The long WAV was kinda huge, so I trimmed it down to a couple of scales. http://www.dglenn.org/tmp/recorder-mics-short.wav
Also, listening to it on anniemal's iBook in her much quieter house, I'm hearing it rather differently than I didat home on Lombard St.. Neither mic alone sounds as objectionable here as on my computer, but they do still each sound "incomplete" to me. And there's a fair bit of hiss in the foot mic that I didn't catch at home (note to self: wear headphones to listen to this stuff at home). I wonder how much of the ripple I see in that wave is from overtones and how much is the hiss. (I'm starting to play with subtracting a sine wave from that track to see whether I can hear what's left, and I guess I should try phase-aligning the two mics and subtracting one from the other to see whether that gives any clues. Are those among the comparison techniques you have in mind? (It seems likely that you're a lot better at this than I am; I've only been playing with this sort of tool for a couple months.)
Finally getting off my duff and looking at this. About frickin' time, isn't it...
Interestingly enough, the waveforms in GoldWave (Version 5.20 is what I'm on) show the left mic (from above) to be a slightly louder signal than the right mic (at the foot). It's more noticeable on the full file than on the section of note. You can see the GoldWave waveform from approximately the same time code as you used here and the full length waveform here.
There is indeed a distinct hiss in the foot mic. It may be the mic, or it may be the "budget PA mixer" - this would not be the first time I've heard of something like that. (For instance - Queen's Gambit, good friends of mine, recorded part of their first CD in one location on one set of equipment, and in another location on a different set of equipment. You could tell which was which because of the PA mixers. One had a hiss in it. They re-recorded and re-released, offering their listeners an even swap of "Take Two" for the original. I kept "Take One", and they know I did, so that I can use it as a sample of "here's what *not* to do.)
Other than that, the only real comparison techniques I have are my ears. Neither mic (aside from the hiss) is objectionable, neither placement is bad. The "rippling" effect you got on your waveform in the foot may be the hiss. Phase-aligning may be good, I don't know. What Minstrosity did when we recorded is just had one mic per instrument/voice, except for the hammered dulcimer (which got a stereo pair), and all mics were approximately the same distance (which avoids any phase shift). Then you turn it into stereo in the mixdown, when you set the sound picture.
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http://www.dglenn.org/tmp/recorder-mics-short.wav
Also, listening to it on
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Interestingly enough, the waveforms in GoldWave (Version 5.20 is what I'm on) show the left mic (from above) to be a slightly louder signal than the right mic (at the foot). It's more noticeable on the full file than on the section of note. You can see the GoldWave waveform from approximately the same time code as you used here and the full length waveform here.
There is indeed a distinct hiss in the foot mic. It may be the mic, or it may be the "budget PA mixer" - this would not be the first time I've heard of something like that. (For instance - Queen's Gambit, good friends of mine, recorded part of their first CD in one location on one set of equipment, and in another location on a different set of equipment. You could tell which was which because of the PA mixers. One had a hiss in it. They re-recorded and re-released, offering their listeners an even swap of "Take Two" for the original. I kept "Take One", and they know I did, so that I can use it as a sample of "here's what *not* to do.)
Other than that, the only real comparison techniques I have are my ears. Neither mic (aside from the hiss) is objectionable, neither placement is bad. The "rippling" effect you got on your waveform in the foot may be the hiss. Phase-aligning may be good, I don't know. What Minstrosity did when we recorded is just had one mic per instrument/voice, except for the hammered dulcimer (which got a stereo pair), and all mics were approximately the same distance (which avoids any phase shift). Then you turn it into stereo in the mixdown, when you set the sound picture.
I really don't have much more than that.