Ribbon Mics. MXL R144?

wallystripes

wallystripes

New member
This is kind of two posts in one (?) First, Ive never had a ribbon mic and Im curious about them. I would like to know what ribbon mics do you guys use and what do you use them for. Theyre known for being quite dark and colouring the sound, so I guess you should use them wisely for specific needs.

In other hand, moresound suggested the MXL R144 as a good entry level ribbon mic. It goes new for about 80 dollars on ebay. What do you guys think of it? I have never used an MXL mic and I know they are famous for being quite cheap sounding but with some good models. Any other suggestions? Im willing to spend more ($160 and under)

Thanks!
 
Well if you want to spend $160 why not check out the Fathead ribbon microphone by Cascade.

And don't be afraid to purchased used to save a few dollars.
 
I've never used the mxl but i do have a cheap chinese ribbon Alctron 205 (rebranded apex 205) . This was a bit of a gamble as most chinese ribbons do not have much of a qaulity control policy. So you don't know what your going to get. However I believe the mxl is much more rigerous on qc.

Ribbons exhibit a lot of proximity effect too. I love mine on a guitar cab, some vocalists and the main reason i bought it was to record my slim back ovation.
The ovation is very bright and trebley, which is sometimes hard to reconcille within a mix as it tends to fight with the vocals.
The ribbons freqauncy curve tapers off on the top end taming those highs so that means i've got less work to do in the mix.
I love my cheap little ribbon mic and i'm still learning how to put it to best use.

Good luck with your quest.
 
Hey

There is loads of comment on here and on GS about all sorts of ribbon mic stuff if you wanna search but for me in brief:

I have 3 apex 205s (alctron HRM-8b) which I love. They are the long ribbon type

I have modded them by taking out the waffle plates and the inner mesh. The trannies are stock at the moment, and i may look at changing them. (Pretty easy but pricey at about £50 per mic)

I use them all the time on my horn section recordings: trumpet trombone tenor/baritone sax) both close mic and blumlein stereo. They absolutely rock on horns.

I use them on drum overheads and drum room. I have used one on kick drum (but not right in front of the sound hole and angled down a bit to reduce the spl) coupled with an sm57

I use them on congas, bongos, hand percussion

I use them on guitar cabs and have used them on acoustic

I have used them on vocals before, but not regularly.

Quite literally the best value item in my studio (well the £200 chilton cm-2 was pretty amazing value and so was the £300 6 channel trident fleximix, but..)
I paid £125 for the first 2 and then £65 for the 3rd. I may well yet get another one or two!

I have had them for a couple of years and they are my go to mic for recording myself (I am a sesison trombonist) They are seriously useful!

Hope this helps

misterlong
 
+1 on mid side recording acoustic guitars too great results for those wide open fill the sound stage recordings with just vocals and guitar.
btw did you mean the tranny upgrade is £50 because if so your still getting a fantastic upgraded mic for not much more than the price of a sm57 n'est pas?
 
Thanks for your repplies! It seems like ribbons get lots of love here.

Ill deffinitely be trying one soon. Ive been struggling with my guitar tone and something tells me a ribbon mic is the answer.

Moresound, actually all mics I own are used :D I always keep an eye on ebay, some very good deals can be found every now and then. Actually I got my akg c4000b for $140, which is a steal

I think the MXL will be a good starting point, but if something else catches my attention I may change my mind
 
when buying a ribbon mic you need to bear in mind you're going to want a preamp with plenty of gain.
i bought a couple of Alice mic pak preamps on ebay for about 40 pounds each and although not the best they do for the level i am at.
also i tend to use two mics when i use the ribbon on a cab and create a blend of the two mics to taste.
 
Do you think the preamps in my tascam us144 would do it? I record my condenser mic at half the pre's level and have very good results that way. My mic starts clipping when level is at about 2 o'clock
 
I've got an R144. I can't compare to any other ribbons - because it's the only one I've worked with. I used SM57s forever (I'm a dinosaur - and that's what I learned with) - but I had read about using a ribbon on a guitar cab - and the R144 was an inexpensive way to try a ribbon.

I've been very satisfied with the R144 on cabs. I still prefer a 57 on heavy, distorted cabs - but the R144 is now my go to for clean or lightly overdriven cabs. I've used the R144 to record some brighter acoustics (such as a Taylor) with decent results - but in general I prefer a SD condenser on acoustic guitar.

As indicated, ribbons require a pre-amp that can provide a fair amount of clean gain (I find I use almost twice the gain I would on a LD condenser). YOu don't want to feed phantom to a ribbon (so be aware). Ribbons are frail little animals, so stage it where it won't take a fall and cover it with a baggie when not in use (to pretect against duct) - or better, put it back in the mic "locker" until you need it.
 
Thanks Xdrummer, your case is similar to mine as Ive never tried a ribbon mic. So I guess Ill go for the R144, it seems a decent place to start. I dont really record heavy distorted cabs, always clean or with slight overdrive, so I think this mic will suit my needs. I will probably use it along with a LDC to get richer tones
 
That fathead looks sweet. How is it on vocals? Main use would be guitar cabs, but would ocasionally use it as drums overheads and voice
 
Look HERE for an in line +25db gain !!!!!!!
This is the cloudlifter but there are 3 or 4 other producers of the *just about same resulting db gain* production. I think Trident makes one
 
If you get a Ribbon you may want to look into a Cloudlifter CL1 or CL2. $149 & $249 They clean boost your Mic with 25DB I think of clean gain so you don't have to turn your interface up to the max and get all that noise. Somebody correct me if I am wrong on the increase in clean gain :-)
 
moresound said:
Look HERE for an in line +25db gain !!!!!!!
This is the cloudlifter but there are 3 or 4 other producers of the *just about same resulting db gain* production. I think Trident makes one
Click to expand...


I thought phantom power and ribbons don't mix,am I wrong about that?
 
hawg427 said:
If you get a Ribbon you may want to look into a Cloudlifter CL1 or CL2. $149 & $249 They clean boost your Mic with 25DB I think of clean gain so you don't have to turn your interface up to the max and get all that noise. Somebody correct me if I am wrong on the increase in clean gain :-)
Click to expand...

Yes -- you can refer to my link in post #13
 
wallystripes said:
That fathead looks sweet. How is it on vocals? Main use would be guitar cabs, but would ocasionally use it as drums overheads and voice
Click to expand...

I have a pair of Cascade Fat Heads I use for guitar cabs all the time now...but I just picked up a Cascade C77 because I wanted to try a ribbon for vocals too, and I also thought the C77 was a really cool looking ribbon mic (has that old-school vibe).
The Fat Head could work on some vocals, but I would suggest that you then get one with the upgraded Lundahl transformer (more $$$) over the stock transformer (which is a bit darker).
My C77 comes with the Ludnahl, otherwise both the Fat Head and C77 use the same "short" ribbon element. I have to say, the Lundahl really opens things up a lot, and gives a more balanced tone (not as dark as the Fat Head, which i like for guitar cabs).

So...if you get a Fat Head with the Lundahl...you'll have a nice "combo" ribbon mic...and then just see which side of the ribbon works better for guitars or vocals. On my C77 the front is more balanced "flat" sounding, while the back has a nice deep tone but not as "dark" as the stock trannies like in the Fat Head.
 
I just got an mxl r144 and tried it on acoustic. I used the r144 about 6-8" in front of the hole with an mxl 993 at the 12th fret. Of course I got a dark sound on the r144 (both because of the mic and the placement). I think it worked very well with the two blended together. I'll post some samples when I get a chance. Next I'd like to try it on a clean guitar cab.
 
Great Potsy24! Post some samples please. I think it would be hard to get a useable tone out of a acoustic guitar using the mxl r144, but let me hear what you did, perhaps it is better than I can think.
Any overall opinions on the mic?
 
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