the return of the ubertar ribbon mic

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ubertar
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the return of the ubertar ribbon mic

Post by ubertar » Thu Jun 20, 2019 12:54 pm

Rather than add to that ancient and mammoth thread, I'll just reference it here:
viewtopic.php?f=14&t=66614&hilit=uberta ... on#p567389

Someone was looking for ribbon mic motors and found me, even though it's been some years since I've made them. I'd been thinking about making some again, and had a new design in mind to try out. So he ordered a couple to start with, and I ordered the parts. Made a couple for myself and put them in these wooden boxes that look like mouse coffins. Here's a sound sample, with acoustic guitar, just one mic in mono:
http://www.ubertar.com/creot/2019-06-20.wav

Image

The recording was done with the back closed. There's no vent on the back. It should sound significantly different with the back open (it opens with a hinge). I'll do a sample like that next.

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ubertar
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Re: the return of the ubertar ribbon mic

Post by ubertar » Thu Jun 20, 2019 3:18 pm

Here's a clip with the back door open. Makes a huge difference, I think:
http://www.ubertar.com/creot/uberribbon2open.wav

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Re: the return of the ubertar ribbon mic

Post by kslight » Thu Jun 20, 2019 4:50 pm

The case reminds me of some cheesy kids wood working kit my brother had...his was an outhouse though... I dig it

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Re: the return of the ubertar ribbon mic

Post by digitaldrummer » Fri Jun 21, 2019 7:25 am

cool. the door is very "pignose'.... i can see where having both options would be useful. With the back closed it's much more immediate, and maybe a bit lo-fi too. with the back open its much more natural sounding I guess? so many options for donor chassis's too.... :D
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ubertar
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Re: the return of the ubertar ribbon mic

Post by ubertar » Sat Jun 22, 2019 11:43 am

Did another recording, this time with two mics, both open, on guitar and doumbek.
http://www.ubertar.com/creot/guitar_doumbek_ribbon.wav

This time I did some more processing... eq, noise reduction, compression, reverb

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Re: the return of the ubertar ribbon mic

Post by Snarl 12/8 » Sat Jun 22, 2019 2:53 pm

I'm confused. What are you selling? I'm interested, but not clear what you're offering exactly.
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Re: the return of the ubertar ribbon mic

Post by ubertar » Sat Jun 22, 2019 4:03 pm

Oh... that's because I'm not actually selling anything right now, other than the couple motors the guy commissioned. The other two I made for myself. I'd be open to making a batch of them, if enough people were interested, or just the motors, if that's what people want, but I mainly just wanted to get some feedback on how they sound.

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Re: the return of the ubertar ribbon mic

Post by I'm Painting Again » Sat Jun 22, 2019 4:55 pm

they sound dope

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Re: the return of the ubertar ribbon mic

Post by ubertar » Tue Jun 25, 2019 7:41 am

Thanks, man.

The ribbons in these are 2.5 microns thick; I'm thinking of trying out some 1.8... that should give it more detail and clarity, and hopefully higher output.

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Re: the return of the ubertar ribbon mic

Post by drumsound » Tue Jun 25, 2019 9:59 am

In you first example, with the box closed, are you playing a dobro, or is that what the "chamber" of the box does to the sound of the guitar?

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Re: the return of the ubertar ribbon mic

Post by ubertar » Tue Jun 25, 2019 11:28 am

Ordinary dreadnought, Yamaha FG-335 ii. Same guitar in all the clips.

Would it make sense to go any thinner than 1.8 microns? The stuff is available. 2.5 is hard enough to work with without destroying. Just curious if anyone's tried out various thicknesses to compare.

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Re: the return of the ubertar ribbon mic

Post by I'm Painting Again » Tue Jun 25, 2019 2:43 pm

better transient response (detail) and higher amplitude output I think are the main advantages

to me it equates to higher fidelity and an apparent airier quality up top

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Re: the return of the ubertar ribbon mic

Post by ubertar » Wed Jun 26, 2019 10:03 am

I'm going to try out some 1.8 micron and see what that does. Would people be interested in these, at say, fifty bucks a pop? If I knew I could sell ten of them, it would make it worth doing a batch, and justify buying all the materials and spending the time experimenting. I'm enjoying it anyway, but it'd be nice to recoup my costs and maybe even make a little dough.

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Re: the return of the ubertar ribbon mic

Post by Snarl 12/8 » Wed Jun 26, 2019 12:22 pm

I'll take 2 and I can pay!
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Re: the return of the ubertar ribbon mic

Post by darjama » Wed Jun 26, 2019 4:22 pm

Snarl 12/8 wrote:
Wed Jun 26, 2019 12:22 pm
I'll take 2 and I can pay!
Lol. I find myself using this old school TOMB deep cut with friends and family and they just look at me funny, or funnier than usual.

One of the two TOMB ribbon mics I got in the group buy is still working nicely and is a favorite of the singer in my band. I'm tempted to upgrade the transformer (having previously dampened the body with foam and removed a few layers of screens), but I'm afraid to mess with it too much since it has a use.


Back on topic, I've read places that using the thinner ribbon gets the most benefit using a different transformer, but I forget if it's supposed to be higher or lower ratio.

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