Thomann Ribbon mic ROCKS

[pjk]

Hi Jens and welcome to the forum,

Thanks very much for the advice, ive been learning about phase but the original poster mentioned 180 degree out of phase, im not sure i understand the 'degrees' terminology there, as i just assumed that a mic (or any other part of the signal chain - xlrs, mic pres) is either wired correctly and therefore in phase or incorrectly and so out of phase. I suppose out of phase actually means half a wave form out of sink with the in phase mic, this being described as 180 degrees.

Nice of you to give a helping hand, cheers

Peter

[music_food]

I've been very impressed with the RM700 that I use at college on a recording of Super Duper Love, had it on a Fender valve twin a little while ago, alongside a 57 on the cone and a K2 a foot back. Have a listen to the clips i've attached.

The guitar was a PRS custom 22, going through a Line 6 Pod xt Live, and a fairly modern Fender valve twin combo.

The first one is the RM700 on its own, the second is a mix of the 3 mics together (the first and second tracks are dry), and the third is the full mix of the solo, with the guitar tracks compressed and EQ'd a little.

I found the ribbon to be the track that gave the guitar sound its interest and bite, with the K2 having the most body to it. I'm certainly thinking of getting one for myself.

[Paul Pertile]

Wow! this site is pretty crazy, a lot of this is a tiny bit over my head. What's the difference between a ribbon mike and a condensor mike? Is it just phantom power? that really messed me up the first time i borowed my cousins condensor mike, he said that a ribbon is studio quality like a condensor but without phantom power.

[Paul Pertile]

I like how it says gear interested under my name, i'm definitely GEAR INTERSTED!!!!

[Chrislpp]

Originally Posted by Paul Pertile

Wow! this site is pretty crazy, a lot of this is a tiny bit over my head. What's the difference between a ribbon mike and a condensor mike? Is it just phantom power? that really messed me up the first time i borowed my cousins condensor mike, he said that a ribbon is studio quality like a condensor but without phantom power.

Ribbon microphone - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Microphone - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

[Finnish]

I'm really thinking of buying rm700, 2 of them for X/Y-recording.

My interface is EMU 0404 USB, is it enough when thinking of input gain?

My primary uses would be vocals, elec guitars, ac guitars and possibly overheads (OH's with m-audio fw1814).

I read those are 8-figured, so those record also room noise/sound, in a bad way?

[Jens Luithle]

Originally Posted by Finnish

I read those are 8-figured, so those record also room noise/sound, in a bad way?

That can be an issue, especialy when you use them as drum overheads in a room with a low ceiling.
If the sound of the reflections of the ceiling don't "fit" the rest it will be a problem.

[Morten]

Since this thread is still up and running, and since I haven't pulled the trigger on the RM700 yet (though it's in my Thomann basket...) - does anyone have any input irt. a comparison to the Superlux R102 (also available at Thomann)? There's another thread running about it, but no one but me seems to pst in it.

[Paul Pertile]

thanks for the info!

can't wait to learn more

[Chrislpp]

So for vocals/guitars and some drum room sound can anyone defeinitively comment o advise on THOMMANs rm700, 500 and 100???

[toolskid]

Originally Posted by Chrislpp

So for vocals/guitars and some drum room sound can anyone defeinitively comment o advise on THOMMANs rm700, 500 and 100???

I would stay a MILLION miles away from any of those mics...just had to say it...

[Chrislpp]

Originally Posted by Michael_Joly

Take a look at my background article "Chinese Ribbon Microphone Buyer's Guide" to understand how the various low-cost ribbon mic are alike or different. You'll be able to extrapolate which use each type of ribbon mic will excell at.

ok thanks!

@ toolskid, I would have a royer if I could afford one

[DeadPoet]

For the price of one R-121 you can actually have a nice assortment of equally good ribbons. I would start off with two M160's and add to taste/budget.


I have an RB.500. Don't really use it anymore except for the occasional over the kit (about 100cm over the kick, pointing at the snare) and compress dirty before tape/disc.



Herwig

[Chrislpp]

I'm maybe going to invest in an SM7

Going to search around different model differences....if there are any

[low_z]

Originally Posted by Finnish

I'm really thinking of buying rm700, 2 of them for X/Y-recording.

My interface is EMU 0404 USB, is it enough when thinking of input gain?

My primary uses would be vocals, elec guitars, ac guitars and possibly overheads (OH's with m-audio fw1814).

I read those are 8-figured, so those record also room noise/sound, in a bad way?

I know this post was from August, but you may be interested in a sample I posted of Classical guitar MS recording with a matched pair of Fatheads.
The Fatheads are supposedly very similar, if not identical to the RM700. Don't know what the pres in the Emu sound like, but I used my ff400 pres with decent success. Hope this is helpful.

[Mr.HOLMES]

I just bought for fun a RB 100 and I have much more expensive microphones in my collection....

THE T.BONE RB100 - U.K. International Cyberstore

The RB 100 is not high end yes but worth a new color in my plate during tracking.

[affe110]

For anyone interested I just posted this:
The T-Bone RB500 Ribbon Mic

As I already mentioned in the thread I can post some examples recorded in a studio if there is a demand for it.

Great microphones!

[affe110]

What about the maximum SPL on these mics? It says something like 166dB (with 1% distortion) and 144dB (0,5% distortion) in the papers that came with the mics.
How careful do I have to be? From what I've heard they are very fragile, but if it can take up to 166dB they should be up for anything, is this just in theory?

TLDR; At what SPL will the RB500 break?

Otherwise, great mics. Sounds big and fat.

[Michael_Joly]

It is really not a question of maximum SPL (as in "sound" that can be heard) - but rather strong, infrasonic air pressure from breath pops, kick drums or bass cab ports that can pulse, stretch and / or break the ribbon.

As a rough guide to what air pressure is safe for a ribbon, try this experiment. Place the palm of your hand 6" in front of your mouth. Puff up your cheeks and make some repeated "puhh, puhh, puhh" sounds toward your palm. That amount of sound pressure will flex, but not permanently deform or break a ribbon. Even my own modified ribbon mics like the Apex 205 which have no internal ribbon pop filtering (just the single layer grille headbasket) can withstand this test.

But to be safe, place your hand near any source you think might have strong infrasonic air pressure - if you can feel a similar amount of air pressure as the "puhh test" on your hand use a pop filter (or two with an air gap in between) to attenuate the strong infrasonic air puffs and chuffs.

[affe110]

Originally Posted by Michael_Joly

It is really not a question of maximum SPL (as in "sound" that can be heard) - but rather strong, infrasonic air pressure from breath pops, kick drums or bass cab ports that can pulse, stretch and / or break the ribbon.

As a rough guide to what air pressure is safe for a ribbon, try this experiment. Place the palm of your hand 6" in front of your mouth. Puff up your cheeks and make some repeated "puhh, puhh, puhh" sounds toward your palm. That amount of sound pressure will flex, but not permanently deform or break a ribbon. Even my own modified ribbon mics like the Apex 205 which have no internal ribbon pop filtering (just the single layer grille headbasket) can withstand this test.

But to be safe, place your hand near any source you think might have strong infrasonic air pressure - if you can feel a similar amount of air pressure as the "puhh test" on your hand use a pop filter (or two with an air gap in between) to attenuate the strong infrasonic air puffs and chuffs.

Thanks alot for your answer!
There was some guidelines written with big letters that made me believe it would break for anything so I just wanted to be assured that it wasn't THAT bad :P
I'm actually trying these as overheads for the second time this weekend. Last time it was an indie group, now it's a deathcore band. I'll mount a pair of U87's to just in case the ribbons sound to vintage.
Have a nice weekend!

[Michael_Joly]

You're welcome!

Ribbon mics take EQ really because of the low distortion and low phase-shift mid-to-high end response. So you can high pass and high shelf boost to your hearts content.

Just be aware that the back side of a figure 8 ribbon will hear ceiling reflections (and possibly create phase cancellations) if the ceiling is low or very reflective.

[useme2305]

who would be kind enough to summarise the mods you can do to this mic?
i'm thinking of getting two.

[Michael_Joly]

Info about my ribbon mic mods can be found here. Thanks for your interest.