Ribbon mics : DIY or purchase ?

[silsila]

They were all over this track, drum overheads, flute and backing vocals.

I used them in grand piano and violin a little while ago on a job:

 

[thor.zmt]

I'd like to open a new thread about ribbon mics.
I believe that, due to the ribbon itself, the shape of the headbasket, it's not that easy to build a DIY ribbon mic from scratch (but I maybe wrong !)

There used be instructables in the 1950's mags, also for condensors.

I always considered life too short.

In principle a ribbon mic is just a pair of strong stick magnets (aliexpress, ND), a support structure (3D printing?), a ribbon (normally common household alu foil is not ideal) and a transformer.

In the other hand, if we leave aside rather expensive ones (>800€) like Royer, Coles, Beyer, AERA, etc... is there any affordable reference which can give (at least if not excellent) good sounding results ?

Dirty little secret, in the first quarter of the 21'st Century almost anything is designed and made by China. The way the chinese system works is that even very large factories are not vertically integrated but rely on many small to medium size enterprises to make parts.

You might take an afternoon stroll on a road in Dongguan (aka "The factory of the world" and see a small CNC shop on the ground floor of a bigger shophouse and see them machining microphone backplates that on of a few vendors may make into expensive 34mm capsules. Rayking is around that part of town.

So in the end the same item ends up with many named badges on it and may cost very little (they are generic China market items), a lot (if the badge is a famous western brand), or insane (once goldplated and breathed upon by a Shifu).

It usually pays to do ones homework, find the OEM and buy the equivalent mainstream china market version from the Chinese OEM.

I would be interested to get one (or a pair) for live instrument recording (not guitar amplifier) like horns,

Ribbon's are a bit fragile at times, like most Mic's they do not age well. Magnets get corroded, ribbons get brittle and suffer brittle fracture.

I've noticed Bumblebee, NoHypeAudio, t.bone, Oktava, Superlux... and surely many more in that price range (350€<)

Look who is the china OEM. Find them on Alibaba/Aliexpress, buy a few "samples" for evaluation nominally as business.

As Gweilo in Xiistan it is best to hop into the car, brave the traffic, collapsing tofu dregs constructed bridges etc. and do factory visits at least once a week.

Usually if you see something you like and you show enough interest, you can you can just take the item (do ask first though) being offered it for free. On Ali you pay.

If you have a good reason to visit Sanya (perhaps to find out how strong you are? Definitly go alone for that!) visiting Guandong and Peking on the tail end is a good call. Trains in China are insane).

Set up a bunch of factory visits. Not ony stuff you are keen to see, but random possibly interesting sh!t. You can do 4 factories a day in the same area with some dedication.

This can make for a mind blowing experience, though do not mistake much of you see for the "real china", it ain't. Get lots'a free/cheap samples, see business opportunities you never knew existed (until you hit the EU red tape back home and realise WHY they DO NOT EXIST).

Plan another week once back home for recovery.

Chinese business people are all party animals and though bad times now means probably they reduce spending (with luck you escape drinking BaiJu and having to make a good face over it now, Lao Tsingtao PiJu is drinkable), I'm sure you will have a bunch of dinner and afters invites every day.

Thor