Thomann Ribbon mic ROCKS

[Recording David]

OK, here is a sample of the 2 T-Bone ribbons in A-B over (most of) a drum kit - just drums and hat, the rest of the kit had been put away!

Toolskid is right - they have a totally pumped sound, great for rock.

Chain is T-Bones-Pacifica-AD-16x-Logic 7.

thumbsup

I will start another thread comparing ribbons. As well as the T-Bones I also have a Royer R-121 and a Steven Sank modded Beyer M-160. I'll stick 'em on guitar cab for you in a day or 2.

I would have done it for overheads but I only have one each of the Beyer and Royer.

[David-Morpheus]

I'm listening through sh*tty headphones but anyway they sound is "pure rock"
I think I'll grab a pair. for 100 EUR you can't go wrong IMO

really nice drum sounds

[dlmorley]

Nice drumming and a nice sound! I'm grabbing a pair.

[Dog_Chao_Chao]

Hum...I bought a rb500 a year ago. I had time to experiment with a lot of things...

I have a pretty good idea of pros and cons, IMHO

cons: my cable its only 2 meters long! Its not enough to reach the input box!
This mic has a lot of self noise, sometimes too much to be used. Soft sources are almost impossible to track with this mic, unless you use some x-noise reduction afterwards...
This mic has very weak output signal. Even with my sytek that has loads of headroom I have to open the input full clockwise! More noise
Soundwise, it enhances too much bass frequencies. 90% of the times I have to hi-pass. It can be muddy on some sources (acoustic guitar for example)

Pros: it´s stupid cheap
it sounds so smooth. When its the right source-pre-combination, it sounds so good, like a much more expensive mic. Clients can spot the difference pretty well. Some say it gentle tickles their ears!
it looks pretty good and solid
cheap and smooth.


So, one should open the mic and take the ribbon protection off? This I didnt know. I have to try it with the api´s as soon as they arrive...

[GravityRobert]

Off question but I figured we're on the subject of T.Bone anyway so I might as well ask it.

I'll be starting a rehearsal room for my own use and for some people I know (they pay for 4-5 hour sessions to pay off the equipment).

Anyway, I need about 3 microphones for rehearsal. I'll be running them through a Samson board to two powered mixers.

I saw this T Bone set http://www.thomann.de/thoiw7_the_tbo..._prodinfo.html , pretty d*mn cheap but I was wondering whether I should buy it or not, they're only for rehearsal so only for that job.

or
Behringer (haha I know this forum is Behringer hate HQ) http://www.thomann.de/thoiw7_artikel-161604.html

I just need something that won't break when it gets dropped for the first time (needs to be pretty fool proof) nor sound like total ass with huge noise.

Thanks in advance,

Robert

[bigbone]

don't want to hijack this tread, but here's a sample on the ribbon
from the goupe buy, they are the same as the t-bone, but without
the name.........the mics are place facing the kits

the set up is ribbon -sytek-logic.

[Alexi]

this is sounding pretty "dope".......which other mics were used?


how was the setup?


Which comp. was used?




greetings


alex

[bigbone]

Originally Posted by Alexi

this is sounding pretty "dope".......which other mics were used?


how was the setup?


Which comp. was used?




greetings


alex

if you were asking those question to me, the only other mic was a 57 on the snare
no verb,only the room. and the comp was a vintage warmer

the ribbon were place facing the kit,about 2 feet in front and about 4 feet hegiht
i like to put to OH'S juste a coupe on inchs above the cymbals i front on the kit

[blaugruen7]

did you use the compressor to make it "snappier"?

[dlmorley]

Originally Posted by bigbone

don't want to hijack this tread, but here's a sample on the ribbon
from the goupe buy, they are the same as the t-bone, but without
the name.........the mics are place facing the kits

the set up is ribbon -sytek-logic.

I like!

[bigbone]

Originally Posted by blaugruen7

did you use the compressor to make it "snappier"?

yes, i like the way comp put the drum in front.........

[bigbone]

Originally Posted by dlmorley

I like!

thank's.thumbsup

[GravityRobert]

Very nice sounding, I must say.

[Alexi]

so were the ribbons placed in big ab in front of the kit or did you use any different placement?

I guess the room is just very nice sounding......



cheers

[bigbone]

Originally Posted by Alexi

so were the ribbons placed in big ab in front of the kit or did you use any different placement?

I guess the room is just very nice sounding......



cheers

The mic are place to face the snare and the floor tom about
and yes the room sound nice, it's about 13X15 not that big ,but a 10' celling,
and that's cool for the drums, i use a coupe of blanket( like the mover use)
on the wall to dampen the sound, nothing fancy ,but it work........

[Shaman]

Received a BIG package from thomann this minute

[Alexi]

hey shaman,


congratulations.....could you check them side by side to compare thier outputs?



cheers



alex

[Shaman]

Hey, will report about my thoughts soon.

Mucho to do until Wednesday but then....

[Dog_Chao_Chao]

It would be nice if somebody could compare the rb500 with other ribbons. royer/coles,etc. I might be wrong but I would expect major differences. I think this mic is not that great. just nice, sometimes...

[Matti]

http://emusician.com/mag/emusic_ribbon_revival/

Matti

[Recording David]

Originally Posted by Dog_Chao_Chao

It would be nice if somebody could compare the rb500 with other ribbons. royer/coles,etc. I might be wrong but I would expect major differences. I think this mic is not that great. just nice, sometimes...

I also have a Royer R-121 and a Beyer M-160 (Steven Sank mod) - I should be able to do some tests for you tomorrow on guitar cab. For crunchy guitar my favourite is the Beyer.

[The Listener]

I am sorry, but I didn't like the posted "recording david's" sample that much. To me it sounds very average. Thin, no depth, no volume, strange highs, shallow bottom.

If somebody states that royers and beyers sound the same as that, then I am not buying any of those mics... Are your expectations of a mic that low or am I listening wrong? No offense inteded, just astonishment from my side.

[Recording David]

Guitar/ribbon shootout here:

http://gearslutz.com/board/showthread.php?t=96576

thumbsup

[The Listener]

Listened to those guitarzzz and royer and thomann sound very fine... Royer more transparent and thomann has more guts, I wonder how it works in a mix...
But I still don't like the OH use I heard on that recording...

[Dog_Chao_Chao]

Yeah. great guitar sound. I liked the rb500 better. the royer is too clean for my taste.

One thing though:

your setup is so damn close to mine that i can tell that you used a lot of low freq roll with the rb 500. No? hi pass or band @ 120/ 150 maybe 4 db or even more.

I too use a telecaster and a vibrolux with a rb500. only i dont have any pacifica ( it sounded very good...maybe I should get one) but api or sytek into apogee.
My sound is a bit darker and with more noise. You didnt have much noise though...

[Recording David]

Originally Posted by Dog_Chao_Chao

Yeah. great guitar sound. I liked the rb500 better. the royer is too clean for my taste.

One thing though:

your setup is so damn close to mine that i can tell that you used a lot of low freq roll with the rb 500. No? hi pass or band @ 120/ 150 maybe 4 db or even more.

Yeah - I rolled off 4 dB @ 100 but it could do with even more, this was a 5 minute recording job today! - the RB500 has a massive low end.

I think the Thomann is the best of the bunch for that application.

Originally Posted by The Listener

But I still don't like the OH use I heard on that recording...

To each his own!

[Shaman]

Back to the t-bones this night.

Though I didn´t have my friends "old stock" RB 500 to compare I still had the sound files to A/B.

In my ears the new ones sound VERY similar to the old ones ( however this is not a scientific test).

First tried them AB on overheads and buuuuuuuumshaka....these little devils sound exactly as great as they did last session. Bummer: BOTH (!!) are 180 degrees phase reversed....ehm...I guess theChinese like it this way LOL

I don´t agree with some who said t´hat these mics are noisy. Not at all. I listened through my cranesong spider preamps & a grace design m 906 monitor controller with the volume fully cranked up and there was very little hiss. They are not as quiet as my brauners but in every case they are equally quiet as vintage U 47 / 67.

After OH I tried them again on ac. guitars - this time in small AB.
Fantabulous ! What a broad stereo image + beautiful golden high end.

My final verdict on the RB 500:
To me this is a new modern classic.
The built quality is good ( except the phase reverse LOL).
the price is just incredible low.

Buy some as long as they are on the market !
shaman has 4 on his christmas wish list.

[Shaman]

The RB 700:

This one sounds not as fat & warm like the 500.
The focus is more on the high mids & high end.

Tried it on hihat. Nice !
Takes EQ equally well like the 500.

The advantage: It´s got much less weight - which is a little problem with the 500 since it´s such a heavy honker.
So you can position it better in the drumkit.

Great on HH. Since its figure 8 it has very good side rejection of snare drum + rest of kit.
Won´t get a better hh mic at this price soon, so I´ll keep it.

Tried it on snare (with pop filter) and had no luck.
Too much hihat spill.

[Shaman]

I allmost forgot to mention.

Also tried it on my fully cranked Marshall amp.

Great as well.

[trodsky]

I've got the tapeop message board version of the larger ribbon (the RB500 i guess?) I love it and use it a lot as a room mic and recently on a fiddle. However, mine is a bit noisy it seems. Using an API 3124 pre. Most of the music i record is loud rock so its not really an issue, but could be a problem in some situations. Perhaps the noise is just something mine has a problem with.