[Monte McGuire]

Yes, it's not "fake" stereo, but the two channels obtained have nothing but amplitude differences to clue the listener into panning. I personally like spaced mike setups, especially something like an ORTF array that spaces the mikes equivalent to the spacing between the human ears. To me, "intensity only" mikings, to which MS, XY and Ambiphonics fall into, sound boring.

Of course, YMMV, and if you absolutely need strict mono compatibility, then intensity stereo is an easy way to guarantee no problems. However, techniques like ORTF don't generally fail miserably when summed to mono either. I think they're quite viable when mono compatibility is an issue yet they don't sound so boring and sterile in stereo.

Sometimes, widely spaced miking setups also work well since the mikes are spaced so widely that cancellations aren't so simple and easy to hear.

As always, do this stuff by ear. If you only have one shot to get it right, then do several mikings at once and sort it out at mixdown. Tracking lots of channels is really cheap today, and there's no rule that says you have to use a track only because you printed it.


Best of luck,

-monte-