cheap ribbon mic

I love the fact that phantom power is this mics friend. I'd be affraid to use alot of them because I know some day phantom power would turn my ribbon mic into a very small space heater and I would cry like a little girl:o

F.S.
 
kidvybes said:
...haven't used this mic, although I've had a few different models of the Chinese (Nady, Apex, etc.) ribbon mics...they are actually quite good for the price, but this Cascade model has been getting consistantly good reviews in some of the diehard audio publications...looks like an excellent opportunity to give a ribbon mic a try...they do require ample preamp gain to get the most out of them (60-65 dB), although Cascade does offer the Rode D-Power Plug adaptor which boosts gain inline (never used that so I can't comment on it's effectiveness)...at this price point, I'd give the "Fathead" a try...;)
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I have both the ribbon mic and the power plug, and the power plug works great; you need phantom power to run it though. Brings it up to match your condensors. Right now this mic is my fave.
 
Man. I've had a K6 for at least a month and it hasn't even been plugged in yet. How sad is that:( I've got to try it out on a guitar cab.
I've got three new mic's I haven't plugged in yet:eek: Today is the day! I've got to at least make sure they work.

F.S.
 
Freudian Slip said:
I love the fact that phantom power is this mics friend. I'd be affraid to use alot of them because I know some day phantom power would turn my ribbon mic into a very small space heater and I would cry like a little girl:o

F.S.
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...I agree...and add to that the fact that the K6 is a great sounding mic at a bargain price...if you have room for only one ribbon mic in your mic cabinet and your funds are limited (as is the case with many of us on HR.com) then you owe it to yourself to give the K6 some serious consideration...especially while the price is only $199 (and the mic looks cool as hell as well!)...oh, by the way...the suede cover on the mic's body shell is not just for the "bling" factor...it serves to diminish any body "ring" which is quite common with the Chinese condenser/ribbon mics...;)
 
Well I finally plugged in my K6 and it's a dud:( Very distorted and a huge signal offset. I don't know if the signal being offest is normal on a ribbon or not, but the distortion sure isn't.

We'll see how good the warranty department works.

F.S.
 
Thanks for the link to the power plug. My cheap Chinese ribbon mic (Apex 210 I believe) really needs a signal boost so I'll probably pick up one of the power plugs.
 
Freudian Slip said:
Well I finally plugged in my K6 and it's a dud:( Very distorted and a huge signal offset. I don't know if the signal being offest is normal on a ribbon or not, but the distortion sure isn't.

We'll see how good the warranty department works.

F.S.
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Contact Belinda at Karma...she's terrific...
 
kidvybes said:
Contact Belinda at Karma...she's terrific...
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I sent off an email last night. If I don't get a response soon I'll take your advice and call her.

Well on the good side there was a small scratch on the top of the mic when I rceived it that I was not going to bother with but, since I have to send it in anyway I'll get that taken care of. I guess I should have plugged it in sooner but I've been busy lately. Oh well.

F.S.
 
Well I will say this about Karma mic's. If you get one, don't waite a month to plug it in like I did. The have some sort of 10 day policy for no question returns. I told the person.... so this has a 3 year warranty I think? What happens down the road with an internal failier that's not the ribbon?
I quickly was transfered to Waylen Ford who assumed I might be clipping in my singnal chain. I told him there nothing even close to a clip anywhere.
I wasn't coming close to the spl rating and that if there was a clip it was internal to the mic.

After Waylen determined that I knew what the red clip light meant he said no problem and to send it in and that he would likely send me a brand new mike;)

Anyway everyone was nice but seemed a bit uncomfortable with dealing with my situation. So I am lazy and it takes me a month to plug in a new mic:rolleyes: I won't make that mistake again.

F.S.
 
Paj said:
Actually, I ordered a RSM-4 to hear the difference between it and a Fathead. I can't attest to the circuitry, but the ribbons are spec'd differently (Nady = 6 micron; Fathead = 2.5 micron).


Paj
8^)
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Thanks for the clarification-- elsewhere in this thread, someone mentioned that the cascades had some "transformer love" too, in comparison to another branded lollipop. I wonder if they differ in the same way form the RSM-4.

I guess I was just relaying something someone else had said about the two, that they had the same alctron ribbons in them, but your specs would disprove this.

I guess I mainly have mine to learn about working with ribbons.

EDIT: BTW, do the cascade and the RSM 4 sound very different?
 
Obi-Wan zenabI said:
Thanks for the clarification-- elsewhere in this thread, someone mentioned that the cascades had some "transformer love" too, in comparison to another branded lollipop. I wonder if they differ in the same way form the RSM-4.

I guess I was just relaying something someone else had said about the two, that they had the same alctron ribbons in them, but your specs would disprove this.

I guess I mainly have mine to learn about working with ribbons.

EDIT: BTW, do the cascade and the RSM 4 sound very different?
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cascade gives you the option of upgrading to a lundahl or cinemag transformer for extra $ (i believe it's $300 plus shipping for either of those). they actually have an accounting of the differences between the rsm-4 and the fathead on their site and maintain that the fatheads aren't made in the alcatron factory:
http://www.cascademicrophones.com/cascade_FAT HEAD.html
 
Well, I thought I better update. Karma sent me a new microphone:) They where pretty quick about it too. I have only tried it out on vocals, but I was pretty damn impressed with what I got out of it. I was singing soft and low and the mic did a great job of picking up the details and sounds very nice.
It seems detailed but smooth. I compressed the track pretty good and did not have a problem with the noise floor. Seemed at least reasonably quiet.


I will try it out on some other sources when I get the chance.

F.S.
 
Obi-Wan zenabI said:
I guess I was just relaying something someone else had said about the two, that they had the same alctron ribbons in them, but your specs would disprove this.
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The RSM-5 is also supposed to have a 2 micron ribbon. Doesn't mean it does, as according to Michael Joly (Oktavamod), it actually used a much heavier ribbon.
 
Those of you reading this thread might be interested in Stellar microphones as well. I got one of their ribbons, which looks EXACTLY like a Cascade Fathead, on Ebay for $100 (although the prices are creeping up). Came with the shockmount and wooden case, but not the aluminum case that Cascade provides. At any rate, it sounds great and doesn't have a B-stock vibe at all. I'm really digging it as a vocal mic and a room mic for drums, and want to try some mid-side recording too.
 
kludge said:
Those of you reading this thread might be interested in Stellar microphones as well. I got one of their ribbons, which looks EXACTLY like a Cascade Fathead, on Ebay for $100 (although the prices are creeping up). Came with the shockmount and wooden case, but not the aluminum case that Cascade provides. At any rate, it sounds great and doesn't have a B-stock vibe at all. I'm really digging it as a vocal mic and a room mic for drums, and want to try some mid-side recording too.
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i saw those and they look cool, but i noticed that the specs are different than the fatheads, which makes me wonder if/suspect that the transformers are different in the stellars as specs like the frequency response seem to be less desirable in them.
 
kojdogg said:
i saw those and they look cool, but i noticed that the specs are different than the fatheads, which makes me wonder if/suspect that the transformers are different in the stellars as specs like the frequency response seem to be less desirable in them.
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Specs? I never believe 'em. Benchmarketing is almost always a scam. Cascade sells the Fatheads both with and without transformer upgrades, so I'll bet these are identical to a stock Fathead. I don't have one to A/B with. At least this one does have the 2.5 micron ribbon, which ought to matter more than who fudged what with the frequency response. And price-wise, the equivalence makes sense... Stellar likely picked up some overstock from the manufacturer and got them house-branded (another clue they aren't B stock) - new business, plus a starter deal, plus no aluminum case equals moderately lower price.

At any rate, it sounds as I expect an inexpensive ribbon to sound... soft bottom, rolled-off highs, and a lush midrange. It's my only ribbon of my own... I used some vintage RCA ribbons back in college, a zillion years ago, but that's too hazy to compare.
 
kludge said:
Specs? I never believe 'em. Benchmarketing is almost always a scam. Cascade sells the Fatheads both with and without transformer upgrades, so I'll bet these are identical to a stock Fathead.
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while i agree with you in spirit, specs are specs. sometimes specs are misreported for sure and often they are misleading. sound ultimately transcends specs
i was comparing the specs of the stellar and the stock fathead.
 
kludge said:
Those of you reading this thread might be interested in Stellar microphones as well. I got one of their ribbons, which looks EXACTLY like a Cascade Fathead, on Ebay for $100 (although the prices are creeping up). Came with the shockmount and wooden case, but not the aluminum case that Cascade provides. At any rate, it sounds great and doesn't have a B-stock vibe at all. I'm really digging it as a vocal mic and a room mic for drums, and want to try some mid-side recording too.
Click to expand...

I can't say enough good things about Stellar mics!
They have great deals and awesome customer service.
I talked to them and they said that they either already are, or will soon use Cinemag and/or Edcor in some models. I believe that what ever mics have those transformers would be labeled as such.

I bought 2x CM-1 mics. And a RM-1 + Cinemag xfmr that I installed myself. He included very detailed plans for how to install the transformer. :D
 
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