Ribbon Mic Audio Samples: before/after transformer upgrade

[GuitarRuss]

I find it interesting that I've picked the cheapest mics in all of these blind shootouts - and so have most of the others.

Am I a tin ear because I prefer these cheap chinese ribbons for their fat sound? I lot of guys with huge mic lockers have shocked themselves by picking these same mics and the 57 before really expensive boutique mics too. It's always funny reading the quotes after they say which mic is which.

Maybe people just find it hard to like these things because they are too cheap. I can see how if you are layering lots of tracks the fat sound will become too muddy and then one of these brighter (unbiased?) ribbons will be perfect but for a single note horn line, give me rich and creamy? And besides, some of the biggest names are now using these mics.

[GuitarRuss]

I've noticed that some sounds seem to be interpreted differently depending on price. Of course, a lot of the time these are true. However, these blind shootouts show that this is not always true. Here's my take on what at times is totally correct, but other times is a bias that should be examined.


Sound...........................Cheap Mic.............................Expensive Mic
Lots of low end ..............boomy/muddy .......................rich and full low end
Lots of high end .............harsh/tizzy........................... detailed with clarity
flat eq ..........................boring/lacks character............ honest/transparent
distortion...................... grainy/unclear........................warm/rounded/rich
needs EQ...................... lacks flexibility........................takes EQ well
Lots of Mids.................. muggy.................................. brings out warmth

etc.etc.

[Giganova]

Originally Posted by patrox247

Are you sure the mod was installed correctly?

Absolutely positively sure

[drycounty]

To agree a bit more with what Michael was saying, isn't there a real difference between recording 'live' i.e. unproduced sound whether or not it comes from a speaker or instrument and recording sounds that are produced and fully normaled?

Just curious as there is really no test of the amount of dynamics that the mic can handle?

[GuitarRuss]

I'll amend what I said earlier after hearing a shootout that incuded AEA R84.

it had all of the fatness but also carried more subtlety and was a little more pleasing than the fathead it was up against. But I've prefered the fathead to the Royer in a few comparisons.

[timbrewolf1]

Originally Posted by GuitarRuss

I've noticed that some sounds seem to be interpreted differently depending on price. Of course, a lot of the time these are true. However, these blind shootouts show that this is not always true. Here's my take on what at times is totally correct, but other times is a bias that should be examined.


Sound...........................Cheap Mic.............................Expensive Mic
Lots of low end ..............boomy/muddy .......................rich and full low end
Lots of high end .............harsh/tizzy........................... detailed with clarity
flat eq ..........................boring/lacks character............ honest/transparent
distortion...................... grainy/unclear........................warm/rounded/rich
needs EQ...................... lacks flexibility........................takes EQ well
Lots of Mids.................. muggy.................................. brings out warmth

etc.etc.

hilarious!

Same for tube vs transistor anything. I read an article (or a post or something or another) by a knowledgeable tech/engineer saying he could get very close to a tube sound with transistors, that it was more a matter of engineering than the tubes themselves. As I recall he said that if he emulated the engineering he could get the results.

I've wondered the same thing about digital being a ProTools user. A friend of mine, my ex guitar-extrodinaire player, was able to emulate The Beatles ADT (automatic double tracker) in ProTools. I couldn't do it on my antique Mac tho because I didn't have the particular plugin - and the hell of it is, I can't remember what he used now.

What I've read recently is that tube pres sound good because they cause the harmonics to be doubled at the octave. I'm relatively new to the study of this so I may not have this quite right but it would make a LOT of sense.

As always, the bottom line is ears. What I am unable to determine is whether tastes change over time, in terms of timbre, or whether there just isn't enough exposure to good sounds anymore.

I welcome your thoughts on this.

-~wolf