Nady RSM-2 Review

[Wild Bill]

I'm gonna start off and say that I've never really liked Nady mics, but when I saw these released on Harmony Central they raised my curiousity .

I accquired my first set of ribbon mics back in the late 60's. It was right after Vatican II and they were turning the altars around all over ther world in accordance with the new liturgy. This meant that the preist no langer faced away from the congregation and my local church was having trouble with feedback. The figure of eight pattern on their RCA mics was feeding back before they could get enough gain. I was playing in bands at the time and told them that they needed to get some cardiod mics. They repaid my advice by giving a matched set of RCA 77's. I didn't know enough to know what I had, but when I plugged them into my 1/4 mono full track Revox tape recorder through a matching Altec tube preamp/mixer that they gave me I was an instant convert.

Through the years I've collected quite a few RCA 44's and 77's which are my 'benchmarks" for this review.

I found a couple on ebay for $500.00 for the pair, brand new. I'm starting to record a lot more heavily now that I'm unemployed (LOL) and so I thought I could use a pair so I didn't have to risk my precious vintage units.

The first thing I noticed when I recieved them is the cheesy packaging with "professional studio microphone" plastered all over the package. This worried me a bit as pro mics don't need to advertise the fact that they are, but I took heart and opened the package. "Well", I said to myself, "at least they are hefty enough". They are indeed as heavy as my other ribbons for their size. The build quality is pretty good, too; except for the funky cable retainer and cable clamp thatdoesn't allow the mic to rotate to all the needed position for boom work. Since the warranty is void once you test the mic (due to the fragileribbon) I just modified the clamp after making sure they were "live". So far so good.

The signal chain for all the test is the same. Nady into a Seventh Circle J-series preamp, the directly into a TASCAM MX2424 with the analog board. I used the 96k sampling for these test. The moitoring is a apir of ADAM passives with respectibe McIntosh monoblocks for amplification.
I did a couple of vocal test and the Nady's were right up there with my RCA's. Velvety smooth response, but a bit more "air" in the recording. This got me curious and since I didn't recieve a frequency responce chart with the mics I conducted ahalf ass response test using pink noise and a 1970's SAE RTA that I have lying around. My room is certainly not flat, but I found a bit of a bump in the 2k regeon that my RCA 44's did not show using the same room and setup. Not much, just enough to let it breath.

I then recorded my Takamine AN10 with both sets of mics and found that the NADY mic had the same effect on the guitar. I'm certainly not a design engineer, but I think that it's the microphone screen, not the ribbon that's doing this. In any event, it sort of "modernizes" the sound of the mics without becoming harsh.

The RSM-2 was outstanding as an overhead mic for cymbals for the punk band I recorded Sat and Sun.

I was disappointed a bit when I mic'd a pianno in the basement of our lodge, however. I think that bump mad it too bright and there seemed to be just a bit missing in the transients. Not enough to make it harsh, just noticable.

In conclusion, I would heartily recomend this mic for all those who want a "classical ribbon" sound, but don't want to motgage their house to do it. Truly I don't think that if I didn't have the RCA's to compare it against I would be in seventh heaven with these.

My only question is what is a Nady RSM-1 ?

Miles above any Oktava or Beyer ribbon mike I've tried, this mike is open, sweet, and IMHO should be given a audition to see if it fits in your mic locker, too.

Thanks for your time TapeOpers

[Wild Bill]

BTW I'm gonna go back and correct al the typos and spelling errors later.
I've got rough mixes to work on and I'm tired from recording 24 out of the last 48 hours. I've got great neighbors, let me tell you!!!

[trodden]

Great to hear there Wild Bill. I've been waiting for someone to post some good things (or bad things) about these. What differences would you compare to the Oktava Ml-52 since that is bout the only other ribbon mic under the $400 mark. I've had a handful of successes with that mic but interested in what the nady may offer...

[inverseroom]

Bill, thanks a lot for following through with this--what a great review, very informative! This board again proves its enormous resourcefulness. Now I gotta save up some money again...

[Wild Bill]

The construction of the microphone housing is a lot more open, allowing it to sound less boxy. To be honest I only tried them at the stoes and rejected the Oktavas due to this.

If I get some time later, I'll partially dis-assemle one and show the construction.

[MichaelJoly]

Thanks Wild Bill,

I found your conjecture about the origin of the apx. 2kHz boost you're hearing interesting.

Can you tell us about the construction of the head grille? Is is a double layer or single layer wire mesh and is there a silk layer on the inside of the mesh? Are there any solid mechanical sheilds in front of the ribbon?

I ask because I wonder if Nady has designed the head grille to err on the side of plosive protection for the ribbon rather than on the side of transparency to the surrounding air. This would be a rational design choice given that this new lower cost ribbon mic will be finding its way into many more hands with various levels of skill than what the classic RCAs encountered.

I know this is a totally geek request, but could you estimate how many threads per inch the grille mesh is and what the open area % might be?
http://www.twpinc.com/twp/jsp/product.jsp?type=12 has some great photos of wire mesh sizes as a reference.

thanks again for the great post, MJ

[Wild Bill]

Mike,
I don't think it's "bulletproofed" because the there is no warranty beyond initial inspection "due to the fragile construction of the ribbon element" The emphasis was a quote from NADY. I'm sure they're anticipating the non-initiated blowing into the mic even though it's clearly labeled in very large bold letters in a warning sheet that you have to remove in order to unpack the mic for the first time.

It''s a double wire mesh outer grill. I'm not even gonna try to determine the wire size and thread count because i'm getting on in age I can't interpolate the non-scale photos from the link with my eyes. I do share in your curiousity, however, and will partially disassemble the mic tomorrow and take some photos with something common in the view to help scale them. Maybe you can satisfy both our curiousity and figure out the details in construction materials that way.

Sound cool to you?

[MichaelJoly]

Sounds great Bill.

By the way, although I loved your story about your good fortune as a result of Vatican II changes, I still prefer the mystery of the Latin mass myself.

And as Joseph Campbell noted, prior to Vat II when the priest faced away from the congregation and raised his hands towards the heavens, he addressed the Creator in a sacred act of communication. How different the communication became when the priest turned to face the congregation (audience) in a folksy manner. The communication became spatially bounded by this face-to-face confrontation and the mystery of the priest as conduit to heaven was diminished.

Anyway, all I ever got from church renovations was a collection of EV 636s, you really scored!

best, MJ

[nestle]

OK, somebody popped the cherry on this mic thread. I was going to write a review but sort of enjoyed keeping the secret to myself while everybody diss'd NADY. lol.

I too hadn't much hope for the Nady brand name, but I had a little extra money and admit it.... you were curious too. I always thought they made wireless systems..right? Well I bit, plunked down $329. The mic arrived and i was not dissapointed, the construction is beyond what I had hoped. The mic has a great heft to it. The grille is well made and the body is heavy brass. The mic feels very right. Get the brushed silver version, the gold one looks tacky. The body is this cool vintage green with deep etched gold lettering and logo. A sturdy machined brass yoke.
I have a Epiphone ES295 archtop I really like better than than any other archtop made and the reason is because it sounds like I always expected a archtop would. Thick and full of tone. Well this mic is like that, it sounds exactly the way it looks. I can't say if its close to a DX77 or 44 but it does sound exactly like I thought one would and thats what is important to me. I agree with the the other posts, it's vintage but modern. I've got a Royer 121, thats all I can compare it with. The royer does loud amp duties well usually, so instead I pull the Nady in for my loud DeLuxe, the RMS-2 startled me when I brought the fader up. It is very clear and real. The royer is almost clinical, the Nady sort of gives in a little.. It seems to soak the transients in and smooth them out. It almost reminds me of an 1176 compressor. If this mic did nothing else, just amp duties it would be worth the price. It's still new to me and so far I've only worked with vocals and guitar.The mic pre I used is the UA 610 which seems like a natural vintage match for it, it has plently of gain.
I can't vouch for Nady consistancy or support, but this mic is a serious value so far. It has that ribbon MOJO big time. The proximity effect is very pronounced, it responds well to placement, closer and the lows swell out . When you sing be ready to croon, it's velvety on male vocals. As you move in the fatness comes out. I haven't tried it on female vocals, brass or precussion but I've got high hopes, especially on trumpet. The reason I'm exicited about the RMS-2 is it offers something really unique and new, there is a very strong flavor there. I've worked with the Oktava ribbons and I don't think much of them, I think this mic trumps it all around. I tried the cheaper AEA at the tapeop con and it seemed a little weaker than the RMS-2.
It feels good to confess, I'm sorry I was holding out on everyone, I guess wanted them for myself lol....go get one of these fuckers, they are really cool.

CAUTION::::

BE careful, seems from the literature this mic is very fragile and unlike the Royer VERY harmed by 48V..heads up-

[Wild Bill]

Nestle,
I got two of the cheesy looking gold ones, I guess that's why they wer less (LOL). Yeah, The RSM-2, like the classic RCA's, are very suseptible to phantom power. The ribbon will actually heat up and melt if you're not careful and hit them with current. Also store your ribbon mic in the vertical position for long term storage to avoid stretching the ribbon. These puppies are fragile, but noo more than the RCA/AEA mics.

Glad we got our before the word got out, 'cause once it does, I'm sure the cost of these is going to be driven up due to supply and demand.

[nestle]

Nestle,
I got two of the cheesy looking gold ones, I guess that's why they wer less (LOL). Yeah, The RSM-2, like the classic RCA's, are very suseptible to phantom power. The ribbon will actually heat up and melt if you're not careful and hit them with current. Also store your ribbon mic in the vertical position for long term storage to avoid stretching the ribbon. These puppies are fragile, but noo more than the RCA/AEA mics.

Glad we got our before the word got out, 'cause once it does, I'm sure the cost of these is going to be driven up due to supply and demand.

You've got me thinking what I could do with a pair, dang!!...yikes I can't afford this gear habit.

[bigtoe]

thanks! looks like a cool mic.

Mike

[trodden]

Hey nestle,
you were talking about loud amp duties... did you ever get the mic close enough or the amp loud enough that you heard stress on the ribbon? And if so, how much of a distance or decible amount would it compare to a sm57 on a loud amp
thanks

[Wild Bill]

Here's the promised photos, and they are quite revealing. It's kinda cloudy in Chicago and I was hoping to use a bright sun to avoid using a flash so the first pic is kinda fuzzy (autofous need more light)

The first one shows that I was wrong about the construction. There is a double wire mesh outer grille, the silk, but hidden underneath is another perforated plate grill. This does expain the sonic differences IMHO, the disclamer is that although I have a EE degree, I'm certainly no design engineer.



The second is to size up the mesh screen. It's kinda big and I didn't want to mess up the thread formatting so here's the link instead:

http://tardis.20m.com/nady/grille.jpg

BTW I couldn't make mine distort FWIW.
It's rated at 165dB @1%THD

[nestle]

Hey nestle,
you were talking about loud amp duties... did you ever get the mic close enough or the amp loud enough that you heard stress on the ribbon? And if so, how much of a distance or decible amount would it compare to a sm57 on a loud amp
thanks

As I stated this mic is still new to me and I almost wanted to wait before I commented on it, to be honest so far its been just my DeLuxe not crazy loud. But it's really cool the way the ribbon reacts to an amp, the VU meters reflect what your hearing too. It just takes in the volume and spikey transients and sort of mellow's it out. Like a compressor would but different. There is still clarity and deffinition but nothing peaking out like most other mic's will with program that has
dynamics. Compared to a 57 (which I haven't done A/B) well...a 57 is very midrange-y to me and sort of squwaky. I used to put them up in the late 80's early 90's almost without thinking as the defacto amp mic. They have thier place, but I've moved on. These days I really prefer a 421 if its a dynamic or a 4047 w/pad if its a condensor or a 121 if its a Ribbon, the latter usually winning out lately.
Against the Nady the 57 will likely sound very honky and lifeless. I can't say yet who will win the SPL war but I know who will win the tone war, the Nady hands down-
When I get a little more experience I will follow up asap, this is an on going thing right now. I'm just really enjoying what this mic is doing so far, just a pleasant surprise.