Ribbon or SM7 for smooth vocals

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funckyfinger

New member
I'll been reading plenty of praise on this forum about the many affordable ribbon mic's now available. The Shure SM7 seems to get it's share of praise as well. Both seem to be described using the same words.Warm.smooth.clear.In very general terms would it be fair to say that the SM7 has a ribbon like sound ? I have been close to buying a cheaper ribbon mic lately but prefer to go for the tried and true. Think the SM7 might be a better way to go ? I'm looking for that smooth clear presence in vocals that I've heard on Larry and Tony rice albums .If anyone has heard the song Georgie on the Norman Blake/Tony Rice album that is what I'm going for.
 
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i'd say that to say the sm7 is ribbon-like is rational.

dunno what they use on those records. all the tony rice records i have sound amazing but i'm usually listening to the guitar! :eek:

Mike
 
No, the SM7's behavior is not typical of ribbon mics. It is typical of a high-quality moving-coil dynamic microphone.

But they (SM7 and good ribbon mics) are good for many of the same uses.
 
i have "tony rice plays and sings bluegrass." 100% with you there. a soulful voice that more than keeps up with his playing...his playing is just disgusting...the weird thing about all those grass guys is they don't seem to be showing off...they just flipping rock...douglas moves on that record too. yikes.

Mike
 
funckyfinger said:
I'm looking for that smooth clear presence in vocals
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Then a ribbon is probably not what you want. That is not how I would describe the sound of a ribbon mic....at least not the budget ribbons I have used.
 
soundchaser59 said:
Then a ribbon is probably not what you want. That is not how I would describe the sound of a ribbon mic....at least not the budget ribbons I have used.
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Do tell, how would you describe the sound of a ribbon mic?( like the budget ribbons you have used). :)
 
flatfinger said:
Do tell, how would you describe the sound of a ribbon mic?( like the budget ribbons you have used). :)
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"Smooth"??? Definitely.

"Clear"??? Perhaps, if I sing well and place the mic well.

"Presence"??? Not. That's the word that I think doesn't fit the budget ribbon sound, not compared to what little I know about "presence" and "presence boost" in other mics. "Presence" as I hear that word commonly used is not something a budget ribbon mic has.....which is probably why I like it for my voice. In fact I usually end up giving it a slight bump myself at 10k or 12k just to get the last bit of intelligibility back into it.

Lack of presence is probably also why I like ribbons for guitar cabs. The guitar rig should have enough "presence" the way it is, and I dont think a guitar cab mic needs any extra presence boost. A ribbon fits the bill, and it can handle the high spl's one may find in front of a guitar cab.
 
Yea, I guess the " prescense thing is closely associated to the air thing. If I were to boost 10k on some recordings I've made with a MXL ldc that has a upward slope that starts at 10k, I start to get a nasty siblance on the"sss" stuff because the " precense was already enhanced when printing w/ that mic.
Horses for courses. That 10k on up boost is great for a baritone but might be overbearing on a soprano.
I guess thats why people associate a warm, rounded "sinatra" ( old lo fi mono- scratchy record vibe), sound w/ ribbons.

But like you indicated. placement and a little EQ can probably get right next door to the LDC sound.
Thanks for edumacatin me a bit :)


:D
 
They are so incredibly cheap that yo ucan buy a ribbon and hear for yourself what they do, which would be far easier than looking for opinons on a sound. Its one of those very recognizable things. First time with a ribbon and you "oh, I get it now"
You can collect aluminum cans for a month and buy both mics. Neither are expensive. Just do it.
 
UNless the sound of the ribbon was more what you are after I"d go sm57. It's tough to use as a vocal mic (well, for me anyhow) but the overall quality of the sound is a bit higher than the cheap ribbon mics IMO. I've got an Apex 210 which is light years ahead of my 57 on the Marshall when there is only one guitar in the mix. But the 57 still sounds to me like it does what it does a bit better than the Apex, which isn't surprising really. Maybe that's just what I expect to hear, dunno.

Where the ribbons excel by comparison is getting sounds you just can't get with a 57.

I haven't tried the ribbon yet for vocals myself tho...
 
Doug H said:
UNless the sound of the ribbon was more what you are after I"d go sm57. It's tough to use as a vocal mic (well, for me anyhow) but the overall quality of the sound is a bit higher than the cheap ribbon mics IMO. I've got an Apex 210 which is light years ahead of my 57 on the Marshall when there is only one guitar in the mix. But the 57 still sounds to me like it does what it does a bit better than the Apex, which isn't surprising really. Maybe that's just what I expect to hear, dunno.

Where the ribbons excel by comparison is getting sounds you just can't get with a 57.

I haven't tried the ribbon yet for vocals myself tho...
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What did he say?
 
Personally I hate SM57's for everything except talkback mics. Stick with your original Sm7 idea or a ribbon. You can EQ a good ribbon to death and it takes it like a champ. SM7 will too mostly. SM57, meh, not so much. If you like boxy nasally mics, then yeah, SM57 all the way. Otherwise, go with the SM7 and save for a Royer. :)
 
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