Crossed Figure of Eight Method

Classic Blumlien

One technique known for it's ability to produce a deep, wide and stable stereo image is the Classic Blumlien using crossed figure of eight micro- phones. Here the microphone polar pattern is a medium width forward and backward lobe. The mics are setup so the lobes are at 90 degrees to each other.

One useful attribute of this method is that the rear lobes record the rear 90 degree quadrant in phase, but out of polarity. This allows for easy decoding of rear channel information. The side quadrants are recorded out of phase, therefore placement is very important if you want to maintain a proper direct to reverberant sound ratio and minimize strong out of phase components.

Typically this technique is best suited to wide rooms or out of doors recordings. While this method produces very natural sounding stereo images, it often suffers from poor bass response.