ribbon mics

What type and size you need, and where you should point it. Does a large diaphragm do a better job in preventing pregnancy than a small? WTF is phantom power and why do you need it? All these important questions and more, discussed within. Entendre at your own risk.
User avatar
JD01
Posts: 15816
Joined: Wed Jan 04, 2017 1:11 pm
Location: Wales, UK

Re: ribbon mics

Post by JD01 »

Greg_L wrote: Thu Mar 09, 2017 7:26 am
JD01 wrote: Thu Mar 09, 2017 7:21 am
haha, really? What was wrong with it? I was assuming that you'd sort the walls out so they weren't just corrugated metal!
What's wrong with it? It's a goddamn shipping container. Too narrow, too short. "Sorting the walls" alone would be a Sisyphean nightmare because it's a fucking shipping container.
Ah, its bigger than most of the rooms in my house!
User avatar
Greg_L
Posts: 20629
Joined: Wed Jan 04, 2017 1:07 pm
Location: Where the knuckle meets the poophole

Re: ribbon mics

Post by Greg_L »

JD01 wrote: Thu Mar 09, 2017 7:29 am
Ah, its bigger than most of the rooms in my house!
Are your rooms a long resonant metal tube?
Rebel Yell
User avatar
Bubba
Posts: 3350
Joined: Wed Jan 04, 2017 2:45 pm
Location: Checking out my haggard face in the mirror.

Re: ribbon mics

Post by Bubba »

If you could weld four together like a chunk of Battenburg cake, then cut out all the interior walls, then that just might be adequate.
Haggard Musician :mad:
User avatar
JD01
Posts: 15816
Joined: Wed Jan 04, 2017 1:11 pm
Location: Wales, UK

Re: ribbon mics

Post by JD01 »

Greg_L wrote: Thu Mar 09, 2017 7:35 am
JD01 wrote: Thu Mar 09, 2017 7:29 am
Ah, its bigger than most of the rooms in my house!
Are your rooms a long resonant metal tube?
well they're not metal, obviously!

Bubba, if you did that you'd end up with a massive space!!
User avatar
Armistice
Posts: 10702
Joined: Wed Jan 04, 2017 4:06 pm
Location: Orstralia

Re: ribbon mics

Post by Armistice »

I have a media desk about 2m long in a corrodor where the computer and momitors/monitors live, opening out to a 7m x 7m combo kitchen / lounge / dining area where the singing and acoustic playing happen, everything else is done on front of the computer in the corridor. Works fine.

Oh yeah, j priced Royer mics at the only place which would have them locally. Wow. They had a matched pair further up the range for $10k AUD. The 121 was $2k. Ouch.
User avatar
Greg_L
Posts: 20629
Joined: Wed Jan 04, 2017 1:07 pm
Location: Where the knuckle meets the poophole

Re: ribbon mics

Post by Greg_L »

I might just try to track down the best clone R121. Surely someone makes one.
Rebel Yell
User avatar
rayc
Posts: 8451
Joined: Wed Jan 04, 2017 6:31 pm
Location: South of Bundaberg North of Brisbane

Re: ribbon mics

Post by rayc »

According to my little bit of research, though I'd advise you do due diligence, this is THE clone sonically speaking...
cascade fat head
Cheers
rayc
User avatar
witzendoz
Posts: 23
Joined: Thu Feb 16, 2017 1:43 am
Location: Fremantle Australia
Contact:

Re: ribbon mics

Post by witzendoz »

I have a couple of FAT HEADS which are exactly the same as the cascade ones, but sold under a different brand, open plan recording http://www.openplanrecording.com/about (actually he has a 121 clone) Fat Heads sound great on guitar cabs, I usually use a fat head and a SM57 or 421 together, my favourite go to setup.

I have actually used the fat heads on acoustic guitar recordings when I have a singing guitar player tracking the vocals and guitar at the same time, sounds good.

Alan.

Oh I have a shipping container out back of the studio, I use it to store some of the crap I own, old PA gear, Old mixers not worth a six pack of beer, old wood and steel, come to think of it isn't it what shipping containers were designed for? Could make a good reverb chamber :biggrin:
User avatar
Minerman
Posts: 2022
Joined: Wed Jan 04, 2017 3:51 pm
Location: U.S.A.
Contact:

Re: ribbon mics

Post by Minerman »

Wondering about the cheap ribbon mics, no way I can drop the kind of coin mentioned earlier in the thread...Any suggestions for cheaper ribbon mics dudes???
Image
Gibson, Fender, Ibanez, Jackson
Ceriatone, Marshall, EVH
TC Electronic, MXR, Yamaha

My music @ Reverbnation :minernuggs:
User avatar
Greg_L
Posts: 20629
Joined: Wed Jan 04, 2017 1:07 pm
Location: Where the knuckle meets the poophole

Re: ribbon mics

Post by Greg_L »

Minerman wrote: Fri Jul 21, 2017 8:01 pm Wondering about the cheap ribbon mics, no way I can drop the kind of coin mentioned earlier in the thread...Any suggestions for cheaper ribbon mics dudes???
I'm curious about this myself.
Rebel Yell
User avatar
Minerman
Posts: 2022
Joined: Wed Jan 04, 2017 3:51 pm
Location: U.S.A.
Contact:

Re: ribbon mics

Post by Minerman »

Greg_L wrote: Mon Jul 24, 2017 7:35 am
Minerman wrote: Fri Jul 21, 2017 8:01 pm Wondering about the cheap ribbon mics, no way I can drop the kind of coin mentioned earlier in the thread...Any suggestions for cheaper ribbon mics dudes???
I'm curious about this myself.
I've been looking around & AMS has a few cheap ribbon mics starting around $100 that wouldn't be too expensive to roll the dice on...There's just no way I can drop a big amount of coin on a mic...Sweetwater's prices start around $250 - $300, & I know you get what you pay for, but that's still pretty expensive for me...

This is one of the cheap mics that wouldn't be too bad for me to take a chance on...

I'm probably gonna buy some sort of pad to be able to use my condenser mics on my guitars before long, plus I'm gonna start another ISO cab build in the next little while too...
Image
Gibson, Fender, Ibanez, Jackson
Ceriatone, Marshall, EVH
TC Electronic, MXR, Yamaha

My music @ Reverbnation :minernuggs:
User avatar
witzendoz
Posts: 23
Joined: Thu Feb 16, 2017 1:43 am
Location: Fremantle Australia
Contact:

Re: ribbon mics

Post by witzendoz »

Give the http://www.mxlmics.com/microphones/studio/R144/or the variants i.e: R40 a look. Can pick them up very cheap. None of my ribbon mics cost a lot, and they all get good results. My Fathead style ribbons, which I really like are from https://www.openplanrecording.com/home, but the fathead has been discontinued, but I think they were based on a modded http://cascademicrophones.com/microphon ... eadribbons, so have a look at them also.

Alan.
User avatar
Minerman
Posts: 2022
Joined: Wed Jan 04, 2017 3:51 pm
Location: U.S.A.
Contact:

Re: ribbon mics

Post by Minerman »

witzendoz wrote: Wed Jul 26, 2017 11:42 pm Give the http://www.mxlmics.com/microphones/studio/R144/or the variants i.e: R40 a look. Can pick them up very cheap. None of my ribbon mics cost a lot, and they all get good results. My Fathead style ribbons, which I really like are from https://www.openplanrecording.com/home, but the fathead has been discontinued, but I think they were based on a modded http://cascademicrophones.com/microphon ... eadribbons, so have a look at them also.

Alan.
Thanks man, the MXL you linked is one of the mics I was considering...
Image
Gibson, Fender, Ibanez, Jackson
Ceriatone, Marshall, EVH
TC Electronic, MXR, Yamaha

My music @ Reverbnation :minernuggs:
User avatar
antichef
Posts: 19
Joined: Fri Sep 01, 2017 8:33 pm

Re: ribbon mics

Post by antichef »

I've been using ribbons more and more. I don't have any Royers and have never used one - I bet they're great.

Samar Audio (Marik from the boards) is making some amazing ribbon mics - I use a VL37 whenever I record guitar amps and it absolutely destroys the other mics I try to use - I still occasionally put another one up for testing purposes, but it's getting to the point where I just go with the VL37 and don't even think about it. Also great on overheads, vocals, acoustic guitar, percussion, etc. If I had to keep just one ribbon mic, this would definitely be it.

Back on HR when we did the group buy in like 2007/8, Chance got us a "tube ribbon" - the TNC ACM-900. Everything was cheap and so I got one even though it seemed pretty gimmicky. The tubes - 6J1 - are esoteric, but maybe not so hard to find, I don't know. There was a radio/tv repair shop-that-time-forgot close to my house back then and they had a small lot of them, so I bought them. If you have an ACM-900, get ahold of me and I can send you one, since I have more than I'll ever use. The mic turned out to be the *ultimate* mic for recording 'oooh' background vocals. We call it the 'ooooh mic' around here now.

Coles 4038 - I got a second-hand pair of those a while back. Not cheap, but very useful - definitely they have a "sound". Amazing on drum overheads if you're going for that sound. I had lent out the oooh mic a few weeks ago and used one to record some ooohs - serviceable, but I missed the ACM-900.

Beyerdynamic M160 - my drum room is too small, so I have to place overhead mics two drumsticks away instead of three, and so I was pessimistic about using these hypercardiods for overheads because I thought they would miss too much sound outside the tight pattern. Wrong!! They have a sound also and it's complete money for toms in particular, but the whole kit sounds punchy and awesome.
User avatar
miroslav
Posts: 1819
Joined: Wed Jan 04, 2017 3:30 pm

Re: ribbon mics

Post by miroslav »

How do you like the M160 on guitar cabs....or haven't you used them there?

I've got 3 Cascade ribbon mics...but been wanting to get something maybe a bit different or upscale, but I don't want to drop a grand on a Royer or Coles. I see the M160 can be had used for $400-$500.
User avatar
antichef
Posts: 19
Joined: Fri Sep 01, 2017 8:33 pm

Re: ribbon mics

Post by antichef »

miroslav wrote: Sat Sep 02, 2017 4:31 pm How do you like the M160 on guitar cabs....or haven't you used them there?
I got the M160s not too long ago and immediately put them on the overhead stands, so I haven't tried them anywhere else yet. Once the water goes down here I need to track drums for I think 2 more songs for this CD, then I'll get off my butt and take them down and try them elsewhere.
Post Reply