Cheap lolly pop & ribbon mics.

[aurt]

One question, if/when the ribbon gets torched (visiting eng. mikes kick drum with it, etc.), what is their reribbon procedure/policy? I suppose I have no problem with postage to China, but with them selling to Nady and who knows who else, I've got to wonder if they have a service center they contract with on this side of the pond.

 

[Marik]

[quote author="aurt"]One question, if/when the ribbon gets torched (visiting eng. mikes kick drum with it, etc.), what is their reribbon procedure/policy? [/quote]

Very simple--no customer support whatsoever.

 

[fum]

I've moved a summary of what I'm working on into the Black Market, where it is more appropriately housed

here:

http://www.groupdiy.com/index.php?topic=5268

I have ordered some spare parts, so I'll be able to help get it back on it's feet hopefully. Some of the spares are going to my own education/practice.

Can't speak to what Nady or PPA are doing.

ju

 

[aurt]

So extra ribbons are available separately? What sort of minimum?

 

[okgb]

if the price is close or comperable , i know people have been bugging
you ! , i'm in [ 2 ] , so i'm leaving this post don't know if you want anything else to be done for now ?

Just teasing , but how are you going to match all those mics !!!!!!!

regards Greg

 

[bradzatitagain]

Anybody know the dcr on the element for this mic? Easier to figure if the Cinemag AEA xt or Lundahl xt would work best.

 

[clintrubber]

Just a question to people who already have one of the various incarnations of this ribbon:

How is the sensitivity ? Indeed something as quoted or do you really need a lot more gain
than usual ?
Based on the specced figure alone it'd be comparable to say an SM57 but how
does it turn out in practice ? A few micpre's I have stop at some 40 dB...
The Green goes up to 66dB, I bet that will be enough.

Thanks,

Peter

 

[Peter Simonsen]

[quote author="clintrubber"]Just a question to people who already have one of the various incarnations of this ribbon:

How is the sensitivity ? Indeed something as quoted or do you really need a lot more gain
than usual ?
Based on the specced figure alone it'd be comparable to say an SM57 but how
does it turn out in practice ? A few micpre's I have stop at some 40 dB...
The Green goes up to 66dB, I bet that will be enough.

Thanks,

Peter[/quote]

Hi Peter, (nice name you got there )

as with all ribbons you´ll need a preamp with lots of gain and headroom...in most situations 40db will not cut it...on top of that to me.. it has to be in the low noise preamp designs..unless you want noise in your recordings..*GG*..on most sources I find the gain needed to be around 50-55db..a little less on loud stuff like drums etc /35-40db)...or so...*S*

Kind regards

Peter ;-)

 

[clintrubber]

from Peter (nice name indeed :wink: ) from Odense (nice city but rainy - nice museum though):

Hi Peter, (nice name you got there )

as with all ribbons you´ll need a preamp with lots of gain and headroom...in most situations 40db will not cut it...on top of that to me.. it has to be in the low noise preamp designs..unless you want noise in your recordings..*GG*..on most sources I find the gain needed to be around 50-55db..a little less on loud stuff like drums etc /35-40db)...or so...*S*

Kind regards

Peter ;-)

Sounds like it will be about enough or just not getting there. Expected sources will be medium to loud though. The Green with its 66dB looks up to the task here.

But with some N*v%-cloning upcoming I'll definitely incorporate the high-gain mod from Joe Malone right away (will be trying that first before eventually adding the additional gain-stage).


An additional thing I was wondering was about plop-prevention. The Thomann-site recommends the additional plop-shield but with the already present internal plop-shielding would that additional layer still required ?
I want to use this mic mainly for micing loud gtr/bss-amps (near or at a distance) but have never seen people using shields for amps (the reverb-tank of my Twin Reverb does spit & ploink a bit though :wink: ).

http://www.netzmarkt.de/thomann/the_tbone_ms_250_prodinfo.html

I've been PMing with Marik about this but he rightfully said that it was hard to tell without having had hands-on experience. So what do people think who have these mics already ?

Bye/thanks,

Peter (...)

 

[Peter Simonsen]

Peter,

regarding the isue with the "popping" and ribbons..I use the.."feel the air in front of the source" secure area placement..meaning I always check for air movements/pops in front of amps, mouths, "other airy instruments here"...etc...I place the ribbon just outside the area where I can feel the air waves move against my hand/lips..this is the "secure ribbon area" for me..if I´m in doubt..even after checking, or if I ..for whatever reason needs to get in closer than that..I always use a pop filter in front of the ribbon mic...I have never in my years had any ribbon blow on me..:-D

Kind regards

Peter

 

[andre tchmil]

what about Phantom power.
Does it hurt the Ribbon ?
I'm asking because I had a phantom powered for about 40 seconds on one of my B&O ribbon mics

 

[fum]

for all of your phantom power and ribbon microphone questions, see this thread: :grin:

http://www.groupdiy.com/index.php?topic=30103#30103

Regards

ju

 

[clintrubber]

from Peter #(N+1):

regarding the isue with the "popping" and ribbons..I use the.."feel the air in front of the source" secure area placement..meaning I always check for air movements/pops in front of amps, mouths, "other airy instruments here"...etc...I place the ribbon just outside the area where I can feel the air waves move against my hand/lips..this is the "secure ribbon area" for me..if I´m in doubt..even after checking, or if I ..for whatever reason needs to get in closer than that..I always use a pop filter in front of the ribbon mic...I have never in my years had any ribbon blow on me..:-D

That looks like a good way of keeping your mics in order, thanks for sharing.
So far I thought of plopshields mostly for vocals but that's just an unjustified preoccupation of me.

Regards,

Peter #(N+2)

 

[Rossi]

The other day I connected my Thomann ribbon mic to a preamp thatwas powered off initially. When I powered on, I realized the phantom power switch was in the on position. The mic still works fine; no damage done.

The preamp was a self-racked V272. So I know the phantom power resistors were matched (+/-0.1 %). Some commercial preamps use unmatched +/- 1 % resistors. Maybe that could be a problem.

 

[Peter Simonsen]

[quote author="andre tchmil"]what about Phantom power.
Does it hurt the Ribbon ?
I'm asking because I had a phantom powered for about 40 seconds on one of my B&O ribbon mics[/quote]

I can only speak for myself...and let me tell you..in all my years with ribbons..I have never had one fail on me because of phantom power..And I must admit that I for one never cared about it...!!!..Heard all the talk and speculations..I just never had any "bad luck" with it..and I often leave Phantom power on all the time..Yeah..I know..call me lazy or whatever ;-)...I just dont think to much about it in a session..*S*

Kind regards

Peter

 

[bradzatitagain]

Friend Rick at www.uneeda-audio.com mentions:

Phantom Power and TT/TRS Patch Bays

If you're building a studio, this is a bad idea. Avoid it.

Use XLR connectors instead. Yes, they're not as high density as a TT bay. Don't hot patch microphones when the phantom powering is turned on. Turn the phantom power off first. Even this may not be sufficient.

The problem is that the tip of the plug can contact ground as the plug is being inserted.  With a transformerless input, this can discharge/charge the input blocking capacitors thru the microphone's output transformer. This could magnetize the core of the transformer, zap a ribbon microphone, or (remote possibility) damage a dynamic microphone.

With a transformer coupled input, you risk magnetizing the core of the console's input transformer, ruining its distortion characteristics.

If the microphone's output is transformer coupled, the microphone's output transformer could also have its core magnetized, ruining its distortion characteristics.

This is not good.

 

[fum]

For those that have phantom in the bay (sounds like an opera =) ). Once phantom is turned off, would it be a good idea to creat some sort of dummy plug that would drain off any voltage sitting there to ground, before plugging in a microphone?

Thoughts?

ju