Beyer M160 and M260 Mics

[impact studios]

Hi

Anyone ever used the Beyer M160 or M260 ribbon mics for lead or backing vocals.?

Paul

[7rojo7]

Can you say pop filter? That would be the only problem. borrow one from somewhere and put it up, it might work out and sometimes no. good for esses bad for Pees. good pattern for keeping the guitar out of the vocals and vica versa.
good OH (I use 3) and small gtr amp, trumpet, soprano sax top mic. Although I'll use a JV74 for VOX before I go to an M260

[Tom VDH]

I love m160s on many things but they don't fit all genres...their very low output make them a bit too noisy for ultra clean recordings. Loud voices will also overdrive the mic, it can be an issue...it's too bad 'cause they really sound beautiful on vocals!
Percussionists love them too.

Try them!

Cheers,

Tom VDH

[Han]

The M160 was designed as an instrument mic, the M260 more as a speach mic.

They're great on horns and lots of other applications, I've never used them on vocals, I've tried but prefer a LDC or a dynamic like the MD441 or M88.

[Labs]

I havent done much work with my 160s since I got them, but I have tried them on vocals. They dont exactly "cut through" if your doing dense mixes, but for an less elaborate mix Im sure it can be made to work.

I wouldnt use it on a vocalist with bad mic technique - That would never be worth the trouble. I also dont think it would work well on a vocal track with great dynamic span. Im actually positive it would suck on something like that.

Someone already mentioned the gain/noise considerations.

I guess what Im saying is - this is not a vocal mic

Gustav

[Pohaku]

You might actually want to try the Beyer M500 as a vocal mic. I believe it was designed as a performance vocal mic. I've used it and, as could be expected, it sounds pretty good on some voices (and not so good on others) -- but definitely seems consistently better than my M160 (meaning that it works good more often). If memory serves me right (a dubious assertion at best), I believe Sinatra used them, but that was, ahem, before my time. They are typically less expensive (@$250) to find than M160s and M260s which seem to have experienced a meteoric increase in price. BTW, they are, of course, discontinued so E-Bay is your primary source.

[joeq]

I have an M260. I have yet to like it on vocals. Or on drums. I love it on guitar cab, however.

I had one guitarist tell me it was the first time he ever walked into a control room and thought what came out of the monitors sounded like his guitar.

[MicLust42]

I fall in love with the M160 over and over again.

The last few sessions that I worked on I tried using the 160's for instruments I hadn't tried them on yet (I usually use them for horns and strings). I tried them as OH's and loved the crisp fullness. Today I used them on a vibraphone and they were just what I was looking for.

I need two more of these mics! I just love 'em.

[borau]

I've used an M160 for (female) vocals on at least one record,

a very dynamic record.

With what is actually not the most noiseless pre. And it was a tiny bit noisy, but it worked.

The vocal sound itself was very good, i'll see if i can post something from it.

[chadli]

I recently used one (vintage one, even) for female vocals too, and it was just the trick. Harmony with 3 voices, the other two with LDCs. The third track just snuggled right up. I guess it all depends on the singer(s).

[Teddy Ray]

Originally Posted by impact studios

Hi

Anyone ever used the Beyer M160 or M260 ribbon mics for lead or backing vocals.?

Paul

160 , yes. when I record "rock" music, anywhere that I would have previously put a 57 now gets the 160 or 130. Very rugged, they sound good on everything(and damn great on some!).. great all-round utility mic. my favorite "all arounder" (as well as AT4050s)

[klaukholm]

Teddy, have you tried the 160 as a string spot in front of heavy brass?

I am looking for a good sound and more isolation than I am currently getting for the sections most in the line of fire. I have not used the beyers.

[didier.brest]

For piano, I like better the M130 than the M160 because of its flatter frequency response.

[wildplum]

According to Beyer, the recommended applications for the M260 are: "piano, female vocals, flute and clarinet." In my experience, it works very well in all of those and more - I got a very nice koto recording (studio overdub situation) using a pair- an underrated mic. I especially like it on female vocals recorded live in a club, including a cappella where each singer is miced (as oppossed to a stereo pair, for example). Although I have ocassionally used it on vocals in the studio, for me, its mainly been a live mic were vocals are concerned.

The M160 has never gotten the call on vocals for me, but it is a great mic on many other things- including classical guitar.

[Remoteness]

I've also used the M260 on trumpet with very good results.

[James Lehmann]

Can someone articulate more precisely the sonic differences between the M160 and the M260 - I mean, what would I notice if I rigged them both on the same source? I suppose most of my applications involve voices and a wide range of acoustic instruments. Is one brighter, is one fuller? Could I more easily EQ one to sound like the other (more or less?).

I know this is all so subjective - I gotta try 'em myself really!

Thanks anyway! I'm considering one of these as my first ribbon investment but can't decide (as you can probably tell!) and I can't afford the correct Slut solution of "buy both" at the present time, having just added an SM7B to my locker.

[Teddy Ray]

Originally Posted by klaukholm

Teddy, have you tried the 160 as a string spot in front of heavy brass?

I am looking for a good sound and more isolation than I am currently getting for the sections most in the line of fire. I have not used the beyers.

Yes, Sir.The 160 is quite great on brass. as a matter of fact, Brass is one of the things that the 160 does best.

[Teddy Ray]

Originally Posted by James Lehmann

Can someone articulate more precisely the sonic differences between the M160 and the M260 -

The 260 has a LF roll off built in. (the new ones anyway)...they were designed for close-mixing, and lack the proximity boosting.

[Oli_W]

use those M260.80 on hihats but probably not for any "classical" recordings. unless someone's done so with success?

[GZsound]

Originally Posted by Teddy Ray

The 260 has a LF roll off built in. (the new ones anyway)...they were designed for close-mixing, and lack the proximity boosting.

I have been playing sax through an M260 since I bought it new in 1974. Last year I sent it to Beyer to get it renovated..it was losing output.

They said that the older M260's did not have the high pass filter installed in the mic...as you said. I don't know when they started putting the filter in the mic.

I have close mic'd my sax with my M260 and never had a problem with proximity boosting..but it is not a good vocal mic for the same reason.

A great mic on all brass and reeds.

[James Lehmann]

OK - thanks folks.

All other things being equal (ie a broadly similar sort of 'house-sound'), the HPF-less M160 seems to be the more flexible of the two mics and looks like it will probably serve my diverse needs better.

I smell my first ribbon mic coming up!

[EDIT: M160 ordered, thanks for the advice all!]

[coyotekells]

Tenor sax (solo) on jazz flavored hip hop/rnb song...

Should I get M160 or M260? (or even an M130)

I'm not gonna stress, I'm sure any will "work", but curious what you'd reach for if you can only grab one.

[coyotekells]

Originally Posted by coyotekells

Tenor sax (solo) on jazz flavored hip hop/rnb song...

Should I get M160 or M260? (or even an M130)

I'm not gonna stress, I'm sure any will "work", but curious what you'd reach for if you can only grab one.

Well I got an R84 so I didn't have to make that decision
Happy with the results (used a tube LDC at distance blended with the close mic)..