To Ribbon or not...?

  • Thread starter Thread starter JohnBJohn
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JohnBJohn

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So here's the deal, I recently sold all of my mics, except a pair of Naiant XMs, because I really needed cash. Turns out I didn't need the cash so I'm in need of some micage. Budget is roughly 1000$. I need something to cover mainly vocals some cabs and some room micing. Previously, I had an mxl V67G, heil pr30, beta57 and C214. This time round, I want to go with just one nice and relatively handy mic because I found I really wasn't needing the diversity I had before. I really like the idea of going ribbon. I'm currently looking into the blue woodpecker or shure ksm313. My thinking is that these are not your prototypical ribbons, which is why I could get away with them as my main. Help a brother out?
 
Not the response I was looking for, but super awesome anyways. Surprising helpful too... never thought of doing the mastering myself, always pay someone else to do it.
 
JohnBJohn said:
Not the response I was looking for, but super awesome anyways. Surprising helpful too... never thought of doing the mastering myself, always pay someone else to do it.
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Look in the ads here at HR someone is selling bunch of ribbons including a woodpecker!
 
Can you comment on its versatility outside of cabs and drums? My one reservation with that bad boy is that it seems to be more your classic ribbon and might not handle vocals, which would be really its main workload...
 
JohnBJohn said:
Can you comment on its versatility outside of cabs and drums? My one reservation with that bad boy is that it seems to be more your classic ribbon and might not handle vocals, which would be really its main workload...
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Mic has an unblemished pedigree. My main concern would be your room. The ribbon will highlight defects in your room treatment more than any condenser could.

Depending on your budget, perhaps one of AEA's or Coles' excellent ribbon mics would fit the bill.

Mercenary Audio - Ribbon Microphones (AEA 44C, 44CX, R84, R88 and R92, the Coles 4038 and 4040, the Crowley and Tripp Studio Vocalist, Soundtage Image, Proscenium and Naked Sys, and Royer Labs R-121, R-122, R-122V, SF-1, SF-12 and SF-24 microphones)

Give these cats a call. They are tremendously helpful.
 
Ribbons can be made to work for vocals, but they're generally not a first choice on them. a) they don't like wind. b) they requires lots of clean gain. And as previously noted, they pick up figure 8 pattern wise which means the stuff being reflected back at the mic will have a strong presence. Therefor bad space equals bad take on all takes. But I guess that's why you always see the voice over guy standing in a corner and talking towards a much larger space.
 
Sorry to kick a dead horse, but anyone have experience with the at4081? Reason I ask is I've been offered a good deal. Only heard a couple of samples but seems fairly similar to the royer.
 
JohnBJohn said:
Not the response I was looking for, but super awesome anyways. Surprising helpful too... never thought of doing the mastering myself, always pay someone else to do it.
Click to expand...

LOL!

This is the best thread ever!

Anyway, for my 2 cents on the topic...

Ribbons can be pretty cool on lots of stuff. Royer 121's and AEA R84's are on my wish list.

Another thought, given where you're starting from and where you've been and what you want the mics to do,

On a budget of a grand get an RE 20 and an SM7b. They're both highly well respected dynamics that cover pretty much opposite ends of the mic spectrum. And they're both killer vocal mics. If you want thick and meaty for cabs or screaming vocals, SM7b. If you need something more natural, neutral and detailed, RE 20. Having those 2 mics handy should cover you for pretty much anything you need to record.

Depending on what you have for a preamp, you might want to invest in something really cool at some point to really wake those mics up, but the same is true for a good ribbon.

Don't get me wrong, I'm a fan of ribbons too - very smooth animals that take to EQ nicely. But if I had to start from scratch, I'd get some meat & potatoes dynamic mics first (see above), then maybe a good pair of pencil condensers (c42 or MC930 make me curious along with M300's on a bigger budget) then on to the ribbons. Large condensers aren't a huge priority for me.

On the other hand, a kickass ribbon mic is a thing of beauty.

Food for thought anyway.

Happy hunting.
 
Alright, please don't call me a tool/douche. I bought a TLM 103, cause I got a sweet deal (700$ and local, which is great to not have to pay cross border duties on, as I usually have to). Yes I've tried it before, and no I don't think it sucks. I have no real interest in cheap Chinese ribbons, so at this point I'm thinking SM7, RE20 to complement or just nothing. I'm assuming that the RE20 is generally less versatile and darker/ribbonerier, but seems like it would be less redundant than the SM7B given that I'll have a workhorse condenser. Thoughts?
 
Thoughts on the TLM 103? I've never used one.

I do use the RE-20; it is my go to vocal mic. You can hear samples in my signature. I don't think it is very dark - in fact, I find it very condenser-like in its clarity. I think that it simply doesn't have a hyped high end like so many inexpensive condensers do. It has almost no proximity effect and very good off-axis rejection; I record vocals with the mains on and no headphones.

I've never used an SM7b.
 
You can get the EV RE-27 if you want a brighter version of the RE-20. But I think the RE-20 is plenty bright enough, relative to the SM7b. At least on various samples I've heard on youtube with signal chains much more robust than mine. Noisegate and all that jazz. But that was mostly voice over / radio stuff, not singing.
 
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