MXL 990 Ribbon mic....

  • Thread starter Thread starter thajeremy
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There's no reviews on that MF page...does that say anything? I've got the 990 regular (just condensor, not ribbon) and it's not too exciting. Don't know how (of if) that opinion translates to this one.
 
Boy, they're really pumping the whole "don't use phantom power" thing. This thing must have a transformer that passes phantom.:rolleyes: Most transformer coupled ribbon mics don't pass phantom power.
 
UPS just brought me one of these. Amazon is selling them for $84.96 including shipping (the order is filled by Musician's Friend.) MF was selling them for $99.99 again last time I looked.

Just gave it a quick "test test" to make sure it survived shipping. It sounded *very* nice. The side nulls seemed deeper than my Apex ribbons, but I didn't do a rigorous comparison.

It's smaller than I expected and fit and finish is the usual MXL (pretty nice, better than the Apex.) Comes with a nice black plastic case and the usual MXL clip.

I'll get back after I have a chance to check it out more thoroughly.
 
that's a very cool article Michael. Do you happen to know if the Royer mics and the Peluso R14 are the “Short Ribbon / Long Path” Ribbon Motor type? What kind is the Gomez?
 
"Does the MXL 990 ribbon mic use one of the three types of Chinese ribbon motors I describe in this article?"

No, it doesn't. The ribbon itself is about the same size as the Apex 205 type but the motor assembly is rectangular and doesn't extend beyond the ribbon clamps at the top and bottom. It's a very compact structure.

And, no I don't feel like taking it apart.

Yet.
 
Thanks Koj!

re: Royer, Peluso and my ribbon motor categories -

I created those categories to help describe the Chinese ribbon mics, so in the case of the Royer mics my categories would not strictly apply. But the Royer R121 uses a 38mm ribbon according to the Royer patent and Neodymium bar magnets attached to wings that do lengthen the front-back path length. The earliest version of the "Royer-like" Nady RSM-3 (37mm active ribbon length / 36mm path length) with offset ribbon tread so heavily on the Royer patent that subsequent versions of this mic were changed to not use the Royer offset ribbon design.

I don't know what is inside the Peluso ribbon mic so I can't comment on that one.

The Gomez uses a "short ribbon / long path" motor.
 
modding the 990 ribbon

Hi,

I've been looking for an $80 ribbon mic on the theory that if I decided to I could change the transformer and still be in my top price range for a microphone.

Does anyone know if the MXL 990 Ribbon might be that mic?

Thanks,

Hairy Larry
 
I've got one of those RSM-4 mics (I blemished it myself). You probably do want to upgrade that 6 micron ribbon to something thinner -- I notice the difference, everything else remaining the same, and I don't have the best ears or monitoring environment.
 
MichaelJoly said:
The current lowest price ribbon mic is a blemished Nady RSM-4 at Music 123 for $69.76.

Excellent candidate for mods, might have a sagging ribbon, is a "short ribbon / long path" design as described here. Sounds quite nice once upgraded.
Click to expand...

I got one for $54 on MF on one of those little "secret sale" catalogs that they send you with your order. To tell you the truth, didn't like it very much. Too dark for my liking. I may give it another try to see if i can get it to sound like i want to.

With my last order, they sent me another and there's the RSM-5 for $59.99 if any of you are interested. The catalog code on the back is 812T (they ask for it) and the page number is 11 (for some reason they also ask for it) Hope it helps.
 
kojdogg said:
Do you happen to know if the Royer mics and the Peluso R14 are the “Short Ribbon / Long Path” Ribbon Motor type?
Click to expand...

Hey Koj,

As I pointed out many times on other boards this classification is wrong. Historically, the short ribbons are those of about 1" long. In this group we could put Beyer 130, 160, Shure 330, Coles 4038, among others. It seems technically incorrect to put into the same group ribbons, which are as much as 45mm long. This gives a wrong message to readers, who will obviously think that 45mm ribbons are “short" ones, which they are absolutely not!

I have no idea why M. Joly keeps refering to them as "short", neither he ever took time to explain. If anything, they should be called “medium ribbons”, instead, which is appropriate technically, while still clearly distinguishing those two Chinese types.

Best, M
 
thajeremy said:
alright...I have posted this before and didnt get much info on it...maybe it was new at the time but it seems that this thing as been around for a while and now it looks like it has dropped about $15 in price....

anyone used it yet??? Im thinkin I may brab one in the next week or so and see what its like....

http://pro-audio.musiciansfriend.com/product/Marshall-Electronics-990-Ribbon-Condenser-Microphone?sku=271313
Click to expand...
I just received my mxl 990 Ribbon for $84 after online coupon @ music 123! I actually like the initial sound of it. I'm going to check it out more this weekend... so far so good
 
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