someone told me today that the GALAXY AUDIO Model ST-R3 is the same mic as the candy kam ribbon , anyone know if its true?

...well sammysam, does this look familiar?

Products Ningbo Tongxin Electronic Factory

...many of the KAM Instrument mics and the Galaxy Audio mics originate from the same source...

wow, 100% so its cheaper just to get that Ningbo brand? and have you tested the kam cabdy, with phantom power non the less, a few of friends like the specs , but have not tested it , im in the market for my first ribbon for male vocals mostly

...first, Ningbo is not a brand, they are a manufacturer...you cannot buy retail from them...they supply brands like those you referenced...

...secondly, I prefer passive-ribbon mics myself, (the mic you refer to is an "active" ribbon, meaning it has a built-in preamplifier circuit)...IMHO, the inexpensive active-ribbon mics I've tried did not sound as smooth and natural as the passive-ribbon mics I've used...but with a passive-ribbon mic, it is necessary to have 60-65dB of clean gain available from you mic preamp...if not you can buy "The Durham Ribbon/Dynamic Mic Buffer Amp" which will add 20-25dB of clean gain to your preamp to be used with any passive ribbon/dynamic mic:
Microphone Parts : Cathedral Pipes Microphones

...the mic I prefer on male vocals is this "long-ribbon" mic:
Cascade Microphones Victor Long Ribbon Microphone 100 B&H Photo

...more info here:
Cascade Microphones Victor | RecordingHacks.com
Chinese ribbon microphone buyer's guide | recording hacks

yea, it will be perfect with my jbl 5306 , the jbl has tons of clean gain, very underrated pre , ok i will look into the cascade, wow great price m let me check out demos on line,thanks kidvybes

so there is one with the transformer option at double the price, is it worth the extra $150?

...I have both...while the Lundahl-equipped version has some extended response on both top and bottom-end frequencies, if male vocals are your primary use, I'm not sure you will see a difference worthy of the additional expense...plus, you can always swap out the tranny at a later date with this (Lundahl-like) option, used by many of the ribbon mic-modders/builders:
https://www.edcorusa.com/rmx1

...a fairly simple process (do some research on the web for more info)...BUT, I suspect you'll be pleased with the stock version...

...Cascade ribbon mics are already modded (upgraded wiring, removal of inner mesh basket and secondary headbasket mesh, and ribbon-tensioning QC)...IMHO, best ribbon mics for the money, unless you happen to be in Europe, in which case JP Gerard's version is also recommended:
NoHype Audio Products: Quality Affordable Audio Equipment

oK Kidvybes, i went and ordered a nohype with regular trans from our friend here ..

Hey just wanted to bump this thread! I'm new here, but was wondering if anyone has had any more experience with these mics yet! I found some pop up for a reasonably low price while looking for an md421 on ebay and the listing title said it was comparable to the md421. This is for the Kam Spectrum btw. Should I believe it? I could get about three Kam mics on ebay for the price of one md421 but I just want to make sure that would be a good move first, and this is about the only place on the internet I could find any information about these mics, other than the Kam website.

Kamille...are you KAM?

Hahaha WHATEVER WOULD MAKE YOU THINK THAT??? So these microphones are great right???