Gearslutz.com - View Single Post - Thomann Ribbon mic ROCKS

Hi there,

Had two of those t-bone RB-500 together with a Royer 121 for a test yesterday and....WOW...I´m impressed.

Tried a pair in Blumlein for steel string guitar. Immediatly heard the difference in my headphones while playing. If this is not the smoothest acc. guitar sound I´ve heard for a while... natural highs, slight transient smoothing and wooly, warm lower mids. Not at all what I´m accustomed to from my fabulous but sometimes too detailed Brauner VM-1s.
Keep in mind that I´m a total ribbon mic novice.

The whole thing came to full life when I sent it through a AD-2055 with 10(!!) db highshelf @ 15 khz - silky and warm....and to my surprise not harsh at all.

Then, tried it as an AB on overheads.
FAT as hell - especially the toms are killer.
Some high shelve again and the cymbals came to life.
What a sound !

Also liked it on kick a lot as well as on snare. However the figure 8 pattern gives you a lot of hihat spill on snare which is not desirable.

I compared it to the ROYER, which is not bad at all and has a more "meaty" sound in the upper mids + lot less bottom end.
However I liked the thomann so much more for its full bodied pound and high end.

Yeah it comes even better as an allmost ideal mic choice for NUKED ( the blue distressor thing) room / corner mics.

And here comes the surprise:

the thomann ribbon comes at a modest 111 Euro, which is about 1/10th of the royer

Does this thing for ribbons what the 57 does for dynamics? Hell yes.
Immediatly ordered 4.

Try them - you´ll be surprised !

18th November 2006	#1
Shaman Lives for gear Joined: Aug 2003 Posts: 2,742 Thread Starter	Thomann Ribbon mic ROCKS Hi there, Had two of those t-bone RB-500 together with a Royer 121 for a test yesterday and....WOW...I´m impressed. Tried a pair in Blumlein for steel string guitar. Immediatly heard the difference in my headphones while playing. If this is not the smoothest acc. guitar sound I´ve heard for a while... natural highs, slight transient smoothing and wooly, warm lower mids. Not at all what I´m accustomed to from my fabulous but sometimes too detailed Brauner VM-1s. Keep in mind that I´m a total ribbon mic novice. The whole thing came to full life when I sent it through a AD-2055 with 10(!!) db highshelf @ 15 khz - silky and warm....and to my surprise not harsh at all. Then, tried it as an AB on overheads. FAT as hell - especially the toms are killer. Some high shelve again and the cymbals came to life. What a sound ! Also liked it on kick a lot as well as on snare. However the figure 8 pattern gives you a lot of hihat spill on snare which is not desirable. I compared it to the ROYER, which is not bad at all and has a more "meaty" sound in the upper mids + lot less bottom end. However I liked the thomann so much more for its full bodied pound and high end. Yeah it comes even better as an allmost ideal mic choice for NUKED ( the blue distressor thing) room / corner mics. And here comes the surprise: the thomann ribbon comes at a modest 111 Euro, which is about 1/10th of the royer Does this thing for ribbons what the 57 does for dynamics? Hell yes. Immediatly ordered 4. Try them - you´ll be surprised !