some things we can notice in the future. The user had only two posts and the post had a link in it. Also after a couple replies the user never engages again. At that point the douche o meter hits 11 and we should quit replying until the user engages again.
heh- threads only 'die' with lack of interactions.
nothing ever really dies--all is eternal !
this is quite a strange forum,must agree-- some characters are... not very entertaining!!
I don't find the Forum strange at all. In fact some of the most intelligent and balanced humans around are in this forum. It's the outsider douchebag spammers that come in drop their turd and leave that are the problem
It's the outsider douchebag spammers that come in drop their turd and leave that are the problem
heh-leave me alone have feelings too rofl.. some might think i do that-maybe i do---but i think my dumps are worth a read most times..
like considering parabolic mics as a cheap alternative... it's signal we are always concerned with__ either clean,or dirty.
=always-- apologies,it does not translate so well on the net.
a lol a day-keeps the reaper jeepers at bay..
i read this forum like a paper-it's nice to be able to interact with the 'paper' sometimes.
=always-- apologies,it does not translate so well on the net.
a lol a day-keeps the reaper jeepers at bay..
i read this forum like a paper-it's nice to be able to interact with the 'paper' sometimes.
You are a weirdo for sure (who isn't on here?), but never a troll!
Wouldn't it be cool if your microphone would light up and project a sort of aura that corresponds to its pickup pattern? Maybe different setting for different frequencies but definitely different colors for different mics. I think that would be cool.
Wouldn't it be cool if your microphone would light up and project a sort of aura that corresponds to its pickup pattern? Maybe different setting for different frequencies but definitely different colors for different mics. I think that would be cool.
Their web domain is up for sale, so I guess the demand wan't there...
^franks_a_lot! happy being that^
on the weirder scale- there was always the really old trick of just using headphones as a mic replacement- lol
there's a little haxzor you can do with mic splitters as well:like so:
all them^ inputs could be pre_powered mics+another instrument or media stream.. w/e.
bit of blu_tack goes long ways sometimes m8.
Location: Near Cambridge UK and Near Questembert, France
Posts: 22,754
I am way too clumsy to use ribbons, but the cheap ones I have tried were uniformly MEH.
Good ribbon mikes with the right pre (the ribbons usually need a lot of gain) are indeed pretty good, but at home studio level, with budget being a prime consideration, there ain`t much out there worth considering as a vocal mic.
The usual candidates are popular for a reason - they do as good a job as you are likly to find at the low end of price.
FWIW I tend to use either a cheesy old Oktava 319 or my beloved Rode Classic Nk1 valve mic, both of which are not cheap, but I also happily use a couple of Sennheiser dynamic cheapies that I picked up for 33 UK pounds brand new on sale, both in the studio and live.
My 4 SM58s pretty much stay in their bags gathering dust, unless I need a LOT of vocal mics at once, but they`re not that bad if you can`t find a deal on a Sennheiser like the 838 series.
And FWIW my preferred mic for MY vocals live is one of the original Beyer 88s, but sadly way out of budget price range now. That & the Sennheiser MD441 are flat our the best dynamic vocal mics I have ever used, but as with all the rest of this long post, it is all just my opinion, based on my experiences with these particular mics.
OP: you could do a lot worse than a decent dynamic mic like either the sennheisers or indeed an SM58.
Aw shit! Totally forgot we had already outed the OP as a drive-by troll!
Leaving the original response as a sort of "mea culpa"
__________________
Ici on parles Franglais
Last edited by ivansc; 12-03-2018 at 04:08 AM.
Reason: Blooper AND spelling/typing errors! Gonna go for the trifecta next time. Damn! Spelling mistake in the reason for editing too
I will say even though the OP was potential BS I did get something out of this. Especially in the historical perspective that Condenser mics were a way of bringing some brightness to what was a darkening due to various stages of analog gear, and that ribbons may be quite a relevant consideration in the digital world. I'm just starting in the DAW world but have build my own high quality condensers but have had an interest in what ribbons could bring to my productions.
Well I learned that one of my ribbons is kinda fucked somehow. Sounds ok on even rather loud vocals, but even on my Vox AC4 (not a super loud amp), there's an ugly sort of scratchy distortion. I have two of them and the second is fine.
I also "learned" (actually proved again) that I prefer my EV Co7s to either the AT2020 or the ribbon for general purpose guitar sounds, though all three together is kind of cool.
Well I learned that one of my ribbons is kinda fucked somehow. Sounds ok on even rather loud vocals, but even on my Vox AC4 (not a super loud amp), there's an ugly sort of scratchy distortion. I have two of them and the second is fine.
I also "learned" (actually proved again) that I prefer my EV Co7s to either the AT2020 or the ribbon for general purpose guitar sounds, though all three together is kind of cool.
It's very easy to blow out a ribbon. Don't use them on guitar amps. Even a mild "plop" from switching the amp on can be enough.
That's the one major disadvantage with most ribbons. They need pampering in the extreme.
And the cheap ones lack quality control. The T-bone RB500, fi, seems to have been sold in the early days with a ribbon that wasn't corrugated at all, just a flat piece of aluminium foil. Obviously, that doesn't sound right.
__________________
In a time of deceit telling the truth is a revolutionary act.
George Orwell
I admit, I have been afraid to try ribbon mics, both because of the darker tone reputation, and the issue of preamp gain.
This post has given me some inspiration, thank you.
Great! Just this year, I have had 3 guys buy the same ribbon mic I tracked their vocals on. I turned 5 guys this year on to ribbons and they have become ribbon junkies. Don't be afraid of the dark! You can crank the 12k shelf to the moon and it will sound bright and crisp, and the S's will still not need a de-esser.
I find that I have more EQ options with a ribbon, only because I can crank the highs and keep the audio sounding great. I can make a ribbon as bright as my Neumann.
I have 2 ribbon mics that are actually very bright on the back side without EQ. A lot of ribbons will give you different tones between the front and back of the mic. The Ribbon thickness has a lot to do with the tone as well.
XLR 48v line booster are fun! And you can use them on a 57 for some more fun.
Worth checking to see if you can tighten the ribbon - easy on SOME ribbon mics & a common enough problem. Check on youtube for a how-to.
Hey - it`s fuqua`ed already, right?
Yea, good point here. When I order a cheap ribbon mic I automatically assume I might have to tension the ribbon when I get it, especially in the winter time!If you buy it from a place that has a 30 day return, you can test the mic, tension it, and if you mess up, send it back.
Plug the mic in. Hold it straight up listening with headphones. Crank the gain. And turn the mic left and right 90 degrees. If you hear a clank or thud sound, that is the ribbon slacked and hitting the magnet.
In the digital world, going with ribbon mics makes the most sense to me and what I am trying to achieve.
Yea, good point here. When I order a cheap ribbon mic I automatically assume I might have to tension the ribbon when I get it, especially in the winter time!If you buy it from a place that has a 30 day return, you can test the mic, tension it, and if you mess up, send it back.
Plug the mic in. Hold it straight up listening with headphones. Crank the gain. And turn the mic left and right 90 degrees. If you hear a clank or thud sound, that is the ribbon slacked and hitting the magnet.
In the digital world, going with ribbon mics makes the most sense to me and what I am trying to achieve.
One-trick of the pros is to use two microphones. One dark and one bright and then blend the two faders to taste. This way you don't introduce any artifacts or unnatural curves from an equalizer
Today I learned that there's a lot of ultra low end rumble noise in my living room. The fridge around the corner and the furnace blowing mostly, I think. I could turn those off if I really wanted to, but the basement is much better for things where it matters anyway. The ribbon mic seemed to reject more of the low mid room noise, but that could well have been pattern related.
In all three mics, the self noise of the mic and preamp masked whatever might be picked up from the room. The ribbon was by far the worst for overall noise. That track would be unusable without severe manipulation and a mix that could mask some of its waterfall. But I'm not sure any of these mics could really do a solo guitar or singer/songwriter thing. It is partly the Nady preamp of course, and I will have to try something similar on the Tascam downstairs, but at similar gain levels, there's a noticeable difference, and when normalized none are really great. The ribbon I'm not happy with, but the other two would be really good. I found out the other day that none of their self noise matters next to a guitar amp.
My room is reasonably well treated, but none of them display enough "room tone" to mention. They obviously couldn't all be in exactly the same spot, but they were close to each other and close to the guitar and it sounded great. Clicking the mouse a few feet away comes through them all about the same once they're all normalized. A little more maybe in the ribbon, but when I'm playing I don't think you could point it out.
I like ribbons but don't fawn over them per se. I have 2 MXL R144s, 1 Apex 205 (I think it's a 205, it's the older blue one from 2006 or so), and I have 2 Royer R121s. I like the Apex, I did upgrade the transformer but it's big, fat and thick sounding as-is. I don't really like the MXLs much as they have some nasty midrange that I can't seem to cure but...
In side-by-side tests, the MXLs perform as well as the Royers on distorted electric guitars, where they go down hill (YMMV) is being useable on a variety of sources since the midrange gets nasty - such as acoustic guitar. The apex is pretty OK on acoustic if you want sort of that big fat Gibson acoustic sound. As an aside, the Royers are a tiny bit brighter on the back side vs the front.
The Royers are pretty fantastic across the board but like any ribbon they are a tad dark - let's call that natural (I tend to combo them with a '57 on guitar and blend), that isn't a bad thing but if someone has conditioned themselves to hearing condensers along with the natural high end hype most of them have, they may need to readjust their expectations a little; but overall ribbons are great to have at least one or two of in the toolbox.
__________________ Music is what feelings sound like.
Last edited by karbomusic; 12-04-2018 at 01:40 PM.
I also learned that I need to be a lot more thoughtful about my breathing when recording acoustic guitar. With vocals, breath noises come between sounds you actually want, so they can be dealt with pretty easily if necessary. With guitar, though...
Location: Near Cambridge UK and Near Questembert, France
Posts: 22,754
Actually, I have always rather enjoyed those little vocal asides, grunts & puffs - makes it all sound more real to me even than pick noise and fret scrapes.
grunts & puffs - makes it all sound more real to me even than pick noise and fret scrapes.
rofl- you could make a sampled library of such noises..some patches are clearly missing these bonuses!!
this is where 'headphone mics' +parabollock setups fits in perfectly!
Although the original post was just trolling for hits to their page, the info on mics in this thread is still interesting.
What's also interesting is different people's views on 'cheap'. So I'm seeing a £150 mic classed as cheap. I'm thinking if you're starting out then £150 is not cheap. I use one of the BM800 mics. Got it from Amazon for about £25. Works great. 99% of people won't care and won't be able to tell it from a £1000 mic. Yes - you could run test patterns and look at frequency response etc. But whack the recording in a mix and you'll be fine.
Similar to the 'what guitar should I buy' question. Truth is a £100 guitar will look and feel and sound very similar to a £1000 guitar. It might make you feel different when you use it - but really - a good £100 guitar is good enough.
Last edited by thejetsonics; 12-05-2018 at 08:16 AM.
Now my question is: should I get a condenser microphone?
Are you missing the very top end - the "air" and breath and real crispness in the consonants? Then get a decent condenser. Otherwise, if you're working with a 58, probably just get closer to the mic, maybe change the angle, and probably sing better.
Quote:
Or should I get a mic pre to boost the warmth?
The job of a microphone preamp is to make the voltage coming from the microphone larger. It is not actually supposed to change the frequency content. To the extent that it does, it is failing at its intended function. Sometimes we like how that sounds. Either way, you get no say in the matter. If you don't like the way this one fails, what're you gonna do? But another one?!?
We have tools that are designed to change the frequency content of the sound. We call them EQs. They usually allow us to decide how we want the sound to change rather than just hope the designer came close to whatever we think we want.
Probably the interface preamp you're using now is quite capable of making that mic louder without coloring the sound. The mic is a known good mic. Give it something worth recording and then EQ it some if you really think you need to.
Im need your help to decide wich condesor microphone to buy for recording acoustic guitar. I will record mostly in my room. I have been read articles and they recomend Rode NT. I see that there is Rode NT1-a and NT2-a model. Some say that NT1-a is better than NT2-a and vice versa. My budget is 300-400$ is this good choise for this price or i should consider some other models in this rage.
I will record microphone sound trought UR22 MKII device.
Location: Near Cambridge UK and Near Questembert, France
Posts: 22,754
Hi and welcome to the forums. If you have the chance, see if you can audition a few microphones within your budget.
It took me a long time to find microphones that suit my voice.
If you plan on just recording your own vocals mostly, audition a few till you find what works on YOU.
If you are planning on recording a lot of different voices, probably something like the Rode would work pretty well.
Guitar would work OK-ish with the Rode NT1a or 2a but frankly you would probably be better off with a small diaphragm condenser if that is all you are going to use the mic for.
I have a pair of Karma silver bullets and a pair of Samson SDCs, both of which are well within your budget & do a pretty good job on acoustic guitar.
You might want to see if you can get both a LDC AND a SDC for your money.
I would definitely go for condenser large diaphragm microphone. You can use it for almost everything, and i find it for voice really really good. It picks up all the details and acoustic guitar as well. The one I would recommend under 100$, is AKG Perception 120. I use it for almost everything. Great mic, and great price!
The AKG Perception 120 actually isn't an LDC. It's an SDC electret in the wrong kind of housing.
That's not to say it isn't a nice mic. And it certainly isn't the only pretender. Lots of mics use the LDC housing, which has only disadvantages, because people seem to think they are worth more money.
__________________
In a time of deceit telling the truth is a revolutionary act.
George Orwell