Shinybox or Cascade?

[Vin CYCLONE]

Well, I want to try buying one of these for general use, anything you might use a ribbon for. Which do you prefer? Let me know if u have standard transformer or any of the upgrades. I have the Nady rsm-2 and a Royer 121. But that should not matter. What do you think about these?
Your opinions are much appreciated!
Best,
Vin

[mjau]

I know nothing about the cascade (though they certainly look appealing), but I do have a matched pair of the shiny box 46mx's w/ lundahl trannies in them, and they are wonderful. I've used them on drum overheads (the cure for splatty cymbals), acoustic guitar (wow), and yesterday as a blumlein pair in a small room while tracking lots of noisy guitar. One cool thing about shiny box is that the guy who essentially builds them (from the routine ribbon into what they turn into) shows up on the message board and is great about any questions you've got.

[getreel]

I like my Cascade Fat Head pretty well. It's no magic bullet, but can sound pretty good on some sources like annoying vocals and especially guitar amps. I've talked about it on several other threads so you could probably find more comments on here on other threads. It is a little funky on my voice but sounds really good for piercing honky tonk vocals. Sounds great on acoustic paired with a SDC.

[doc]

I like my Shinybox 23 (discontinued). This was the stock Shinybox ribbon with no upgrades. For the money ($165), I love it. For kicks a few weeks ago I put it up against my Royer SF-12. While the Shinybox didn't sound nearly as nice (it really shouldn't for an over $2000 difference), it sounded more like one would expect a ribbon mic to sound like. There was less high end and it had those kind of wooly, yet smooth characteristics. It sounds great with a little high end eq added in and I use it all the time on vocals, acoustic guitars, drum overhead, and piano. Plus, when buying from Shinybox, you get to talk to Jon and really know who you're buying from and what his philosophy on ribbon mics is. Getting to interact with the person who designed and partially built/modified the equipment you're buying is a very cool and relatively unique situation these days. Someday, I'll own a pair with the Cinemag or Lundahl transformers.

-doc

[Recycled_Brains]

i really dig my 46c shiny. the only other ribbon i've compared it to is a royer 121, and i could see the royer maybe being better for certain applications, but they're very different animals.

i recently finished mixing a record for my girlfriend who does "singer-song writer" type stuff, and i used it for the bulk of the ac. guitars, and all but 2 vocal tracks, and am pretty stoked on how it came out. it's very sensitive to placement and it took me a bit to get it sounding how i pictured it in my head, but once i got it to work, i got some really smooth and mellow sounds out of it. on the one track that i used the royer for, i found the it to be more agressive sounding... it barks at you a bit (in a good way).

i won't say they're good for the price, rather that they're just good mics regardless of cost.

the master for the aforementioned record just came back, so once she evaluates it a bit more, i'll post some clips in the "listen to my stuff" forum for you to check out.

-ryan

[ulriggribbons]

If I say something now, it's gonna sound like one of them Hair Club for Men ads , which would be appropriate, as I've got no frick'n hair!

ju

[JWL]

+1 on the Shinybox, though in fairness I should say I've never tried the Cascade.

I also have a stock Shinybox 23, that has a wonderful sound that complements condensers well.

I did recently order a cinemag CM-9888 transformer that I plan to install this week. By all accounts it should make a great mic even better.

Also agreed that Jon (fum) is incredibly helpful with every question I've asked him. In my case it's mostly about modding the 23. I already did Michael Joly's mod shortly after I got it last year, and he was very helpful both then and when I recently asked him a question about mounting the Cinemag.

[Vin CYCLONE]

Thanks guys! Really great responses. I appreciate your comments so much.
I got a real good buzz on the Shinybox now; but I'm gonna fish a little longer for comments on the Cascade. If you want to weigh in, feel free. Respect to my fellow travelers.
Vin

[Eric Rottmayer]

I love my Shiny Box 23 & 46...they were my first ribbons and I really haven't
had the desire (or the money?) to get another. I'm still getting all kinds of sounds
from both of these mics. They are very versital depending on what pre/signal
path you use and of course playing with placement. As far as quality and smarts,
the Shiny Box is way ahead of other ribbons in the same price range.

The box, mic sleeve & even the simple mounts have been the icing on the cake.

I even dropped (please shoot me...) my 23 during a session and it bounced on
the ground. I fully expected to pay for that mistake but I either got lucky or
these are pretty durable mics, cause it was not damaged.

[littlepokey]

I actually own both these mics, and would be happy to pass on my impressions. I have the Shinybox 23 and the cascade fathead. Niether has fancy transformer upgrades or modifications. I like them both quite a bit.

The Shinybox is slightly darker sounding, but very rich. I ve gotten great results with horns and in particular tenor sax. I recently had a session with a gypsy jazz band, and it was really nice on a D-hole maccafarri type guitar. Real present and round. Still sounded detailed, without sounding "peaky". That style of guitar playing is so aggressive. Although spiky pick noise is part of "the sound" the mic rounded out the edges a little and it seemed to sit a lot better than the Large diaphram condenser mic that I was also using (ended up throwing the LDC track away at mixdown). I have not been able to detect any difference between the front and back of the mic. Clients doing any type of vintage or retro type music seemed to be impressed with the appearance also. It s funny to me (but undeniable) how appearance can affect a client's perception of the sound coming out.

The Cascade on the other hand is a little brighter and more modern sounding to me. The back of the mic is slightly brighter still. I have used this with great success on Bari sax, clarinet, and certain vocalists. My vocals in particular (which sound thin and a little lifeless) sound richer and more present. Had remarkable results at one session with this mic on fiddle. This mic is another nice one to look at. I actually think the "lollipop look" is pretty cool.

Both came with cases that store the mics vertically, although the cascade came with a shockmount as well. I think I paid about the same price for each of them (about $150, although I cant remember exactly). Both of these mics are on the low end of the price spectrum, look great and sound pleasing, so why not? Anyway, I hope this helps.

-m

[LifeGoesOff]

I finally got my stereo pair of Fathead II's in the mail today!! I quickly A/B'd them with the Royer 121's I have here at the studio and the results were interesting. The Royers have always had a sort of "artificial" sound to them in the upper mids and highs and the cascades felt so much smoother to me. The Cascades also have a nice tight low bump to them, which I loved on drum OH's.

I'm going to see if I can demo a Coles this week to A/B with the Cascades.

[stevebozz]

I have the fat heads.. had good results using them on guitar, trumpet and sax. Drum OH's sound good but not as thrilling as I hoped.

Definitely adds more warmth to things. Got a stereo pair for $270 shipped, with a free cable tester. (use the make an offer option on their website)

[craigb156]

I love my Shiny Boc MXL 46. Thinking of getting another....

Craig

[ulriggribbons]

And in breaking news, I recently got in a new stock of mics, so can offer the non-customized, $175 version of the microphone again.

A lot of people had asked for it (and I didn't have enough inventory to do both custom/non custom), so we'll call it back by popular demand.

Regards

ju

[jackson park]

Are you referring to the discontinued Shinybox 23's? It still says discontinued on the website but --horse's mouth... sorry you're not a horse. But I hope you mean the 23's.