180 is correct.
If it sounds good - do it. If not, don't. :)
There doesn't seem to be a general rule about phase inverts on bottom mics.

I usually invert by 180 also, since that is the only option I have!!! If I had the Little Labs IBP, I sould experiment...

Personally, I prefer a brighter mic than the D2 on the snare bottom picking up the crack of the snares. I use a Sennheiser MD441, and it really adds to the 57 on the snare top...

While a bottom snare mic may "generally" be 180 degrees out of phase with the top mic, I would suggest using your wave editor to invert, then nudge the bottom mic into a more precise phase coherancy.

Hope this helps,

Thanks for the tips everyone.

I'll record and use the wav editor to flip phase and line it up.

Doublehelix, the snare I'm recording is a small tight and high pitched snare (almost like a piccalo) so I find the D2 is pretty good... however, I will try some other ones to see which I like best. I have another sm57 and an Audix D1 at my disposal.

Tom

I always thought phase problems occured when one used identical mics on the same source. Didn't know they could happen with mics as different as a D2 and SM57. How can you tell? Is it blatantly obvious, thin, etc?

Bodhi wrote: I always thought phase problems occured when one used identical mics on the same source. Didn't know they could happen with mics as different as a D2 and SM57. How can you tell? Is it blatantly obvious, thin, etc?

the more mics you have on a single sound source, the more potential you have for phase problems, makes no difference what microphones you have on the source(s). In alot of cases you will notice that there will be a loss in low end ( in the case of micing a snare with mics on the top and bottom skins). Other cases you may notice some comb filtering throughout the spectrum. best way to check is to listen to what your doing in mono if possible.

there is another thread named "misconceptions about phase" where it is further debated.