Good budget ribbon mics

[Whoops]

For uni-directional ribbon mics, the Okatava ML-219 is also worth considering.

I can't find any Oktava ML-219 model, there's the MK-219 but that is a LD condenser mic.
maybe it was a typo...

 

[Tubetec]

There is an ML-19/219 alright , bears a similarity with the Beyerdynamic M320/360 , the ML-52 or ML-53 might also be worth a look though .

 

[Whoops]

There is an ML-19/219 alright , bears a similarity with the Beyerdynamic M320/360 , the ML-52 or ML-53 might also be worth a look though .

Can you share a link of it?
would like to check it out but google has no entry for oktava ML-19 or ML-219

 

[Tubetec]

Not sure if this link will work ,

https://duckduckgo.com/?q=Oktava+Ml-19&iar=images&iax=images&ia=images

 

[Austral]

Sorry, ML-19.

There is one listed on UK eBay that mistakenly says 219, which I happened to be looking at. Apologies.

(I have corrected the original post.)

 

[Whoops]

Not sure if this link will work ,

https://duckduckgo.com/?q=Oktava+Ml-19&iar=images&iax=images&ia=images

Thanks mate,
pretty good looking mic, would love to try it out.

strange that yesterday I couldn't find it in google, no entry no photo, but today I tried again and it shows a lot of photos. very strange

Thanks

 

[Rybow]

uni-directional ribbons
I've had my m160 and m260 since 1980. I like them as vocal mics, but the polar pattern deteriorates frequency wise a lot as you move off axis.
I haven't used other unidirectional ribbons, but I'm guessing that the physics of making it unidirectional is always going to mess up the polar pattern in relation to frequency.

budget ribbons
I picked up some sE VR1s when they were on sale for $250 each about 7 years ago.
I like them a lot. They have extended frequency response. And work real well on strings and brass.
The polar pattern is very nice across the frequency range (for a budget ribbon). It works out well for recording stereo in Blumlein or M-S.

I typically record my guitar with one or two VR1s (nulls pointed to my voice, to isolate guitar)
and my voice with an R84 (nulls pointed to my guitar, to isolate voice).

I have been very curious about those SE VR1’s. I’ll admit that the look alone has peaked my interest. Nice to hear that you dig it! I’ll have to keep an eye out for a sale on those.

I just rented an ART AR5 for a month to try out. I actually hope to mic my amp along with a Cascade Fathead for comparison. We’ll see how it goes!

 

[TromNek]

I have been very curious about those SE VR1’s. I’ll admit that the look alone has peaked my interest. Nice to hear that you dig it! I’ll have to keep an eye out for a sale on those.

I just rented an ART AR5 for a month to try out. I actually hope to mic my amp along with a Cascade Fathead for comparison. We’ll see how it goes!

Here are two recordings for some rough idea of the VR1 on acoustic guitar.
https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1xF83OrlGKQPHYw5DWSGlJMI0HQbshDj_?usp=sharing
Sally Free and Easy - is played mostly in the 1st position.
(VR1s about 8 inches from the guitar)

Fly Me To The Moon - goes up and down the neck, and ends up on the 14th fret, high e and b strings.
(VR1s about 4 inches from the guitar, maybe this was a little too close, but they eq'd out ok in the final mix)

They should give you an idea of the how the VR1s sound on the whole guitar.

I record guitar and vocals at the same time.
Two VR1s on the guitar, one on the bottom, one on the neck.
Both with the nulls pointing towards my mouth to isolate them as much as possible (the neck one picks up a more vocals).
Vocal mic has the null pointing to the guitar.

Raw wav files for the VR1s
And an mp3 mix of the them with my vocals (don't remember if the vocals are my R84 or my KSM44).

Rybow,
If you are near Brooklyn, NY, I can lend you a VR1 to check out.

 

[Rybow]

Here are two recordings for some rough idea of the VR1 on acoustic guitar.
https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1xF83OrlGKQPHYw5DWSGlJMI0HQbshDj_?usp=sharing
Sally Free and Easy - is played mostly in the 1st position.
(VR1s about 8 inches from the guitar)

Fly Me To The Moon - goes up and down the neck, and ends up on the 14th fret, high e and b strings.
(VR1s about 4 inches from the guitar, maybe this was a little too close, but they eq'd out ok in the final mix)

They should give you an idea of the how the VR1s sound on the whole guitar.

I record guitar and vocals at the same time.
Two VR1s on the guitar, one on the bottom, one on the neck.
Both with the nulls pointing towards my mouth to isolate them as much as possible (the neck one picks up a more vocals).
Vocal mic has the null pointing to the guitar.

Raw wav files for the VR1s
And an mp3 mix of the them with my vocals (don't remember if the vocals are my R84 or my KSM44).

Rybow,
If you are near Brooklyn, NY, I can lend you a VR1 to check out.

Hey TromNek! Those recordings sound great! I definitely like the raw guitar sound you achieved on Sally Free and Easy. The sound is clear and “lively” for lack of a better term. Fly To The Moon also sounds very good, and really shows the proximity effect this mic has. The null is impressive as well.

Thank you for your kind offer to lend me a VR1. Wish I could walk on over but I’m a couple thousand miles away in Edmonton AB. Hopefully they’ll be back in stock here soon so I can rent one to try.

Working with this ART ar5 has been interesting. Hopefully I’ll have something to post soon. I’ve done a little narration and plunked it in front of my amp briefly. Sounds very nice to my ears, but the noise floor is a little high.

I’m kicking myself for investing so much in LDC’s

 

[TromNek]

I think the VR1s are a nice budget ribbon. Particularly at a good sale price or used.

I haven't recorded an amp with it yet. I live/record in a Brooklyn apartment and haven't done much electric for many years.
If I get a chance I'll bring it up to my mom's house in the country and record some samples on the amps I have up there.
I'll bring my M160 also for a comparison.

 

[samplebias2]

Did someone say budget? That's my middle name! I had this mic from Talking Dog Transducer company that started life as a $99 chinese ribbon mic with an original NOS RCA ribbon installed, and cinemag transformer, it was around $400 and it was GREAT for the money.

 

[Rybow]

I think the VR1s are a nice budget ribbon. Particularly at a good sale price or used.

I haven't recorded an amp with it yet. I live/record in a Brooklyn apartment and haven't done much electric for many years.
If I get a chance I'll bring it up to my mom's house in the country and record some samples on the amps I have up there.
I'll bring my M160 also for a comparison.

I will definitely look forward to the comparison! I used an M160 for a little bit back when I was first getting into it. I was too green to truly appreciate it at the time though.

Did someone say budget? That's my middle name! I had this mic from Talking Dog Transducer company that started life as a $99 chinese ribbon mic with an original NOS RCA ribbon installed, and cinemag transformer, it was around $400 and it was GREAT for the money.

We have the same middle name!!! Did you buy the cheap ribbon and send it to them for the upgrade? Sounds like a pretty cool and unique mic

 

[JW]

I really like these: http://www.bashaudio.ru/rmbiv1.eng.html They took forever to get to me in the US, but worth the wait. I have a M160, and a couple modded Apex's. They easily work anywhere those do. Maybe sound most like a Royer though, but I'm going from my memory of what Royers sound like. Just fabulous. Only thing I'd want a different ribbon for is vocals perhaps. But they could work there too with some low cut. Very smooth.

 

[L´Andratté]

FWIW I read a Ralph Towner interview in which he referred to the M160 as "my usual mic"

 

[Whoops]

I really like these: http://www.bashaudio.ru/rmbiv1.eng.html They took forever to get to me in the US, but worth the wait. I have a M160, and a couple modded Apex's. They easily work anywhere those do. Maybe sound most like a Royer though, but I'm going from my memory of what Royers sound like. Just fabulous. Only thing I'd want a different ribbon for is vocals perhaps. But they could work there too with some low cut. Very smooth.

Those look pretty good but I'm totally boycotting Russian products at the moment

 

[JW]

Not Igor's fault (as far as I know. . . ) But, who knows what kind of customs/shipping scenario's might arise.

 

[JohnRoberts]

I have personally advocated for boycotting Russian oil, but we should make effort to not punish russian individuals for the adventurism of their rogue leader (Putin)..

Boycotting the Russian economy will harm the general public but it seems prudent to apply economic pressure to starve Putin's war machine. Lets all take a breath, and not personalize this.

JR

 

[TwentyTrees]

I have personally advocated for boycotting Russian oil, but we should make effort to not punish russian individuals for the adventurism of their rogue leader (Putin)..

Boycotting the Russian economy will harm the general public but it seems prudent to apply economic pressure to starve Putin's war machine. Lets all take a breath, and not personalize this.

JR

Hear hear.

 

[Rybow]

I was talking with a mentor of mine, and I brought up that I was looking at getting a ribbon mic. His reply was “why do you want everything to sound like the 1950’s?”. He’s a U87 on everything kind of guy.
I did tell him that ribbons are reaching up to 18khz and beyond these days. Don’t think he believed me

 

[Whoops]

I was talking with a mentor of mine, and I brought up that I was looking at getting a ribbon mic. His reply was “why do you want everything to sound like the 1950’s?”. He’s a U87 on everything kind of guy.
I did tell him that ribbons are reaching up to 18khz and beyond these days. Don’t think he believed me

Even if most Ribbon mics don't have much going on above 10khz, why does it matter?
Why not having different tools at your disposal for different jobs and sounds?

You should ask you your mentor if he eats the same food everyday...

Personally I'm able to do a career because I don't neglect any tool,
I like to have all of them and then decide which are the best tools for any specific job, people that I know that always use the same tools are not able to work with a lot of different clients and normally have a short career.