Nady RSM-8A?

bstarstudios

bstarstudios

Useless Thoughts
im looking to pick up a bargain priced ribbon mic (read under 300) for my home studio, and the RSM-8A looks pretty cool and has a 40bd built in gain to make it as loud as most condensers.

anyone every try one or use one? opinions?

open to other ribbon mic suggestions.
 
I have one but I've never used it.
I also have a pair of RSM 2s which I love and of course the Golden Age R1 MKII which is my avatar.
The RSM 8A sounds a little brittle to my ear but you may like it. Just a tad brighter than I'm used to with ribbons.
The cage is wedge shaped as opposed to the dome shape on the other microphones and some of the internal barriers are missing which means that a pop filter is necessary.
I don't use a pop filter with the Golden age or the RSM 2.
I like it alright but I like the Golden age better so the Nady stays in the box.
One more thing though, while I'm at it.
In all honesty, The Nady RSM2 beats all of them but a decent preamp costs at least $800 per channel and that's a must if you want to really benefit from a ribbon. Phantom power helps but it's not the final answer.
 
thanks for the advice, i guess ill stay away from the rsm-8 them. the golden age looks real good, but a preamp being that pricey is tough.
 
I've tried the Chinese active ribbons and I wasn't particularly impressed with the noise level, particularly when compared to passive ribbons with a decent pre.

BTW, decent pres start in the low double digits per channel. Anyone who says that good pres start at $800 per channel is probably selling overpriced pres. Grab yourself any of the Peavey PV series mixers (NOT the USB ones), tap each channel at the inserts, and you've got yourself a very, *very* clean set of pres (-129 dBu EIN, IIRC).
 
i own a few different tube preamps (art tube pre, preosnus tubepre and soon to be a vtb-1) and have 8 pres on my firepod, i assume one of those would work fairly well to get a clean pre sound? and thanks ill look at passive ribbons, any you recommend?
 
I picked up an RSM8A about 3-4 months ago just to get a feel for what ribbons can do. I think I paid $129 for it from this place:

http://www.pro-audio-warehouse.com/rsm8a.html

I use it with a pop screen and run it through an MPA Gold Pre and Pro VLA II comp. It is more sensitive to subtle vocalizations than my dynamics and condensers (SM57, SM58, AT4050, Naiant SM1, and MXL990). The lyrics just seem to stand out better/clearer.

I monitor through Mackie MR5s which may not give me as much trebly highs as the previous poster was hearing. I actually found it more bassy than trebly, but once I used the bass cut switch that cleared it up.

I haven't tried any other ribbons, so I can't compare there. I'm happy with it nonetheless.
 
hmm i like the idea of not using a pop filter, but i guess it doesnt matter. so ive narrowed my ribbon search to the
Golden Age R1 MKII
and the rsm-8.

i think the Golden Age R1 MKII will probably win.
 
i think the golden age r-1 is the winner (after perusing the web) and itll be a great addition to my mic collection and definately a top competitor for my main vocal mic (currently held by a similarly priced mvl v88 condenser)

thanks for the input

my next wishlist item: the golden age pre-73. drool.
 
The Golden Age Pre gets excellent reviews, I wouldn't mind having one myself.
From all of my research on the matter, when it comes to ribbons though, you are not going to find a worthwhile preamp for less than $800 per channel. (although Golden age seems determined to prove me wrong)
Ribbon microphones require close to 80dB of clean gain in order to get the very best out of them. Ribbons are not like any other microphone.
So far the AEA Dual Ribbon, Preamp gets the highest recommendations.
http://www.frontendaudio.com/ProductDetails.asp?ProductCode=8350&click=18920

And now, a quick word about "Ethnicity" in ribbons.
It is not enough to say "Chinese Ribbons". While that kind of talk may be fine in some countries, it is hardly an informed opinion.
If there is a particular brand that doesn't please you, name the brand.
This whole Anti Chinese theme is inexcusable, as is Anti Mexican, Anti Russian or any others that you may choose. It's all a bit "Lou Dobbs" to me.
 
thanks jim. i think im going to look into picking up a golden age r-1 and using my presnous tubepre for now then when i can afford it getting a golden age pre-73
 
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