User Manual

Townsend Labs Sphere L22 Precision Microphone System Guide Stereo Recording

Proximity Effect

When recording in stereo with directional mics, the distance from the sources are often far enough to cause the

bass response to drop significantly, due to the proximity effect. For many directional mics, the flattest bass

response is around a 0.5 m from the source.

Sphere technology lets the user directly adjust the amount of proximity effect, so the bass response can be flat,

or even boosted, at farther distances. In the Sphere plug-in, turn the

PROXIMITY knob in the positive direction.

This can create a much fuller sounding recording.

When using conventional mics, one approach is to add spot mics for low frequency sources, such as a kick

drum. This can work well, but there is always some risk of phase issues occurring between the spot mics and

the distant stereo mics, because of their different time alignment (about 1 ms per ft of separation).