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Jim Andrada · July 30th, 2007, 05:47 PM

A million years ago when I was studying marine navigation (It was interesting - no other reason) that's how they taught us to remember which color marker buoy should be passed on which side of the boat when entering a harbor..

So here's the dumb question - when a mic has a red dot on one side, should the red dot be on the right or the left as you look from behind the mic?

In which case I guess it would be Red Right Recording.

Ty Ford · July 30th, 2007, 06:19 PM

I'm not aware of red dots being specific to orientation.

Red dots on schoeps mics mean they are hotter than those without.

A red dot on a Beyer m160 ribbon mic means you store it that way to keep the ribbon from sagging.

Regards,

Ty Ford

Abe Dolinger · July 31st, 2007, 12:14 AM

I believe the Sanken CUB-01 has a red dot on the capsule pointing towards front and center of its cardioid pattern. This is probably due to its unique shape. Not sure what other mics have this indicator.

Jim Boda · July 31st, 2007, 07:43 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jim Andrada

.. when a mic has a red dot on one side, should the red dot be on the right or the left as you look from behind the mic?...

A red dot on a mic could also mean that the phase is reversed in that pin 2 is now negative and pin 3 is hot.

Steve House · July 31st, 2007, 08:53 AM

An additional thought - if the mic is a side address mic they may have a dot to indicate the front. For instance, my Rode NT1A side-address cardioid has a gold dot to indicate the side that should be facing the sound source. It can also indicate the polarity of a figure-8 mic, with the dot indicating the side from which an increasing pressure wave will cause the output voltage to go positive.

Jim Andrada · July 31st, 2007, 12:43 PM

Steve - thanks. This is exactly the source of my question.

I'm looking at a figure 8 mic and there is a red dot on one side and a black dot on the other. There's also a 0 degree mark on the end that would align with the red dot.

I think my real question then would be, when using a figure 8 mic in an m/s configuration, is there a convention as to which lobe should be on the right vs left

Steve House · July 31st, 2007, 02:21 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jim Andrada

Steve - thanks. This is exactly the source of my question.

I'm looking at a figure 8 mic and there is a red dot on one side and a black dot on the other. There's also a 0 degree mark on the end that would align with the red dot.

I think my real question then would be, when using a figure 8 mic in an m/s configuration, is there a convention as to which lobe should be on the right vs left

In a cardioid/figure-8 M/S array, the positive side of the figure-8 points 90 degrees left by convention with the cardioid pointing to stage centre. The matirx therefore is L=M+S and R=M-S

Ty Ford · July 31st, 2007, 04:09 PM

Sometimes it's an indication that someone was sloppy with red paint near the mic.

Regards,

Ty Ford

July 30th, 2007, 05:47 PM	#1
Jim Andrada Inner Circle Join Date: Feb 2007 Location: Tucson AZ Posts: 2,211	Red Rght Returning A million years ago when I was studying marine navigation (It was interesting - no other reason) that's how they taught us to remember which color marker buoy should be passed on which side of the boat when entering a harbor.. So here's the dumb question - when a mic has a red dot on one side, should the red dot be on the right or the left as you look from behind the mic? In which case I guess it would be Red Right Recording.

July 30th, 2007, 06:19 PM	#2
Ty Ford Inner Circle Join Date: Nov 2004 Location: Baltimore, MD USA Posts: 2,337	I'm not aware of red dots being specific to orientation. Red dots on schoeps mics mean they are hotter than those without. A red dot on a Beyer m160 ribbon mic means you store it that way to keep the ribbon from sagging. Regards, Ty Ford __________________ Ty Ford's Audio Bootcamp Field Guide Ty Ford's Audio Video Blog

July 31st, 2007, 08:53 AM	#5
Steve House Inner Circle Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: Hamilton, Ontario, Canada Posts: 5,742	An additional thought - if the mic is a side address mic they may have a dot to indicate the front. For instance, my Rode NT1A side-address cardioid has a gold dot to indicate the side that should be facing the sound source. It can also indicate the polarity of a figure-8 mic, with the dot indicating the side from which an increasing pressure wave will cause the output voltage to go positive. __________________ Good news, Cousins! This week's chocolate ration is 15 grams!

July 31st, 2007, 12:43 PM	#6
Jim Andrada Inner Circle Join Date: Feb 2007 Location: Tucson AZ Posts: 2,211	Steve - thanks. This is exactly the source of my question. I'm looking at a figure 8 mic and there is a red dot on one side and a black dot on the other. There's also a 0 degree mark on the end that would align with the red dot. I think my real question then would be, when using a figure 8 mic in an m/s configuration, is there a convention as to which lobe should be on the right vs left Last edited by Jim Andrada; July 31st, 2007 at 12:50 PM. Reason: Additional comment/fix typo

July 31st, 2007, 04:09 PM	#8
Ty Ford Inner Circle Join Date: Nov 2004 Location: Baltimore, MD USA Posts: 2,337	Sometimes it's an indication that someone was sloppy with red paint near the mic. Regards, Ty Ford __________________ Ty Ford's Audio Bootcamp Field Guide Ty Ford's Audio Video Blog

July 31st, 2007, 12:14 AM	#3
Abe Dolinger Regular Crew Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: Brooklyn, NY Posts: 111	I believe the Sanken CUB-01 has a red dot on the capsule pointing towards front and center of its cardioid pattern. This is probably due to its unique shape. Not sure what other mics have this indicator.