Another ribbon mic I made this one a little longer than my previous one and it uses a proper ribbon xformer.
I didnt want to use actual material they use in ribbon mics for the ribbon but it so super thin its very hard to use so I used ordinary aluminum foil.
I didnt want to use actual material they use in ribbon mics for the ribbon but it so super thin its very hard to use so I used ordinary aluminum foil.
Noy, mann, they will be very worried 😀
I am intrigued by the positioning of the ribbon here - it does look unconventional or am I understanding this arrangement wrong?
Looks alright to me? With Alnico we have to use tapered iron poles to concentrate the magnetic flux of a large magnet to the small gap at the ribbon, to get best performance. With newer Neo** magnets we may not need the poles if we accept less-optimum performance.
OK. I just thought that when singing into it, you'd sing towards the corrugated surface and here it looked to me that wasn't possible as there are things in the way.
I do want to build one some day although I have some doubts about my ability to handle the thin corrugated ribbon itself for placement, let alone making one thing enough. I still need to check out what exactly needs to be done at the preamp level as well.
My plan is to use it for vocals but not only for vocals as I think the transient abilities would be great on any percussive sound as well.
I do want to build one some day although I have some doubts about my ability to handle the thin corrugated ribbon itself for placement, let alone making one thing enough. I still need to check out what exactly needs to be done at the preamp level as well.
My plan is to use it for vocals but not only for vocals as I think the transient abilities would be great on any percussive sound as well.
As I see it, the acoustic path is wide-open.
Anyway: hold some small magnets up to your ears and listen to a singer. It is hard to block sound. In fact some microphones are little sealed boxes with tiny vent tubes.
FWIW: ribbons are noted for blurring transients. Johnny Carson (US TV host) had such a nasal twang that they used a Shure ribbon to smooth it out. Even very small ribbons do poorly past 5kHz; the best (tiniest) droop by 15kHz (which is plenty high for any music, not enough for key-jangle or mosquito mating calls).
I see it now: just victim of an optical illusion: I really thought the ribbon itself was facing to the left on the picture. Or old age is setting in firmly!
Happy 2023 everyone.
Interesting. I thought I heard quite good transients and hf content on demos from a DIY ribbon mic site, but it was years ago.
Here, we have two okay mics: a dynamic by Sennheiser and a cardioid condenser by Audio-Technica. I do see some Shures in the local second-hand store nearby from time to time. One of the best mics I used was an Audix. I recorded a song with a couple of friends with that one and it sounded great. The Sennheiser was chosen by finding an affordable one whose specs could come close to the Audix. It's good, but no Audix. A ribbon would be a good addition to the studio.
Not too concerned about small droops or small bumps here and there, as EQ is there for precisely that. There used to be a mic sim plugin I used many, many years ago which could take any microphone and apply another microphone's freq response profile to it. Fun, but really accurate, not so sure. Nowadays, I mostly want to control analogue hardware rather than plugins.
Anyway, transient response is one of the things I am looking for in this specific case. The condenser does an OK job here - it's an affordable one, not super pro, but the studio is a personal project studio, so it works for us (my wife like to sing) but I do want to test a ribbon mic for sure. The mic preamp would also be crucial in this respect. I might also do some DIY percussive instruments - simple things.