Overview of the stereo microphone techniques

“Stereophony,  from the Greek word meaning solid, is an attempt to reproduce sounds in such a way that listeners have the same feeling of the left-right spread of the frontal quadrant, and the same ability to locate the direction of individual voices or instruments, as they have at a live performance” (Borwick, 1990:115).

A stereo microphone pair consists of two microphones (with the same characteristics) which are combined in various distances and angles, depending on the technique used. The signals from each microphone are separately recorded and (usually) reproduced by two (stereo) loudspeakers (or headphones). This way, an illusion of directionality is created (note that the listener hears everything twice because sounds from both loudspeakers reach both ears) (Borwick, 1990:115,116) and cues of space and dimensions are reconstructed.

In contrast with the mono recordings, stereo recordings can reproduce a sound source with a better sense of “entirety” i.e. accurate imaging and largeness of the sound source, more “spatial” information and more natural sound as well as preserve depth, perspective and ambience (Bartlett, 1999:76).

The use of stereo microphone methods is optimum when accurate imaging and realistic reproduction is desired (Billingsley & Bartlett, 1990:554) and that is why they are so commonly used.