Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/1532010
onto your room layout and start focusing lobes on that space. We would set our first lobe at the entrance point of a room. Lobes can be focused in three width patterns: narrow, medium, and wide. Often for an entrance lobe, we left it wide so that we could catch as much of the walk-in as possible on one lobe without worrying about falling out of it. Then, we would pick other locations in the room that were likely spots where he would sit or interact with someone. This takes some trial and error. Having a narrow width on an area can give you a really nice, full clean iso, but it's risky if they start to lean out of that coverage. Having a wider pattern is safer, but it means a lot more crossover between other lobes, which can make it sound roomier. It's a bit of a balancing act, but if you have a good starting place, you can refine the lobe positions on the fly if you need to. We were able to run/process natively five of these arrays on a computer while recording the 45 associated audio tracks (eight isos and one automix track for each) onto a Sound Devices PIX 270. For additional DSP power, there are other hardware options like the IntelliMix P300 processor. Our setup was very simple, but it allowed a seamless walk through five rooms of a building. The mics sounded full, and the noise reduction was very subtle and natural when it was at the lowest setting. Hand-off between lobes during conversations also sounded smooth, with the ability to leave some lobes always on or set to priority for the IntelliMix. While we used these for hidden camera, I think they have a wider range of use beyond that. The round-shaped version of the MXA920 could quickly and easily be ceiling-mounted and blended into a small location where getting a boom overhead may be tricky. That being said, there is a processing delay that comes with IntelliMix so, to blend wires in with it, you'd have to calculate the delay and apply a latency group to your other channels. There's no replacement for a well- placed boom and clean wires, but when those aren't a reliable or realistic option, or if you're just looking for a backup, mic arrays are worth considering.