Mic mods

mrlizard · 18th October 2007, 04:46 PM

heres another interesting article i found on modding cheap condensors to make them usable

Making Mics Better: a Practical DIY Project, by Scott Dorsey

I_got_a_mohawk · 18th October 2007, 05:29 PM

Dont know as much on the subject, but i recently bought a nice little ribbon mic, cheap one, but it sounds pretty decent, maybe a bit dull in the high end (but thats what the vintage vibe is all about), not extra noise etc. The ribbon seems to be fine, and it doesnt swing out of the magnetic field. Any worthwhile mods for ribbon mics? (only really hear them about condensors)

mrlizard · 18th October 2007, 08:49 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by I_got_a_mohawk

Dont know as much on the subject, but i recently bought a nice little ribbon mic, cheap one, but it sounds pretty decent, maybe a bit dull in the high end (but thats what the vintage vibe is all about), not extra noise etc. The ribbon seems to be fine, and it doesnt swing out of the magnetic field. Any worthwhile mods for ribbon mics? (only really hear them about condensors)

depends on the ribbon, stephen sank seems to be the main man for ribbon mods. He replaces beyer ribbons with RCA ribbons as far as i know. What was the mic you picked up? there are alot of good ribbon mics to be picked up on a budget, beyers especially. Theres probably info on the net about modding beyer ribbons, dont know about the other ones. There must be various mods, but i think if the design of the enclosure is bad to begin with you're never going to get a good mic out of it.

About the 'vintage' sound of ribbons, i don't think they sound vintage at all, good ones sound un-hyped to my ears, not dull at all.

It really depends on the mic though as with any other type of mic, for example, my royer sounds fairly dark and takes really well to eq, but my beyer m260s sound as bright as my 4033's but with a different character.

They need a ridiculous amount of gain though so you really need a pre thats up to the job. My RNP and my UA pre's are both too noisy to use with ribbons, works fine on guitar amps or drums, but on quieter things like acoustic or voice theres not enough signal. Royer do active ribbons now to solve that problem, theres the impedence issue with cheap pre's too. I'm sure alot of people buy ribbons, plug them in and get a dull sound from the cheap pre/impedence issues and think it sounds vintage, they sound dull when they need re-ribboned too. Delicate little fuckers.

If you're into ribbon mics, go on the royer ribbon mic site and have a listen to some of the audio examples from the demo cd, you'll hear what i mean about the vintage thing.

Royers are pretty much modern versions of mics like the RCA77DX but with a clever design so it can handle the SPLs. AEA make some pretty awesome ones too, there was talk a while ago of an AEA mic with an indestructable ribbon, imagine a figure of 8 ribbon in a kick, one side picking up the batter the other picking up the resonant, mmmmmmmm.
One of the best kick sounds i ever got was the royer 4 feet away from the kick, i was scared to go any closer.

Sorry to harp on, but i love ribbons, they are totally amazing.

I_got_a_mohawk · 18th October 2007, 11:28 PM

Cheers ill have a look about, the enclosure is pretty good, no extrenuous resonances

I shouldnt have said dull, you phrased it better by saying unhyped.

Ive not actually tried it with a seperate pre yet, ive only tried it direct into my Firepod, which while it does have mic pres, they arent controllable, the Tampa and Eureka ive got both have the variable input impedence, so i dare say that will help liven it up a little. And they both have plenty of gain, especially the eureka.

That idea of having one in a kick would be awesome!

Im sorry if its really a bit of a short reply, but im really new to the world of mics, i have seen a number of the ones your mentioning, but they are a tad too pricey for me atm.

I got a generic chinese one from Thomann.de - T-Bone RM700 (own brand), i must admit tho, it was alot better sounding than i was expecting, granted probably not much on a Royer 122, but its a fraction of the price

(and it came in a pretty nifty case) :

(Like i said, there are a number out there the exact same as this, theres a Nady and at least one other thats identical which ive seen)

Must admit, i LOVE the sound it has for distorted/overdriven guitar, sounds sooooo amazingly beefy when compared to a dynamic!

18th October 2007, 04:46 PM	#1 (permalink)
mrlizard Senior Member Join Date: Jul 2003 Location: The Glen of Tranquility Posts: 1,034	Mic mods heres another interesting article i found on modding cheap condensors to make them usable Making Mics Better: a Practical DIY Project, by Scott Dorsey

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18th October 2007, 05:29 PM	#2 (permalink)
I_got_a_mohawk Senior Member Join Date: Dec 2003 Location: Blairgowrie Posts: 4,749 Band: Spengler	Dont know as much on the subject, but i recently bought a nice little ribbon mic, cheap one, but it sounds pretty decent, maybe a bit dull in the high end (but thats what the vintage vibe is all about), not extra noise etc. The ribbon seems to be fine, and it doesnt swing out of the magnetic field. Any worthwhile mods for ribbon mics? (only really hear them about condensors)

18th October 2007, 11:28 PM	#4 (permalink)
I_got_a_mohawk Senior Member Join Date: Dec 2003 Location: Blairgowrie Posts: 4,749 Band: Spengler	Cheers ill have a look about, the enclosure is pretty good, no extrenuous resonances I shouldnt have said dull, you phrased it better by saying unhyped. Ive not actually tried it with a seperate pre yet, ive only tried it direct into my Firepod, which while it does have mic pres, they arent controllable, the Tampa and Eureka ive got both have the variable input impedence, so i dare say that will help liven it up a little. And they both have plenty of gain, especially the eureka. That idea of having one in a kick would be awesome! Im sorry if its really a bit of a short reply, but im really new to the world of mics, i have seen a number of the ones your mentioning, but they are a tad too pricey for me atm. I got a generic chinese one from Thomann.de - T-Bone RM700 (own brand), i must admit tho, it was alot better sounding than i was expecting, granted probably not much on a Royer 122, but its a fraction of the price (and it came in a pretty nifty case) : (Like i said, there are a number out there the exact same as this, theres a Nady and at least one other thats identical which ive seen) Must admit, i LOVE the sound it has for distorted/overdriven guitar, sounds sooooo amazingly beefy when compared to a dynamic!