I was wondering if there is any special way to know that two capsules are equidistant from the source when close micing a guitar amp. I have seen lots of pics around here of multiple mics on the same cab/speaker but haven't been able to find anything about the capsule alignment.

do you use an oscilloscope or is there another way?

I find a tape measure really useful for that. Then I listen and see how much cancellation I'm are getting. I also find it useful to place the first mic (the "bright mic") while listening to the amp hiss through the headphones.

It's hard sometimes to see where inside the wind screen of the mic the actual capsule sits. I either take the mic apart when I first get it and make a mental note of where the capsule sits. If it's not too hard to take apart.

If I can't take it apart I'll use a strong flashlight to see thru the windscreen. The I just try to line up the face of the capsules as best as possible.

Never thought of using a scope. How would you do that?

thanks for the input. anything more insight would be great.

otisroom wrote:Never thought of using a scope. How would you do that?

no idea if it's even possible. i had wondered if you could run the output of the 2 pres into a dual input scope to view the transients / wave?

kinda like this method to do this with a DAW at gearslutz - http://www.gearslutz.com/board/so-much- ... ethod.html

outoftune wrote:thanks for the input. anything more insight would be great.

otisroom wrote:Never thought of using a scope. How would you do that?

no idea if it's even possible. i had wondered if you could run the output of the 2 pres into a dual input scope to view the transients / wave?

kinda like this method to do this with a DAW at gearslutz - http://www.gearslutz.com/board/so-much- ... ethod.html

I don't think you could use a scope for this purpose.

If you have a DAW the method they describe on the gear sluts link will work.

I think that indeed you connect the two mics(or pres) to a scope and see if the phase is the same.

On your DAW you can simply maximize the two waveforms and see where each signal starts, then move the mics accordingly.

Edit: Here's the link where nick and greg talk about checking the phase relationship of two mics with a scope.

i've seen a string taped to something, say, the middle of a snare drum head, and then used to make the mics equidistant. i should really do that next time i record. i bet i have phase issues all over the place.

eliya wrote:I think that indeed you connect the two mics(or pres) to a scope and see if the phase is the same.

On your DAW you can simply maximize the two waveforms and see where each signal starts, then move the mics accordingly

Yeah I know about Lissajous mode. But we're talking about sample level phase adjustments. I'm not sure the scope will allow you to get as accurate as zooming in on 2 waveforms in a DAW.

otisroom wrote:

eliya wrote:I think that indeed you connect the two mics(or pres) to a scope and see if the phase is the same.

On your DAW you can simply maximize the two waveforms and see where each signal starts, then move the mics accordingly

Yeah I know about Lissajous mode. But we're talking about sample level phase adjustments. I'm not sure the scope will allow you to get as accurate as zooming in on 2 waveforms in a DAW.

I also think that the DAW "resolution" is better than the scope's. However, this resolution isn't needed, I can't see how one can move my mic a certain distance that will be equal to one sample.

eliya wrote:

otisroom wrote:

eliya wrote:I think that indeed you connect the two mics(or pres) to a scope and see if the phase is the same.

On your DAW you can simply maximize the two waveforms and see where each signal starts, then move the mics accordingly

Yeah I know about Lissajous mode. But we're talking about sample level phase adjustments. I'm not sure the scope will allow you to get as accurate as zooming in on 2 waveforms in a DAW.

I also think that the DAW "resolution" is better than the scope's. However, this resolution isn't needed, I can't see how one can move my mic a certain distance that will be equal to one sample.

I know right? I thought of that too. That's why I use a flashlight and visually line them up. If it sounds too phase I just move them slightly.