Tape Op/PPA ribbon mic

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Evergreen
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Tape Op/PPA ribbon mic

Post by Evergreen » Tue Nov 01, 2005 11:26 am

Was their ever a good thread on the old board about these before it was shut down ? I don't remember. Anyway, we have all had these for a while now...what are you using them for? Have they found a home? I like to throw one in front of a banjo and mandolin...smooths them out a bit. I like how one side is darker than the other. It's like two mics in one.
How do they work as overheads?...I haven't had the chance to try yet.

Tim

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Post by inverseroom » Tue Nov 01, 2005 11:35 am

I like mine on vocals a lot. Haven't tried much else with it yet. I did open it up and remove to the two pieces of nylon in there--a sheet in front of the element and a little bag over the whole assembly. This gave me some more high end. Here's a link to a track I did a couple weeks ago (for Halloween)...there are some judicious EQ cuts on this voc...I was going for a Patsy Cline kind of sound. Except with, you know, me singing. :oops:

http://www.helstab.com/music/inverse/I% ... %20Die.mp3

It was very, very worth a hundred bucks!

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trodden
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Post by trodden » Tue Nov 01, 2005 11:50 am

I've only used it as a room mic so far. It's worked with great success. I used it on a trash/garage rock combo the other week. Placed between them.. one side picking up the back side of the fender twin combo and the other side for the drums. In combo with the drum OH mic (AT 4047), those two mics were the most prominent in the mix. Filled in the gaps with a little guitar, kick, snare close mic. but the ribbon and the oh on their own was pretty good sounding.

Looking forward to trying it out on mandolin and violin sometime.

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Post by workshed » Tue Nov 01, 2005 11:59 am

I haven't tried mine a ton, but I tried it as a room mic for a marshall half stack and it sounded too boxy for my tastes... also tried it on some screamy vocals and it didn't seem to have enough high end. I mean, I was actually trying to reduce the higher frequencies in the screams, but it seemed like too much reduction. I need to sit down and give it some more time to find what it works best on. I don't mind it on my own vocals too much, actually, but I think I will try to remove the filters one of mine, as Inverseroom mentioned, to try and squeeze some more high end out of it.

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Post by Evergreen » Tue Nov 01, 2005 12:20 pm

I like the fact that it tends to roll off the high end. It's different that my other ribbon, the beyer m160 which does not roll off the high end at all. It's a nice contrast. It makes my cheap mandolin sound not so cheap.

Tim

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inverseroom
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Post by inverseroom » Tue Nov 01, 2005 12:22 pm

Johnny want a Beyer M160. Johnny want bad.

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soundguy
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Post by soundguy » Tue Nov 01, 2005 12:22 pm

have you guys done anything to deal with the grille resonances?

the grille design on that microphone is in my estimation a couple generations from being finished. I initially liked the mic but the grill rings like a bitch.

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inverseroom
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Post by inverseroom » Tue Nov 01, 2005 12:25 pm

I debated with myself the possibility of removing the inner basket and leaving the nylon bag on. But I came to my senses...

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Post by Evergreen » Tue Nov 01, 2005 12:25 pm

inverseroom wrote:Johnny want a Beyer M160. Johnny want bad.
the beyer is AWESOME on my j45.

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inverseroom
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Post by inverseroom » Tue Nov 01, 2005 12:31 pm

Evergreen wrote:
inverseroom wrote:Johnny want a Beyer M160. Johnny want bad.
the beyer is AWESOME on my j45.
Oh fuck!!! That's my guitar too!

*rummages in wife's purse for change*

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trodden
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Post by trodden » Tue Nov 01, 2005 12:42 pm

soundguy wrote:have you guys done anything to deal with the grille resonances?

the grille design on that microphone is in my estimation a couple generations from being finished. I initially liked the mic but the grill rings like a bitch.

dave
is that where that ring is coming from? hehe, i've notices that as well. I've not done any jacksons to it yet though.

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Post by Evergreen » Tue Nov 01, 2005 12:42 pm

the only other mic i use on j45 more than the m160 is the gefell umt70s...slightly more awesome because i can change polar patterns. sometimes you want hyper(m160) sometimes figure 8 sometimes omni.
The only problem with the m160 is the low output...which is fine most of the time but i love to distort the preamp. :D

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Post by Evergreen » Tue Nov 01, 2005 12:45 pm

soundguy wrote:have you guys done anything to deal with the grille resonances?

the grille design on that microphone is in my estimation a couple generations from being finished. I initially liked the mic but the grill rings like a bitch.

dave
I've noticed that too but only when I'm banging on the acoustic which i rarely do with this mic. the source has got to be loud for me to notice.

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Post by blunderfonics » Tue Nov 01, 2005 12:58 pm

So far I've tried them on Guitar amps (close and distant) and as room mics for drums. I can't say I've really loved them on a guitar amp yet but I do really like them in a Blumlein configuration out in front of a drum kit about waist high. With this set up I was able to get a nicely burly room sound that kept out of the way of the overheads. I will be trying them as overheads in a couple weeks...we'll see how they do.

Since getting them I've removed the nylon baggie inside the grill and replaced the infuriating xlr connector with a short fixed cable and plastic strain releif thingy.

Did anyone else end up with a pair that was out of phase with each other? I seem to remember this coming up on the old board. I ran into this problem and initially assumed it was just a bad wiring job. I was able to determine which mic had the problem by comparing them to other mics but when I disassembled them to correct the problem both were wired identically. I checked everything I could see without fully dissasembling the mic down to the last screw. I'm thinking that either:

a) the motor was physically inverted before getting wired as it appears to be symetrical
b) the polarity of the magnets were not oriented correctly during assembly.
or
c) The polarity is getting flipped in the transformer (though I find this the least likely explanation).

If there are any ribbon experts out there who might know the best way to test for proper assembly, I'd love to gain some insight before I take the mic apart again. Thanks

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Post by eeldip » Tue Nov 01, 2005 1:24 pm

by resonances are we talking about resonant peaks caused by reflections in the grill or by the grill sympathetically resonating mechanically and transfering that energy to the ribbon?

i havent noticed too many bad peaks... but i've noticed the ringing from vibrations on super loud stuff. i just moved them to a quiter spot...

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