it is that if anything seems obvious it is probably wrong.

[Rob Ellis]

Actually I'm trying to A/B a couple of mics, and want to hear the exact same read on each mic, without trying to replicate the read.

[Rob Ellis]

Okay, figured it out.

It's simply a matter of connecting the Right and Left output channels on the Mackie, and then panning each mic accordingly.

Thanks!

[Eddie Eagle]

I do that kind of thing post in SF. I always have 2 mics side by side recording and then use the "mix" feature to mix them together to 1 mono signal when I'm done recording.