Tape Op/PPA ribbon mic

JASIII · Post by **JASIII** » Tue Nov 01, 2005 1:28 pm

I used one on a blues vocal session the other night and damn did I have to crank the pre! Anybody find a good mic/pre match you like?

trodden · Post by **trodden** » Tue Nov 01, 2005 1:29 pm

JASIII wrote:I used one on a blues vocal session the other night and damn did I have to crank the pre! Anybody find a good mic/pre match you like?

i've used my api 3124+ and symetrix sx202 with good results.

Evergreen · Post by **Evergreen** » Tue Nov 01, 2005 1:39 pm

JASIII wrote:I used one on a blues vocal session the other night and damn did I have to crank the pre! Anybody find a good mic/pre match you like?

Great River me-1nv. Thats what I use. Works real well.

junkstar · Post by **junkstar** » Tue Nov 01, 2005 2:16 pm

I've used mine on mandolin with some apparent success (have not really listened to the track much yet), and have used it with great success on some violin tracking I did recently. Have not used them at all on anything else yet. I'm a sad, pitiful man.

inverseroom · Post by **inverseroom** » Tue Nov 01, 2005 3:14 pm

JASIII wrote:I used one on a blues vocal session the other night and damn did I have to crank the pre! Anybody find a good mic/pre match you like?

Hamptone!!!

soundguy · Post by **soundguy** » Tue Nov 01, 2005 5:14 pm

trodden wrote:
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.

thats where ringing comes from on all mics, the grill forms an acoustic chamber around the capsule, until I spent time listening to different grille designs around the same capsule and mic circuit I never would have imagined how much of a crazy cracy crazy effect the grill has on a microphone. The grille design is %50 of the mic without thinking twice. You can take the most awesome capsule and the most awesome circuit and put it around the wrong grille and have a worthless mic.

Anyhow, when dealing with that mic its obviously pretty quickly that the grille on there was stuck there to look good well before anyone thought about how it performed as a mic. With a different grille on there you'd have a much more useful mic.

dave

T-rex · Post by **T-rex** » Tue Nov 01, 2005 6:08 pm

For OH's I love them. I used them to track some drums for a couple of moody songs for my band and they did just the trick. I even tried them with the Johns method and had really good results.

I haven't had too many preamp issues. My tascam board has plenty of gain and other than that I have used some Studio Projects VTB1 pres. Cheap but plenty of gain.

Is it just me or are the XLR jacks on the mic too small to accept any mic cables except the ones that came with it?

Evergreen · Post by **Evergreen** » Tue Nov 01, 2005 6:39 pm

T-rex wrote:For OH's I love them. I used them to track some drums for a couple of moody songs for my band and they did just the trick. I even tried them with the Johns method and had really good results.

I haven't had too many preamp issues. My tascam board has plenty of gain and other than that I have used some Studio Projects VTB1 pres. Cheap but plenty of gain.

Is it just me or are the XLR jacks on the mic too small to accept any mic cables except the ones that came with it?

It's nice to hear they work well on OHs. As far as the xlr I have not had any problem using other cables.

blunderfonics · Post by **blunderfonics** » Tue Nov 01, 2005 6:51 pm

Evergreen wrote:
T-rex wrote:Is it just me or are the XLR jacks on the mic too small to accept any mic cables except the ones that came with it?
It's nice to hear they work well on OHs. As far as the xlr I have not had any problem using other cables.

Mine seem to have problems trouble fitting Neutrik connectors securely but are fine with Switchcraft XLR's. My Behringer ECM8000's have the same problem

Phiz · Post by **Phiz** » Tue Nov 01, 2005 6:52 pm

The XLR connectors on my pair are quite tight too.

Evergreen · Post by **Evergreen** » Tue Nov 01, 2005 6:57 pm

I was using a switchcraft before when i said i had no problem. i just tried a neutrik...what a pain in the ass.

T-rex · Post by **T-rex** » Tue Nov 01, 2005 7:05 pm

Mine must be nuetrik connectors, I just use the cables that came with them to hook to my snakes or other cables.

Yeah, they are a great alternative to condesnsor's for OH's. Most of the time I use them for room mic's, but on the right song/set of cymbals I realy dig what they do. Definitely worth the money and the wait.

Randy · Post by **Randy** » Tue Nov 01, 2005 7:29 pm

I just took the connector off and wired a nice cable to it. I need to find some decent-looking strain relief. Right now I have electrical tape holding the cord in place and leave it on the mic stand to cut down on fiddling. Anyone have a source?

I have used it as drum "overheads" but over head in my basement is not really possible for a figure-8 without getting into some strange reflections off the ceiling. I put them just above head level at a 45 degree angle. They sound nice for some things. I still prefer small-D condensers in that application.

I can't get over how great they sound paired with a bright-sounding condenser on a guitar amp. Just mix the two flavors into one channel and you get the best of both worlds.

They work perfect for my band's singer. He has a very clear and ringing voice, so running that mic through a tube pre and an elopto compressor really did the job. (I think I might be repeating myself here from the Myspace TapeOp forum)

I used the TOMB ribbons mixed with a CAD M179 on the right-hand channel guitar parts, and on its own with the vocals for the songs referenced on this page:

http://messageboard.tapeop.com/viewtopic.php?t=28011

MikeCzech · Post by **MikeCzech** » Tue Nov 01, 2005 9:34 pm

UNDER THE SNARE!!!

I've tried mine on everything, some things were usable, some really sucked.. I don't know how you guys are getting any decent results as overheads results because mine sound like tin cans up there.

Seriously, under the snare, this is my all time favorite snare bottom mic right now.

Randy · Post by **Randy** » Tue Nov 01, 2005 9:57 pm

MikeCzech wrote:UNDER THE SNARE!!!

I've tried mine on everything, some things were usable, some really sucked.. I don't know how you guys are getting any decent results as overheads results because mine sound like tin cans up there.

Seriously, under the snare, this is my all time favorite snare bottom mic right now.

How high is your ceiling? If you only have a few feet between the mic and the ceiling, you are going to get some scary reflections from the top lobe of the figure 8 pickup pattern (sine pickup pattern, for the Brits...)

I haven't had luck using anything but a cardioid mic for ceilings under 12 feet high. Somewhere, some time I heard that 11 feet is the minimum distance you want for avoiding bass nodes. (But then, I also heard that the Sasquatch sells insurance in Saskatoon.)

That's why I used them angled down at the drums, about a foot and a half above the middle of the distance between floor and ceiling. (sorry for the confusing coordinates.) It sounded good that way, well, at least to me...

These drums were mic'd with two TOMB ribbons set up as mentioned, a sennheiser 421 on the kick and a shure Beta 57 on the snare. The bass had a 421 close-up and a TOMB ribbon in the room:

http://www.lungcookierecords.com/randy/mp3/01_song1.mp3

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