Oktava Ribbon mic

[ikiru]

Has anyone used the new Oktava Ribbon mic? the ml-52 is the number i believe....or have you used the old oktava ribbon mics? are these servicable in the usa? good bad ugly? because it is the only low priced ribbon on the market..(or is it?) I'd really like to get a ribbon mic as I love the sounds of old recordings. BTW. anyone here a Vincent Gallo fan? if your not you should check it out...a great home recorder

thanks,

Jay

 

[philboyd studge]

I didn't know they had a new one. The sound room sells reconditioned old ones. They're so cool looking, like an old Russian Volga parade car from the '60's on May day.

 

[Randy Yell]

Musician's Friend has the ribbon on there web site for $399.Not in stock right now,thats all I know and it ain't much.

 

[ikiru]

was anyone ever known to use the oktava ribbon mics? old or new?? I'd really like to know where they stand with the royer / coles /rca pack....which is much greater in price...

 

[bongolation]

I asked about this a week or two ago.

As I recall, the guy at the Sound Room (quality Oktava importer)says they're no good and he won't carry them.

Do a search.

 

[ikiru]

thanks bongolation, for the others here is the qoute that k hun posted

this is what taylor johnson (soundroom) once wrote on my inquiry about the ml52:

"I worked on the devleopment of the ML25 (phantom -powered
assist) ribbon for Oktava. Alexander Schreibman, Alexei
Chyadze, myself and one other engineer beta tested this unit
for a long time. We failed it for many reasons.

The ML52 is a straight 1 - 1.2 mv/pa output "passive" system
of the same unit. The housing resonates, the damping is
poor, the RF shielding is incorrect, and it is VERY bulky.

More work is needed on the unit. I cannot recommend it.

I can and DO recommend the ML19 end-address classic OKTAVA
ribbons from the late 70's and early 80's."



the post said johnson didn't stock the mic... he now does...has more work been done?

 

[postalblue]

i have seen the ml19 at the sound room site many times. and it's not expensive. it's about the same price as the beyers, and less expensive than the royers. maybe if you don't like the sound of it, you can have it modded by stephen sank.

 

[Henri Devill]

I've had a ML19{sound room} for about a year or so.This mic sounds very nice to me..I've used it on vox,acoust guit and elect. guit..Its a very nice change of pace to condensers{smoother yet still detailed}..I use a Grace 101 and a Event EMP1 as pres for it..Someone has a pair of them on E-Bay for about 500.00 or so..


Don

 

[DigitMus]

If you're looking for an inexpensive ribbon mic, try Beyerdynamic's offerings. They make at least 3 models that I'm aware of: M130 (figure-8), M160 (hypercardioid) and M260 (cardioid). Street prices should be under $500. Though not quite as good as a Coles or Royer, they definitely don't suck.

Scott

 

[h kuhn]

If you're looking for an inexpensive ribbon mic, try Beyerdynamic's offerings. They make at least 3 models that I'm aware of: M130 (figure-8), M160 (hypercardioid) and M260 (cardioid). Street prices should be under $500. Though not quite as good as a Coles or Royer, they definitely don't suck.

Scott

I can second the recomendation for the beyers. Buy them at www.musicians-gear.com, they have excellent prices. if you don't mind to buy them used, you can sometimes get them very cheap on the german ebay.de, just will have to find a seller that ships to the U.S.
i have got an old m260 from there, paid about 130 $ (while i paid roughly 200 US for my m500 on ebay.com). The mic is in perfect conditions, it looks like new and sounds really nice.
Once i am back to germany i will send it to steve Sank (sending the mic from mexico to new mexico, US, is virtually impossible), he is the one that also "tuned" Harvey Gerst's beyer ribbons.
BTW be aware that you need a very quiete mic pre with at least 70dB gain if you want to record voice or accoustic through a ribbon mic (especially the stock beyers seem to have very low output)

 

[WOB]

apex Ribbon Mic for cheap

Apex has a ribbon Mic out now for about 100.00 - the 205

The only ribbon I ever used was an old Shure the sound is smoothed out you cannot accuse a ribbon of being harsh. but as I experenced and have heard others comment you need a lot of gain and that presents the problem of hiss from the pre. I used some of the filters that come with wave lab and native instruments bundel to get rid of that and to give the voice more presence.

The softning efect from ribbon is nice but you also get a muting effect and less articulation.

It's like you find yourself at the other side of the fence of that of most condencers.

The Apex has Figure 8 only ,[the shure I had also], It might be that one needs to record in a big space like Mamoth cave to recive the sound from the back of the mike. (I played the piano in Mamoth cave when I was a kid) It does give a beautifull natural reverb echo in that cave chamber. but for vocal that Beyers M160 HyperCarnoid Probably would do a beter job.

If I could record both a condenser and a ribbon at the same time .....
On two different tracks..... I don't know maybe I'll get that cheap ribbon and try it.

Maybe the old RCA's had more presence but I doubt it.
If your a recording enginer and you get a client whos voice is harsh or twangy or throty or just bad these mics will help fade those things away.
.
If I get one of these 205's I'll post my new experiance with it.

.......................Later:Wob