Group Buy Interest?

[dgatwood]

Since there seems to be no reported badness with ACM-4 ribbons it might be safe to keep them available for the next GB. I'm happy enough with mine that I would buy another, possibly more. Once I do the transformer swap I'll decide then how many I want.

It's really a good deal for the money considering the commercial versions are over twice the price.

There are two things worth noting here:

1. The ACM-4 has enough grille that it would probably be immune even if they did something asinine like using an air compressor to blow the dust off (which would easily explain the stretched ribbons and the high degree of variation---a little difference in angle can make the difference between hosing the ribbon and not).

2. The reason people are still positive in spite of the ribbon sag is that we know we'd have the same problem if we bought them from a major manufacturer. Sure, we'd have the ability to send them back, but after doing that a half dozen times, we'd be tired of blowing that much money in shipping and end up retensioning the ribbons ourselves or having someone do it for us anyway. The only difference with these is that we paid a lot less up front.

 

[ausrock]

.............. we know we'd have the same problem if we bought them from a major manufacturer.................

Do we know for sure and 100% certain?

 

[MichaelJoly]

Do we know for sure and 100% certain?

While this isn't a huge sample size, about 50% of the 250+ Chinese ribbon mics I've had in for upgrades in the past two years have had sagging ribbons.

I'm convinced that the occasional reports of low output, noise and boomy bass with Chinese ribbon mics can be attributed to ribbon sag in the gap. Beyond ribbon sag in the mics I've seen, the RSM-4 and RSM-5 mics that did not have ribbon sag use 6 micron ribbons that benefit from being changed out to 1.8 micron ribbons anyway.

 

[drumzealot]

you're not the only one. read this thread.

I was well aware of that, which is why I said, "I understand that..." in my previous post.

 

[chance]

Thats interesting Michael. In your opinion do you think it would be better if they sent us 6 micron ribbons ? What would be the downfalls with a heavier ribbon sound wise? Sensitivity?

 

[earlwgreen]

6802 question

Hey guys,

Out of everyone who has gotten the 6802, can any of you compare it to say a T3? I have the TB1 and want to upgrade. Again, my voice is a high tenor and I sing everything from gospel/pop to opera. The TB1 sound really good, but I thought this would be a chance to try something better.

Thanks for any thoughts. If you want, you can PM me.

Earl

 

[MichaelJoly]

I think I was unclear - the ribbons should be 2 micron, not 6 micron.

 

[Ironklad Audio]

While this isn't a huge sample size, about 50% of the 250+ Chinese ribbon mics I've had in for upgrades in the past two years have had sagging ribbons.

a sample of 250 mics should be enough to make a pretty reasonable claim that around half of them suffer from the sagging problem...not that it matters, but i'd like to feel that the stats class i finished last month will come in handy at least once in my life

 

[Caotico]

a sample of 250 mics should be enough to make a pretty reasonable claim that around half of them suffer from the sagging problem...not that it matters, but i'd like to feel that the stats class i finished last month will come in handy at least once in my life

I agree, but there is a complication in that it's also possible that those with poorly tensioned ribbons are sending them to be modded knowing they are poorly tensioned or at least that they don't sound good. That could increase the number of problem ribbons in his sample. Still, the numbers are big enough to indicate that it isn't just a problem in our particular batch of mics.

 

[charger]

I guess we just got lucky... we got a couple of ACM-3s and so far the ribbons seem good. Also, comparing the one ACM-3 we are using regularly to two ACM-4s, one stock and one with a Lundahl transformer, the ACM-3 is a up there as good as or even better in some cases. I think that mic is a hands-down winner. As for the rest of them:
The 6802s have been fantastic. As a room mic for drums in omni, this is a wonderful mic.
Ditto the ACM-4--great room mic. Mixing the 6802 and the ACM4 gives a really nice complementary palette for room mic'ed drums.
The ACM310s are awesome for overheads, and really nice on acoustic guitar. They add warmth and some nice low mids over the 6802 and the ACM240.
The ACM240 is your garden-variety small condenser, similar to the MXL603--similar enough that even though we bought 7 of them we felt a little bit conflicted even selling just 2!
The ACM583s have gotten the least use, but not because there's anything wrong with them. In fact, they seem like great all-around utility mics, and gave the best overall balance and realistic sound, we felt, on acoustic guitar. Comparing them to the 310s, we felt like the 301s would be great for acoustic guitar solo or with vocals, and the 5803s would be better with acoustics in a dense mix.
Just impressions from a couple of months of use... I think we came out of this way ahead and I'm glad we had the opportunity to purchase these things. They're getting use and holding up.

 

[chance]

Hey, hearing that kind of news makes my end feel that this was all worth while. I posted on PSW the prototype of the tube ribbon. I have the prototype drum mic kit too, but I don't think it would be too popular. If someone wants to drag and drop the pics from PSW, go for it.

 

[antichef]

here they are:

and

and

 

[chance]

Great! Thanks. You might notice that the tube is hard wired and that is only for the prototype as we might go with a different tube. This is a fig 8 only mic,,,, unless,,,.
As for posting pics on the outboard gear, under advice of my att, I have applied for 3D trademark (as well as everything else) and will post very soon.

 

[chance]

Hey if you want, send me an E-mail and I will reply with an attachment of the drum mic kit prototype to post

 

[antichef]

under advice of my att, I have applied for 3D trademark (as well as everything else) and will post very soon.

good move, Chance - much better safe than sorry.

-- does everyone in California have a lawyer?

 

[PhiloBeddoe]

The 6802s have been fantastic. As a room mic for drums in omni, this is a wonderful mic.

+1 on this application. I also tried and liked it on a bass amp (in cardioid). I've kinda been waiting for more people to be excited about the 6802 and started to wonder if I was alone.

Haven't opened up my ribbon mics yet, but my ACM-2 makes the clanging sound and my ACM-3 does not.

 

[RightOnMusic]

i got two 6802s. i'm leaving one stock because i like it a lot, and the other one i'm modding out. just ordered the new peluso 47 capsule and i'm currently shopping for a new transformer. can anyone shed some light on the difference between cinemag, lundahl, and tab-funkenwerk?

 

[kojdogg]

jim- i pm'ed you about this

 

[hungovermorning]

here they are:

and

and

Oh mama... this is good stuff.

 

[earlwgreen]

bump

Any 6802 info yet?

Hey guys,

Out of everyone who has gotten the 6802, can any of you compare it to say a T3? I have the TB1 and want to upgrade. Again, my voice is a high tenor and I sing everything from gospel/pop to opera. The TB1 sound really good, but I thought this would be a chance to try something better.

Thanks for any thoughts. If you want, you can PM me.

Earl