inreview
byglentrew

A long-time staple of the music recording studio, Sanken microphones also became commonplace in the North American broadcast and TV/film production market, seemingly overnight, just a few years ago with the COS-11 lav microphone. Other microphones from Sanken that our industry now depends on include the CSS-5 (shotgun stereo), the CS-3e (short shotgun) and CS-1 (short-short shotgun). In a relatively short time, Sanken has earned their prestigious reputation by being innovative in producing high quality microphones that are unique in a crowd of the same ol' same ol'.

At NAB '04 last year, the Sanken booth gave some VIPs a sneak preview of the COS-22. At NAB '05, Sanken's big news was that this interesting mic is in production and will soon be available.

The COS-22 is another example of Sanken introducing something completely different. At first glance (even at second and third glance), this miniature microphone looks strange. And, like anything else different on the playground, it will be the subject of many childish attempts at humor. It will no doubt be called the "push-me-pull-you" after the famous two-headed Llama, or the "Siamese Microphone" because of its conjoined construction. But long after the giggles are over, those with better foresight may be considering the unique possibilities this microphone (or is it microphones?) can offer.

The COS-22 is two COS-11 mics joined together, facing opposite directions. There are three basic uses for this arrangement: 1) Stereo, 2) Directional control, and 3) Redundancy.

"Stereo on the tie." I have long been an advocate for the advancement of stereo recording of dialog, even when there is only one person. The COS-22 allows an on-camera talent's dialog to be recorded in the center of a more natural stereo image. It is an improvement. Don't believe it? Give it a listen. You'll see that dialog recorded with a stereo mic is easier to listen to, especially amongst high ambient levels. Of course, there are plenty of occasions that this technique would not be appropriate, but in my opinion more dialog should be recorded in stereo.

Direction with a Twist: The Figure-8 technique. All sound mixers are sound mixers partly because they want to control sound. A favorite way to control sound is with directional mics, but directional lavs are known for usually creating more problems than they solve, including increased distortion, wind sensitivity, and cable and clothing noise. The COS-22 can be used in such a way to give the directional control similar to a cardioid mic without the drawbacks of a cardioid.

Here's how it works: When the microphone is placed in the typical fashion under someone's chin (such as on their tie, for example) the mic is positioned with one element up and the other facing down. The phase of the bottom microphone is reversed (either with the mixer or with an adapter). Since the actor's voice will favor the mic element that's facing up, but most of the ambience will arrive at both elements equally, mixing in the bottom element will cancel more ambience than it cancels the voice, reducing the relative level of the ambience. The more you mix in the bottom mic, the more ambience is cancelled. This system can work quite well, but it should be kept in mind that the closer the mic positioned is to the mouth, the more effective this technique will be.

Redundancy: Ever since Walter Cronkite made famous his signature 2-mic lav look, redundant micing has been a status symbol for on-air talent. I won't argue the real vs. imagined benefits of this technique here, but we have to acknowledge that it is requested from time to time. The COS-22 two-mics-in-one can satisfy this requirement with added style and less fuss. Whoever the Walter Cronkite of today is will probably be the first to use the COS-22 this way, and the rest will want to look just as important. This arrangement also conjures up new ideas for stereo wireless transmitters. Hmmmmm...

The two elements of the COS-22 are connected with a single cable to a single power supply module that terminates to a 5-pin XLR connector. At this time it is assumed that breakaway connections can be installed so that the mic can also be used with wireless transmitters.

Glen Trew