Ribbon Mics

[Sampire]

anybody using them to record rap?

how come?

why not??

[chris carter]

Ribbons tend to suck for rap vocals.

But try it. For the RIGHT song I suppose it might work. But usually, they suck for rap vocals.

[Sampire]

and why is that?

I thought ribbon mics were typically warm sounding and really good for sibilance.....which sound like good things for any genre......but I could be misinformed.

please elaborate

[Ken Lewis]

the cheap ribbon mics are usually terrible. the expensive ones like the Royer R122 are quite nice the few times i've used them for rap vocals they've sounded good. Not C800G good, but really good.

[chris carter]

Ribbons are dynamic mics, but not moving coil. Instead, it's a delicate ribbon between two magnets. The motion of the ribbon vibrating between the magnets is what makes the electrons move. On the right song, it can be great. But the right song is not typical. Generally, as a nature of their design, they have a more limited frequency response than condensers, do not react to fast transients quite as well, and deal with plossives from wind horribly. This is generally speaking. That said, some of these issues, as well as the say a ribbon responds to certain waveforms, can make them outstanding for other applications.

So like i said, for the right song or the right artist, it might be magic. But GENERALLY speaking, it's not the first thing you are going to reach for.

[LeoLeoLeo]

Been loving my RCA 77dx lately, but that's a 77for ya...

Tried my coles 4038 once, not inpressed.

[HazeBros]

they are so easy to damage and expensive that i would have to really know the rapper has very good pro mic chops to put one in front of them.