MXL R144 Ribbon mic - any good? Anyone use it? Advise welcome.

[Mr. Moscode]

Looking at picking up MXL R144 ribbon mic. It seems to have mostly positive reviews online.
Can anyone advise?

Thanks

 

[fum]

There are a couple of main issues with microphones like the MXL R144 and their ilk.

1. The quality of the ribbon. I see A LOT of stretched out ribbons in these mics, often from new. So the ribboning process they use leaves a lot to be desired. Considering these mics have been kicking around for a decade, they obviously don't care or don't know. Maybe both. =P

2. Body resonances. The bodies often have large hollow cavities with nothing to prevent the body from vibrating.

For $100, not a bad entry into the ribbon mic market.

$.02

 

[Mr. Moscode]

There are a couple of main issues with microphones like the MXL R144 and their ilk.

1. The quality of the ribbon. I see A LOT of stretched out ribbons in these mics, often from new. So the ribboning process they use leaves a lot to be desired. Considering these mics have been kicking around for a decade, they obviously don't care or don't know. Maybe both. =P

2. Body resonances. The bodies often have large hollow cavities with nothing to prevent the body from vibrating.

For $100, not a bad entry into the ribbon mic market.

$.02

It seems body resonance is controllable. The phantom power delicacy come from plugging it in hot and the sudden flow of pp turns the ribbon into a speaker.
If the output is just the xfmer winding and it's fed from a balanced source there should be no current flowing thru it. Or have I missed something? I haven't seen a schematic.
I would guess a ss buffer stage would protect it.

 

[k brown]

https://royerlabs.com/ribbon-mics-and-phantom-power/