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SoundField, the UK-based microphone manufacturers for the broadcast and audio recording markets, are showing their SPS200 Software Controlled microphone, the most affordable mic in their range, at IBC 2008. Production models of the microphone, which result from a three-year R&D programme are shipping now. SoundField staff will be on the company's booth at IBC to show the product to IBC attendees and answer any questions they may have.
Despite being the 'baby' of the SoundField range, the concept and technology of the SPS200 is derived directly from the more expensive SoundField models and utilises the full capsule array, which is at the heart of all SoundField microphones. The pickup pattern of the mic and its apparent orientation can be altered without physically moving it, and the eventual audio format of the captured audio (mono, stereo, or surround) can be decided long after the original performance if required, without any of the phase artefacts associated with audio captured by some multi-mic arrays. The raw output of the four capsules in the SPS200 or any other SoundField microphone is not usually made available to the end user. All SoundField systems to date have comprised a mic and an associated decoder; the latter handles the conversion of the capsule signals to the more user-controllable four-channel SoundField B-Format. The decoder also offers the user control over how the four phase coherent channels of the B-Format are further combined to create audio signals in more common formats, such as various types of multi-channel surround, stereo with adjustable width, or mono. Unlike all other SoundField microphones, the SPS200 has no associated hardware decoder box. Instead, it ships with a cross-platform software plug-in, SPS200 Surround Zone, for Pro Tools HD or VST-compatible DAWs, and this performs the job of the hardware decoders in other SoundField microphone systems. The output audio format can be set from mono to six different types of surround sound, via phase-coherent stereo and M&S.
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