Soundfield SPS200 User Manual page 9

SoundField SPS200
Interfacing the SPS200 in a Studio Environment
The SoundField SPS200 microphone is ideally suited for recording in studio
environments (where DAWs such as ProTools HD or Nuendo are used), with sources
ranging from drums to vocals.
In a studio environment there is usually a choice of mic-pre's available to the recording
engineer but while most good quality mic pre's are compatible with the SPS200, it is
strongly recommended to use four identical mic-pre's with either gain linking or
switched gain settings for good gain matching. If you use different types of mic preamp
on the four outputs, phase and frequency response errors may be introduced that could
degrade the decoding process, especially if some of the preamps incorporate transformers
and others do not.
Once the four audio signals from the SPS200 microphone are at line level they can be
fed into the DAW as usual using a soundcard or dedicated audio interface. An interface
with built-in multiple microphone inputs may be used as long as you are satisfied with
the audio quality and in most cases you'll have the reassurance that they are identical.
Once inside the DAW, the 'SPS200 Surround Zone' plug-in takes the four signals
generated by the SPS200 and provides the desired output format such as stereo or 5.1 for
routing to the DAWs surround output busses.
Interfacing the SPS200 for Laptop Recording
In combination with a Firewire audio interface and suitable mic preamps, the SPS200
makes an ideal front-end for laptop recording providing a compact and highly versatile
high-end recording system perfectly suited to any application, from simple mono vocal
mic'ing to capturing both live acoustic performances and their ambience in full surround.
There are a variety of firewire interfaces available that incorporate four or more mic-
pre's, such as the MOTU Traveller, the Focusrite Saffire Pro and the Prism Orpheus; all
are well-suited to getting the four audio signals (A-Format) generated by the SPS200 into
your DAW of choice. Both 5.1 and stereo monitoring options are provided by the
'SPS200 Surround Zone' within a compatible 'surround savvy' DAW environment.
Note: The A-Format signal is best recorded into a surround audio track capable of
holding four or more streams as this prevents alignment errors being introduced when
editing. Where it must be recorded into four discrete tracks for any reason, it is
recommended the tracks be grouped to avoid accidental offsetting and that the DAW
supports sample-accurate editing.
Interfacing the SPS200
User Guide
Page 9