The T-Bone RB500 Ribbon Mic

[affe110]

I've read alot but the T-Bone ribbon mics and I noticed alot of people are saying good things about them but audio samples are nowhere to be found. Well, I decided it was time to change that. Now, this may not be the most accurate test in the history of GS but neither is it a shoot-out. Think of it more as a "guideline" for how these mics sound.

Anyways, I recorded some instruments lying around through my Tascam US-122L (on some recordings I used a Alto Tube-Preamp, those examples are marked "tube").
Since these are low-end mics I decided to record everything in a typical living room. I might update this thread with proper studio recordings if there's a demand (I will experiment with the ribbons at work so there will be no problem bringing home some audio files).

1. First of there is a tabla, the mic is placed about 20cm above, slightly pointing downwards. I think it beautifully captures the attack but not to punchy like I believe a SM57 might get.
Tabla_bip.wav

2. Then we have a tambourine which I used to demonstrate the soft treble. Personally I really like the sound when you add some tape saturation and treble, makes for some good rock'n'roll percussion.
Tambourine_bip.wav

3. I did 2 vocal tracks, one ran through the tube pre and the other through my Tascam. As you will soon discover I ain't no singer However I believe these examples really shows of the sound of the ribbon technique. Even though the tube is alot noisier I really like the vintage sound it has.
Vocals_bip.wav
Vocals_Tube_bip.wav

4. Then there are 2 guitar recordings; one using the blumlein technique (which I'm very fund of) and the other is labeled A-B but is far from it. It's more of a wide XY if you mind me saying so. I also change distance to the microphones in the latter which I declare in the audio file to.
Guitar_Blumlein_bip.wav
Guitar_AB_bip.wav

5. Last but not least I included 2 quiet recordings, one through the Tascam interface and the other through the tube. These are for comparing the noise level (if somebody has any use of it, otherwise just ignore them).
Noise_Normal_bip.wav
Noise_Tube_bip.wav

These mics cost about $127 each so I'm surprised to see that they're so heavy, good-looking and, according to me, good sounding. Most of it wouldn't fit in the mix unprocessed though, but add some saturation, cut some bass and add a little sparkle and you're set for a real vintage sound.

I hope this thread is of any help to anyone of you and please feel free to drop a comment if you'd like!

Best regards, Aldén

[low_z]

Aldén, thanks for posting these as reference files, and welcome to gearslutz!
The Tabla sounded quite nice, though I wanted to hear the Dugga too! The guitar example shows how the mic(s) smooths out hf, but the proximity effect is very pronounced at 10cm, as would be true for most ribbon mics.
I did a similar test with classical guitar in MS here with a set of fathead mics from Cascade.

Did you eq and add tape saturation to any examples you posted?

[affe110]

Originally Posted by low_z

Aldén, thanks for posting these as reference files, and welcome to gearslutz!
The Tabla sounded quite nice, though I wanted to hear the Dugga too! The guitar example shows how the mic(s) smooths out hf, but the proximity effect is very pronounced at 10cm, as would be true for most ribbon mics.
I did a similar test with classical guitar in MS here with a set of fathead mics from Cascade.

Did you eq and add tape saturation to any examples you posted?

Thank you!
Unfortunately I only own one of the tabla drums so I can't help that. I spent the money on ribbon mics instead

I've listened to your guitar recording and I like the sound alot. I just love using figure 8 mics since they really captures that natural feeling, doesn't matter if the room sounds bad (well, maybe), it will still give the recording a really smooth character (it also comes in handy with the treble cutoff in the ribbon mics of course).

No, all the samples are completely unprocessed, I felt it was better for people to try it themself. Anyways, here is an improvised acoustic guitar thing I did to demonstrate the sound you get from some minor processing. It's 2 guitars playing the same thing panned L/R, a solo guitar and a tambourine. They have all been processed with Massey's Tapehead and the Stillwell VibeEQ, both which are wonderful plugins. No reverb whatsoever, just the beautiful sound of my office :P
Ribbon_Blues.wav

Enjoy!

[low_z]

Originally Posted by affe110

Thank you!
Unfortunately I only own one of the tabla drums so I can't help that. I spent the money on ribbon mics instead

I've listened to your guitar recording and I like the sound alot. I just love using figure 8 mics since they really captures that natural feeling, doesn't matter if the room sounds bad (well, maybe), it will still give the recording a really smooth character (it also comes in handy with the treble cutoff in the ribbon mics of course).

No, all the samples are completely unprocessed, I felt it was better for people to try it themself. Anyways, here is an improvised acoustic guitar thing I did to demonstrate the sound you get from some minor processing. It's 2 guitars playing the same thing panned L/R, a solo guitar and a tambourine. They have all been processed with Massey's Tapehead and the Stillwell VibeEQ, both which are wonderful plugins. No reverb whatsoever, just the beautiful sound of my office :P
Ribbon_Blues.wav

Enjoy!

Aldén, that definitely has a nice vibe to it, though it seems that the massey tape sim (or maybe eq?) adds a lot of noise no? I referenced it to the other guitar tracks (albeit on headphones) and there is a significant increase in noise. Also, the recording is down a whole step from f# to e; were you using a capo the first time around?
I'd be interested in hearing that file without the tape sim, or if you used eq after the tape sim, totally dry. On a similar note, the AB pair recordings of guitar you made seemed to have the best SNR so far, particularly the 30cm and 10cm distances. I am curious what all the previous guitar files would sound like with some eq and tape sim.

Btw, I've been enjoying the fatheads in MS on drums! I'm experimenting with finding the sweet spot for a compressed parallel buss. Fun stuff. Gotta love the cheap ribbons!!

[The Listener]

RB500 is a real nice and useful mic, very dark and lo-fi "vintage" sounding, but it is very noisy - the noise you hear when you process the recordings - increase volume/loudness (compression, eq, tape sims, etc.) in any way, is the noise of the mic - I know, because I used it with really quiet preamps already - it's the mic unfortunately - well - you get what you pay for... but it is none the less very useful, especially as an addition to 57 on guitar amps...

[affe110]

Yes, I used a capo on the first recordings. Anyway, the processed song was recorded through my tubepre so it has alot of noise because of that to. Also, I added some treble to the guitars.
Do you use something to make the mid act like a cardiod mic? I tried the ribbons on overhead and ambience on a drum session this weekend and so I'll upload some samples later. I prepared a bit of foam rubber to make the 8-pattern less apparent. I think they sounded great, the make everything seem bigger, fatter and more expensive. I compared them to a pair of cigars (cheap ones unfortunately) and the difference in sound was out of this world.

Btw, does anyone know how careful I should be with micing loud guitar speakers with the ribbons? It says it handles 144dB on the mic spec papers but 165dB in the manual so I'm a bit confused. Even though they're cheap I can't afford to loose one right now since it takes a while to get a new one from germay. Would it be careless to put one of the babies in front of a metal speaker cabinet?

Do you guys use ribbon mics for close-micing or do you always keep some distance?

Thanks in advance!

[The Listener]

Originally Posted by affe110

Yes, I used a capo on the first recordings. Anyway, the processed song was recorded through my tubepre so it has alot of noise because of that to. Also, I added some treble to the guitars.
Do you use something to make the mid act like a cardiod mic? I tried the ribbons on overhead and ambience on a drum session this weekend and so I'll upload some samples later. I prepared a bit of foam rubber to make the 8-pattern less apparent. I think they sounded great, the make everything seem bigger, fatter and more expensive. I compared them to a pair of cigars (cheap ones unfortunately) and the difference in sound was out of this world.

Btw, does anyone know how careful I should be with micing loud guitar speakers with the ribbons? It says it handles 144dB on the mic spec papers but 165dB in the manual so I'm a bit confused. Even though they're cheap I can't afford to loose one right now since it takes a while to get a new one from germay. Would it be careless to put one of the babies in front of a metal speaker cabinet?

Do you guys use ribbon mics for close-micing or do you always keep some distance?

Thanks in advance!

I would like to see your face standing next to a >144db sound source.

With RB500 you don't have to be overly careful on guitar amps, crank it up (the amp) and enjoy the natural timbre it catches, but don't put it on kick drum hole.

[low_z]

Originally Posted by The Listener

I would like to see your face standing next to a >144db sound source.

With RB500 you don't have to be overly careful on guitar amps, crank it up (the amp) and enjoy the natural timbre it catches, but don't put it on kick drum hole.

144db sources?

Yes, be careful to avoid bursts of air that could damage the ribbon motor i.e. don't carry the mic around on a stand, use a pop filter for vocals etc...

I love my fatheads on drums (overheads) and my Princeton (mmm silky goodness)

[The Listener]

Originally Posted by low_z

144db sources?

Yes, one of those amps that go to 11.