Blumlein pair

The pickup patterns of the pair, combined with their positioning, delivers a high degree of stereo separation in the source signal, as well as the room ambiance.

The Blumlein pair produces an exceptionally realistic stereo image, but the quality of recordings is highly dependent on the acoustics of the room and the size of the sound source.

Several types of stereo condenser microphones (Neumann, AKG, Schoeps, Nevaton BPT) have also offered a Blumlein arrangement as one of their possible configurations.

In his early experiments at EMI with what he called "binaural" sound, Blumlein did not use this actual technique because he did not have access to figure-eight microphones.

In the claims he made in his U.K. patent application in 1931, as well as details of these techniques, he included the theoretical possibility of using directional microphones in what later became known as a Blumlein pair.