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AEA ribbon mics!


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In any of the bands I've played with that gig frequently, everybody has owned their own vocal mics and have preferences based on their own voice and singing style. Mine for quite a long while was the Beyerdynamic Opus 89 until the capsule got an open circuit somewhere in those tiny wires. I don't sing live as much anymore so I couldn't justify buying another one and have been using a cheap sennheiser when I need to.

 

As for ribbon mics for live use in general, I would not have thought of them being very rugged for the riggers of transport/setup/teardown and occasional abuse in live situations. Do I have a false opinion in that regard? That is something nobody has mentioned as a desirable feature for a live vocal mic - ruggedness.

Dan

 

Acoustic/Electric stringed instruments ranging from 4 to 230 strings, hammered, picked, fingered, slapped, and plucked. Analog and Digital Electronic instruments, reeds, and throat/mouth.

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That is something nobody has mentioned as a desirable feature for a live vocal mic - ruggedness.

 

I didn't mention it in my posts but it certainly crossed my mind. How many times can a Shure SM 57/58 be dropped before they stop working? I figure as many times as licks to the center of a Tootsie Pop. :)

:nopity:
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As for ribbon mics for live use in general, I would not have thought of them being very rugged for the riggers of transport/setup/teardown and occasional abuse in live situations. Do I have a false opinion in that regard? That is something nobody has mentioned as a desirable feature for a live vocal mic - ruggedness.

 

Many modern ribbon mics are quite rugged, but they're not indestructible. But you should be careful with your mics. If you're going to toss the mic around on stage, get an SM58, then move to the nice ribbon (or condenser or dynamic) mic for when you're singing serious. And dress and if necessary, tape your cables so you don't trip over one and the stand topples. Store mics in their original cases or a special multi-mic case. And don't let careless helpers handle your best mics. When it's time to pack up, take your prized vocal mic off the stand first and put it away, or at least put it in your pocket so you can keep packing up the stage.

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As for ribbon mics for live use in general, I would not have thought of them being very rugged for the riggers of transport/setup/teardown and occasional abuse in live situations. Do I have a false opinion in that regard? That is something nobody has mentioned as a desirable feature for a live vocal mic - ruggedness.

A little history would help. Check out the story of the RCA BK5, the KU5A's predecessor. This piece on the KU5A may help as well.

 

Wes Dooley also wrote a great piece on the perception of the ruggedness of ribbons in general for one of the mags recently. I'll see if I can dig it up.

 

I can tell you this - I am not at all nice to my KU5A, and I've had no problem with it at all so far.

 

dB

:snax:

 

:keys:==> David Bryce Music • Funky Young Monks <==:rawk:

 

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I guess to go handheld with it, you'd need to go Freddy Mercury style!

Dan

 

Acoustic/Electric stringed instruments ranging from 4 to 230 strings, hammered, picked, fingered, slapped, and plucked. Analog and Digital Electronic instruments, reeds, and throat/mouth.

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I have an R84, an R92, and have used the R88 and a few R44 versions they make many times.

 

I think that the R92 is a rare case of figuring out how to bring in a product at a cheaper price point, and it resulting in something that doesn't sound inferior, and may in some cases be preferable.

 

For certain things, if you are tracking with an R92, the lesser proximity effect and overall frequency response seems to work very well. The extra mesh gives me a feeling of a little more security that the ribbon won't get sagged with louder sources. Yet it still has a strong sonic relation to the R84 and R44.

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Dave, I think just about anything, so far. I have tried it on electric and acoustic guitar, vocals, overhead (in pretty close). I am also finding it really works well with the Daking MicPreEQ equalizer points.

 

I would typically be choosy about mics, and not lean on EQ as much to get tones, but there are times when you just want the timbre of the ribbon... and if you really know the general frequency content you want for a part, you just want to shoot for it and get the tone while tracking. The broad A Range type eq curves of the Daking are pretty hard to get in trouble with, when coupled with this mic.

 

That said, if you are using it for multiple overdubs, no processing at all, it stacks very well. I don't want to paint a picture that you have to use a ton of eq it to make it work. One may end up using *less* than average with a ribbon. There is a certain natural taming of the low mids that winds up being similar to how I might wind up eq-ing various classic model ribbons. I had heard that said about this mic before, and find it to be true as well.

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  • 2 months later...

Thanks for the advice!

 

At this point I've used it on a bunch of vocals, but it's spent almopst all of it's time here on or near the Hammond and Leslie.

 

Repositioning it to hear the difference between the way the front and back are voiced is really amazing. I haven't really had a mic that works wuite like that before.

 

dB

:snax:

 

:keys:==> David Bryce Music • Funky Young Monks <==:rawk:

 

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