ribbon mics

[mmmatt]

Hey all,
I'm thinking about picking up a single fig8 ribbon mic to play with m/s configs.  I know most ribbons don't need phantom, but does anyone know if phantom will damage a non phantom ribbon?

Matt

[audBall]

Hey all,
I'm thinking about picking up a single fig8 ribbon mic to play with m/s configs.  I know most ribbons don't need phantom, but does anyone know if phantom will damage a non phantom ribbon?

Matt

I'm no expert, but I was curious and found this:
http://www.royerlabs.com/phantom.html

I would only use phantom if the ribbon is specifically a phantom-powered mic

[RebelRebel]

Hey all,
I'm thinking about picking up a single fig8 ribbon mic to play with m/s configs.  I know most ribbons don't need phantom, but does anyone know if phantom will damage a non phantom ribbon?

Matt

It totally depends on the mic, Matt. Some will be destroyed and some not.

I reccomend looking at ShinyBox Ribbons as they are DIRT cheap(around 200 usd) and are getting wonderful reviews around the web, sometimes nudging out the larger companies(Royer, AEA) offerings for projects..

If you tell me which ribbon you end up getting I will tell you if phantom is ok or not.  Another cheap offering is the Beyer m130, which is about 500 USD, and is phenomenal(I own these)

[stirinthesauce]

Matt-

Peluso has a new ribbon mic out.  Introductory price is good through the end of this month, then a price raise.  It is a fig8

http://www.pelusomicrophonelab.com/R14.html

[mmmatt]

Actually I'm looking for something really cheap.  http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&ih=019&item=290013048773&rd=1&sspagename=STRK%3AMEWA%3AIT&rd=1  Not so concerned about fidelity at this point, just want to play with the image charactoristics of m/s.

Matt

[RebelRebel]

that isnt a ribbon , is it/??

[mmmatt]

that isnt a ribbon , is it/??

yup

http://www.coutant.org/shure315/index.html

[RebelRebel]

Interesting, learn something new every day!

Be careful, old ribbons are a slippery slope do to the inherent fragile nature of them.

[mmmatt]

Interesting, learn something new every day!

Be careful, old ribbons are a slippery slope do to the inherent fragile nature of them.

yeah... I thought about that, but if I can get this for ~$50 it will be a fun toy.

Matt

[jpschust]

just something to be aware of, most ribbon mics are EXTREMELY sensitive and many are too sensitive for our style of taping, but there are times when they won't be- like light classical and softer music.

[mmmatt]

just something to be aware of, most ribbon mics are EXTREMELY sensitive and many are too sensitive for our style of taping, but there are times when they won't be- like light classical and softer music.

do you mean actual mechanical sensitivity?  Seems most I've read about are actually lower sensitivity electronically, and most have prettyhigh spl handling as well.

Matt

[RebelRebel]

the output voltage of ribbons is mostly lower than condensors, but they do pick up quite a bit of detail.

[BayTaynt3d]

So excuse my ignorance, but why use a ribbon? What are the advantages? Do they come in different patterns? Can you use them in a stereo pair config? I should search the web, but that'll have to wait until I get home, LOL!

[RebelRebel]

So excuse my ignorance, but why use a ribbon? What are the advantages? Do they come in different patterns? Can you use them in a stereo pair config? I should search the web, but that'll have to wait until I get home, LOL!

ribbons are a lot smoother sounding than a lot of condensors....they typically come in fig8, but there are other patterns too. yes, you can use them in a stereo pair. My favorite thing on Chamber Quartet(or one of them) is a pair of ribbons in blumlein.

[mmmatt]

So excuse my ignorance, but why use a ribbon? What are the advantages? Do they come in different patterns? Can you use them in a stereo pair config? I should search the web, but that'll have to wait until I get home, LOL!

1.  I've always wanted to play with a ribbon to see how they sound.
2.  I had a chance to pick up a figure 8 mic on the cheap!

That is why this started.

Matt