SCHOEPS KFM 360 - Manual (Page 3)

3
Overview
Overview
The DSP-4 KFM 360 is a 24-bit processor
unit. Together with the sphere microphone
KFM 360 and two bidirectional compact
condenser microphones CCM 8L, it forms a
compact 5.1 surround recording system
with excellent spatial imaging capability.
The processor derives the six 5.1 surround
channels from only four microphone signals
(the two pressure transducers in the KFM
360 plus two figure-8s) and offers a wide
range of selectable settings.
KFM 360:
– for 12 or 48 Volt phantom powering
– two pressure transducers built into the
sphere
– diameter: 18 cm.
– pickup angle: ca. 120°
CCM 8L:
– for 12 or 48 Volt phantom powering
– to be aimed frontward, toward the sound
source
The primary characteristics of the DSP-4
KFM 360 are:
– analog and digital inputs and outputs
– integrated 48 Volt phantom powering and
microphone preamplification
– built-in equalization for the microphones
– digital processing can be performed during
or after the actual recording
– analog control “feel”
– capability to store control “presets”
– directionality of the front and rear channel
microphones is independently selectable
– the stereo basis width of the front chan-
nels is independently variable
– adjustable time delay and low-pass filtering
for the rear channels
– sampling rate 44.1, 48 or 96 kHz, 24 bit
In addition to amplifying the microphone sig-
nals, in the “B: SURR” operating mode the
DSP-4 KFM 360 provides compensation for
the low-frequency response of the figure-8
microphones and appropriate diffuse-field
equalization for the pressure transducers.
The front-channel outputs result from sum-
ming the outputs of the pressure transduc-
ers with the outputs of the figure-8s, while
the rear-channel outputs result from sub-
tracting these signals (see drawing on next
page). The resulting “virtual microphones”
face frontward and backward as do the
actual figure-8s. The directional patterns of
the front- and rear-facing “virtual micro-
phones” may be set independently, from
omnidirectional through cardioid all the way
to figure-8 (though the extreme settings are
of only limited usefulness). This permits flexi-
ble adaptation to the particular acoustic
conditions of the recording venue, since the
choice of directional pattern affects the
amount of reverberant energy that will be
KFM 360 with two figure-8s (CCM 8L)