low end ribbon microphone

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Frankm666

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Can anybody recommend a low end ribbon microphone that is useful. Would go for a Royer 121 but it’s out of my price range. Nady, Apex etc. are these really good for anything? Thanks for the help,

Frank
 
The Nady's supposed to be OK for the price, but if it dies, Nady will not re-ribbon it.
 
MadAudio said:
The Nady's supposed to be OK for the price, but if it dies, Nady will not re-ribbon it.
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I just called them, and they said they'll re-ribbon. They're going to call me back with a price.
 
I have the NADY. It sounds good to me, but I have no experience with more expensive ribbons for comparison. I do like the smoothness of it compared to condensers.
 
I have the Nady as well. I wrote this review of it for Mojo Pie:

http://www.mojopie.com/rsm2.html

I did a side-by-side comparison between the RSM-2 and the Royer, and me and the engineer I worked with thought the Nady beat the Royer on certain things.
 
cominginsecond said:
I just called them, and they said they'll re-ribbon. They're going to call me back with a price.
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I stand corrected. Well, really I'm sitting.
 
i think it's the same as all of the other reboxed ribbons out now (apex and such)

i'm not sure, but i think that there are only like 2 different budget ribbon mics out there, and 50 different companies putting their name on them.
 
kid klash said:
I just saw a comment about ShinyBox 23 and 46 ribbon mics :

http://www.shinybox.com/index.php?cPath=30

Good prices ($150-$165), but I've never seen one, heard one, know anyone with one, or have any idea how well they are supported...
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A few members of the old TapeOp forum had the ShinyBox ribbons and liked them very much. Soundguy spoke highly of them. I'm going to pick up the 46 as soon as get out of a financial rough spot.
 
Beyer mics are excellent and are in between Royer and Nady/Shiney Box in terms of cost. I believe they only make the M160 (cardioid double ribbon) and the M130 (figure 8 double ribbon) currently. Discontinued mics available on e-bay include the M260 (single ribbon cardioid) and M500 (single ribbon cardiod performing mic). The M160 is an absolutely great mic that is wonderful on instruments and overheads. For example, Zep used them for drums (When the Levee Breaks). I use the M260 on guitars and vocals to a lesser extent. I find the M500 works really well for some voices, particularly male voices, as it has a bit of a presence peak. I can't really compare them with the new cheaper ribbons as I haven't used those, but they are worth trying and/or acquiring if you have the opportunity.
 
I've had some fun with my Oktava ML52 with the Lundahl Tape Op modification. It doesn't work for everything, understand, but it's cheap and full of character.
 
qbert1 said:
I've had some fun with my Oktava ML52 with the Lundahl Tape Op modification. It doesn't work for everything, understand, but it's cheap and full of character.
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How much $$ do you have into it, including the transformer mod? Just curious... I've been looking at inexpensive ribbons too, and right now, the ShinyBox 23 and 46 are looking very tempting... ;)
 
The studio that I intern at has a Royer 121 and I've fallen in love with the sound. Have any of you guys heard a ShinyBox 46? I was wondering which model (the 23 or the 46) sounds closer to the 121? Thanks.

Ryan
 
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scrubs said:
I have the NADY. It sounds good to me, but I have no experience with more expensive ribbons for comparison. I do like the smoothness of it compared to condensers.
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Ditto here. I find condensers to be just a little too harsh for my voice. In my experience with it, you need to be relatively close to get a full, rich sound out of the thing. For my voice, the proximity effect it gives sounds about right at a foot or so. At that distance, a pop filter is an absolute necessity, or else you run serious risk of killing the ribbon.
 
kid klash said:
How much $$ do you have into it, including the transformer mod? Just curious... I've been looking at inexpensive ribbons too, and right now, the ShinyBox 23 and 46 are looking very tempting... ;)
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That's hard to remember, I think the mic was $200-250 and the Lundahl transformer was $25-40. The rest of the mod was hookup wire, solder, and time as I recall.
 
The RCA Varacoustic is the best deal in ribbon mics. They can be found around $300 since the collectors don't like the shape (looks like an electric razor). They sound close to a 44.

Jay
 
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