Beyer mics

[Tomcat]

Does anyone know anything about the Beyer M260 and M500 mics?

I'm thinking about a ribbon mic for vocals and these seem like they might fit the bill and are also the only ribbon mics that I've found so far that are even close to my price range.

Any additional information about ribbon mics for vocals would be appreciated.

Thanks,
Tom

 

[eeldip]

i have an m260.
pretty nice on vocals, dark of course. very plain sounding. eqs very nicely with a nice eq.

the m500 has a presence peak, making it more sm58 like. never used one myself, but some people really dig them.

i would aim for the m260 cause you can use it on almost anything, and then when you break it you can get it re ribboned by stephen sank and get the rca ribbon in it. which, from what i hear, sounds amazing. if you have extra cash, sometimes you can get one straight from mr. sank... he usually has a mic or two on his website worth looking at. although it looks like the site is a bit out dated. http://www.thuntek.net/~bk11/4sale.htm


also, what sort of price range are you looking at? cause you can get the beyer mics pretty cheap from musicians-gear.com.



oh and one more thing about the m260- i think it is the best OH mic for rooms that sound bad (like my room)

 

[Han]

Beyer makes some very good mics.
The M260 is a nice mic for recording winds and or strings.
I've had some good results on violin with a 260.

They seem to be OK with vocals too, but because ribbons are very fragile, I wouldn't use them.

Maybe the M88 or even the M69 is a better choice for vocal use.

I have no experience with the M500.

 

[Tomcat]

Hhmmmm...

According to the "local" Beyer representative, BOTH of those mics have been discontinued!

Way too often I'm a day late and a dollar short...

Oh well,
Tom

 

[eeldip]

yea, you probably want to go for the m160 anyway if you are looking for a new mic. the new m260s that they have been making have a severe bass roll off. called the m260.80 now (roll off at 80hz)

i wouldnt be too afraid to buy them used. although the ribbon is pretty easy to break the rest of the mic is very simple, so if you are ready to throw down another $100 you can get the ribbon replaced with something better and have a good as new mic... also look for the steffens mics which are the beyer mics with a different label, usually much cheaper.

so take a look on ebay for the m260 or get the m160 (or 130 if you want figure 8) from musicians-gear.com i think they are $350 or so. not so bad, considering the quality.

 

[acorec]

I recently got (from GC) an Oktava ML-52 ribbon mic. No reason except I was bored and it was on sale for $199.00. I tried it and was really surprised how nice it sounds. It needs a lot of gain, but sounds super detailed and open. An excellent mic for electric guitars cabs too. Like a "super" sm57. Now I just have to find a shockmount because it is a really huge mic compared to the standard condensor.

 

[petimar]

I have the M160 (dual ribbon) reribbined by Stephen Sank with the RCA77dx ribbons. It sounds good, though very dark. It also needs a high gain preamp as it doesn't put out much (I use a John Hardy M1).

If you use any ribbon for vocals, use a pop filter so as to protect the ribbon.

I've heard the Oktavas are very inconsistent, so demo one before buying.

While the M160 sounds good, it cant touch my Royer R121. This one is terrific on a lot of things. It can be a great vocal mic as well, much better than the M160. My advice is not get an M160 and save for a few more months and get the R121, or R122 if you don't have a high gain pre.