Ribbon Mic flavor options

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Kyle
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Ribbon Mic flavor options

Post by Kyle » Fri Nov 30, 2007 10:46 am

I remember reading that the Royer ribbons exhibit different qualities depending on which lobe was pointed at the source you were recording. I seem to remember that the negative lobe was a touch darker than the positive lobe.

I know a lot of folks around here remove the filter material out of their ribbons.
Has anyone experimented with removing the material from one side of the ribbon? If so, what did you find?

I?m wondering is this would be a way to get different flavors out of the mic or if it would effect the mic in a negative way. It might be cool to have a mic that I can flip around on a source to get a different flavor depending on what the song needs.


Thanks
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digitaldrummer
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Post by digitaldrummer » Fri Nov 30, 2007 11:14 am

most ribbons I have tried do sound different on the back and front sides.

as far as mods, it depends on the mic. some of them have two distinct halves that make it easy to remove only 1/2 the stuffing. others, like my Nady RSM-2 would have no way to secure only 1/2 of the mesh (unless you glued it) .

But then if you are doing this kind of mod, we ain't talking Royers anymore are we? the cheap mics have all that windscreen in there because they don't want noobs blowing them up and sending them back for warranty or replacements (quickly eats into the profits). I think most agree that these extra layers are not needed if you treat the mics like a good mic and not a SM57 (aka hammer when you can't get that thumbscrew on the stage lights loose after the gig...).
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Post by A-Barr » Fri Nov 30, 2007 11:33 am

The Royer mic's sound brighter on the back half; this is due to an asymmetrical ribbon design, that, AFAIK, no other ribbon mic's use. It is a useful feature, but it's not quite like 2 mic's in one, imo, it's about as useful as having a low cut option on a mic, a different thing, but a similar level of usefulness.

I think the funky black square Oktava ribbons from the 80's use acoustic filtering to make themselves cardioid, some old RCA's (Varacoustics) did this too, haven't heard such great things about the technique, but it's worth a shot.

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Post by Kyle » Fri Nov 30, 2007 12:06 pm

most ribbons I have tried do sound different on the back and front sides.
That's interesting. Thanks for the tip. I have a decent ribbon collection; AEA, Shinybox, Octava, Cascade, Nady and I never even thought about trying the negative side of the mic other than in MS. I can't wait to try this out.

Like A-Barr mentioned with the Royer, it would be cool to flip the mic and get slight low cut.

Is the same true with fig. 8 LDC's?
Kyle

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A-Barr
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Post by A-Barr » Fri Nov 30, 2007 12:18 pm

Kyle wrote:
Is the same true with fig. 8 LDC's?

Well, I don't know. But look at this link http://www.bigdmc.com/AT4050-CM5.html
Multipattern condensor mic, see how different the frequency response is for different polar patterns?

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Post by KilledByAlbany » Fri Nov 30, 2007 1:04 pm

There is a Nady Ribbon mic that uses the same asymmetrical ribbon placement as the Royers, only it is backwards, ostensibly to "cleverly" avoid patent infringement. I think it's the RSM-4, though don't quote me on that.

If you search a little, there are a few old threads with Michael Joly gives some good instructions on getting all of that unnecessary windscreening out of cheap ribbons, which really opens up the frequency response on some of them. I have a Nady RSM-1 that lit up like a christmas tree once I took out all of the screening and silk and what not, and threw it up over a drumset.

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Post by pjwhite » Fri Nov 30, 2007 1:09 pm

Does anybody else see the humor here?

Image

:lol:

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Post by Michael_Joly » Fri Nov 30, 2007 1:21 pm

KilledByAlbany wrote:There is a Nady Ribbon mic that uses the same asymmetrical ribbon placement as the Royers, only it is backwards, ostensibly to "cleverly" avoid patent infringement. I think it's the RSM-4, though don't quote me on that.
Close! The Nady RSM-3 (discontinued) "Royer-look" mic had an offset ribbon. An alternate brand of this mic is still available on eBay as the "N-sonic NS-1".

The earlier Nady RSM-5 mics sold in wooden cases with velvet bag and shock mount had offset ribbons. But that is no longer true. Just today I discovered the newer RSM-5 mics sold in cardboard boxes without shock mount have re-designed motors for symmetrical ribbon placement in the magnetic gap. An attempt to get further away from the Royer-patented offset ribbon design?

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Post by KilledByAlbany » Fri Nov 30, 2007 1:26 pm

Speak of the devil!

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