Ribbon mics, have U used em? if so what did U think??

  • Thread starter Thread starter Sabith
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Sabith

New member
Hello,

I'm trying to buy a ribbon mic, but first I want to know why other than a select few on this board no one else has really seemed to have used them.

Just curious why they aren't widely used....

Every instrument I play is acoustic and I want a nice warm, round, darker sounding mic. And I'm pretty sure thats a good discription of a ribbon mic so that why I'm thinking of gettin one.

I'm thinkin of gettin one of the Beyer's(what #, I don't know, probly M160, M260 or M500 though)

Thx,

Sabith
 
I think the reason people dont use them here is because they see "LARGE DIAPHRAGM CONDENSOR" up in lights or something..like it's the best mic for every application.

I have the Royer 121..it's a very nice mic. Great on electric guiutars and other instruments. Good luck with your purchase.
 
I had always heard that they were fragile and expensive, I never got to try one and very few people seemed to be using them, you never see them in stores .....I guess they have just slipped under the radar.
 
Jeez...all three of you are convinced nobody uses ribbons???
I don't know anyone who doesn't, and extensivly...

Half the mics around here on any given day are ribbons--piano, amps, drum overheads, vocals, on and on...

Check the archives for lots o' info on ribbon mics--it's all in there...
 
tonewoods, I'm talking about alot of people *here*...I love ribbons. But I think alot of the marketing gets pushed on people to buy LD Condensors.
 
You're right...

I think the time is ripe for a company to introduce a new line of ribbons. Hell, make 'em in China--they could do a better job of dealing with ribbon mic technology than they've managed to do with condensers...

One thing I've always wondered about is whether or not there were (or are) ribbon mic companies in India. India has one of the largest film industries in the world, and ribbon mics are a staple of that industry...it would just make sense. That, and I've seen old films of Nehru and other Indian leaders speaking into mics that I've never seen before or since. I spent a day trying track down the answer to that one--no luck. If anyone happens to know anything about this, I'd love to hear about it...

Plan on grabbing a ribbon at some point, Sabith--they really compliment condenser and dynamic mics in the mix. It seems that it requires very little futzing around to get just about any track recorded with a ribbon to fit in the mix. Having trouble getting something to slide into the mix? Try a ribbon.

Don't worry about what a ribbon sounds like by itself. Put up a large diaphram condenser and a ribbon, then A/B them...the first time you do this, you'll invariably say that the ribbon sounds like shit next to the glorius sound of the condenser...

But pull them up in a busy mix, and the ribbon track just rules.

You don't have to spend an arm and a leg to get ahold of a ribbon. B&Os can still be had for not alot of money (1-150.00 if you're lucky), and can sound as good as a Royer (the Royers were based on this mic). I've got a couple for sale over on the "free ads" forum on this site, but they're 50 year old mics mint with the boxes, so I want a grand for the pair, and I think they're probably worth it. Check 'em out here--there's also a link to a pic of the mic and the specs:

https://homerecording.com/bbs/showthread.php?threadid=19027

Buying broken ribbons is a good way to go to, because it's a good idea to get them rebuilt anyway, so why not buy one for half price that's broken? Re-ribboning is about 125-150 bucks...
 
Thx for all your help guys but I have a couple more questions......



1. Why are all the Beyer ribbons hypercardiod???

2. Anyone heard the Oktava ML19 ribbon mic??? I've heard a lot about those MC012, but how bout that ML19????

3. And why do they sound worse when used for a solo??? opposed to being but in a big mix??? The stuff I was plannin on usin them for would be mostly solo, duet-quartet stuff


Thx for the help,

Sabith
 
In my searches for a good ribbon mic, I've found Royer's line of ribbon mics extremely appealing. They claim to be amazingly sturdy/rugged, the ribbon is easy to replace, IF you happen to ever break it, and it handles really high SPLs. Besides that, the mics themselves are just so darn cool-looking! Nothing beats a shiny mic.

Isaiah
 
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