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Post by jampa on Aug 24, 2017 5:20:17 GMT -6
Excellent paper on dual diaphragm vs. single diaphragm condensers... That was a great read thank you!
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Post by Martin John Butler on Aug 24, 2017 7:35:43 GMT -6
That sounds great Bluegrassdan. Wonderful playing. Is that you un the video?
I have no experience with ribbon mics, but I heard and recommended the Cascade Vin-Jet with the Lundahl transformer to a friend an he bought one. He got his with the Olive Archut transformer. I gotta say, it never sounds bad. Frankly, it probably better than anything I've heard under $1,000.
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Post by Bob Olhsson on Aug 24, 2017 13:54:52 GMT -6
A KM 86 is right up there and an 87/67 isn't bad.
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Post by EmRR on Aug 24, 2017 14:35:11 GMT -6
KM86 has a spaced pair of capsules, so a more ragged polar pattern. Same with any dual diaphragm condenser. It's a matter of degrees that may not....matter.....to you. The ones I mentioned are all true single element condensers closest in action to a ribbon pattern.
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Post by Bob Olhsson on Aug 24, 2017 20:51:13 GMT -6
The 86 does have exceptionally even patterns compared to all others I've used including Schoeps.
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Post by hadaja on Dec 7, 2017 7:24:21 GMT -6
Well I finally got my hands on a RCA 44bx. Thanks goes to the Stephen Sank for doing a splendid job of servicing it. Did a quick test/ Now I see what people are liking about these. The Stager Sr1a has a bigger bottom end but it does not capture the sweet upper end of the 44BX. Infact I have yet found a Ribbon to capture the sweeter upper end of this mic. I thought the bottom end was going to be huge but after having the Stager SR1a nothing comes as close as that mic to a massive bottom end. RCA 44BX I think I am in love. I was actually quite surprised at how close the Cloud 44a comes to sounding similar to this. I think if you had a handful of 44bx's in a line up and put the Cloud 44a in there, you would be hard pressed to pick it out in the line up.
Looking forward to spending more time together with this, I should not say that too loud with my wife just behind me !
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Post by Ward on Dec 7, 2017 7:46:43 GMT -6
Well I finally got my hands on a RCA 44bx. Thanks goes to the Stephen Sank for doing a splendid job of servicing it. Did a quick test/ Now I see what people are liking about these. The Stager Sr1a has a bigger bottom end but it does not capture the sweet upper end of the 44BX. Infact I have yet found a Ribbon to capture the sweeter upper end of this mic. I thought the bottom end was going to be huge but after having the Stager SR1a nothing comes as close as that mic to a massive bottom end. RCA 44BX I think I am in love. I was actually quite surprised at how close the Cloud 44a comes to sounding similar to this. I think if you had a handful of 44bx's in a line up and put the Cloud 44a in there, you would be hard pressed to pick it out in the line up. Looking forward to spending more time together with this, I should not say that too loud with my wife just behind me ! Mark Fouxman has achieved the sweet high-end capture with his SAMAR VL37
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Post by drbill on Dec 7, 2017 10:31:40 GMT -6
Looking forward to spending more time together with this, I should not say that too loud with my wife just behind me ! Haha!!! Congrats! There's nothing like an RCA ribbon. Nothing! I know a guy (tpt player) who has dozens (no exaggeration!) of 44's, KU3a's and 77's "hanging up" in his studio - almost like art. He's a royer endorsee but there's no doubt his love is for the RCA's. They are special mics. I've got a 77, and would love a pair of 77's, and 44's. Or a pair of 77's and a single 44 would probably satisfy me.
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Post by spock on Dec 7, 2017 10:38:15 GMT -6
Well I finally got my hands on a RCA 44bx. Thanks goes to the Stephen Sank for doing a splendid job of servicing it. Did a quick test/ Now I see what people are liking about these. The Stager Sr1a has a bigger bottom end but it does not capture the sweet upper end of the 44BX. Infact I have yet found a Ribbon to capture the sweeter upper end of this mic. I thought the bottom end was going to be huge but after having the Stager SR1a nothing comes as close as that mic to a massive bottom end. RCA 44BX I think I am in love. I was actually quite surprised at how close the Cloud 44a comes to sounding similar to this. I think if you had a handful of 44bx's in a line up and put the Cloud 44a in there, you would be hard pressed to pick it out in the line up. Looking forward to spending more time together with this, I should not say that too loud with my wife just behind me ! Try double tracking your vocal with the 44BX side by side with another mic like an SM58 or anything other as you see fit and then blend the two. Per Vance Powell, Chris Stapleton’s latest record for example is a Coles 4038 & and LDC blended. I dropped in on a Mark Howard session where he had 44BX SM58 combo I’ve mentioned above on female vocal. Fun stuff!
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Post by drbill on Dec 7, 2017 11:23:25 GMT -6
I've done long ribbons (a Joly Modded Apex 205) and U87 before. Magical. But you've got to let the singer monitor one mic or the other, and line up the waveforms after the fact. At least if they are "up on the mic" in normal fashion. After checking sound first, I do all the takes, and then do the comp first, and THEN line up waveforms. The ribbons can not generally withstand a high impact vocal delivery. But yeah, magical. Sort of the best of both worlds. Big like a 47, cut like an 87, vintage, but with a modern slant. I've done this for years.
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ericn
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Balance Engineer
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Post by ericn on Dec 7, 2017 11:49:05 GMT -6
Well I finally got my hands on a RCA 44bx. Thanks goes to the Stephen Sank for doing a splendid job of servicing it. Did a quick test/ Now I see what people are liking about these. The Stager Sr1a has a bigger bottom end but it does not capture the sweet upper end of the 44BX. Infact I have yet found a Ribbon to capture the sweeter upper end of this mic. I thought the bottom end was going to be huge but after having the Stager SR1a nothing comes as close as that mic to a massive bottom end. RCA 44BX I think I am in love. I was actually quite surprised at how close the Cloud 44a comes to sounding similar to this. I think if you had a handful of 44bx's in a line up and put the Cloud 44a in there, you would be hard pressed to pick it out in the line up. Looking forward to spending more time together with this, I should not say that too loud with my wife just behind me ! Try double tracking your vocal with the 44BX side by side with another mic like an SM58 or anything other as you see fit and then blend the two. Per Vance Powell, Chris Stapleton’s latest record for example is a Coles 4038 & and LDC blended. I dropped in on a Mark Howard session where he had 44BX SM58 combo I’ve mentioned above on female vocal. Fun stuff! If your going to try this at home do it in a real room not a deadened closet!
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ericn
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Post by ericn on Dec 7, 2017 11:50:49 GMT -6
Well I finally got my hands on a RCA 44bx. Thanks goes to the Stephen Sank for doing a splendid job of servicing it. Did a quick test/ Now I see what people are liking about these. The Stager Sr1a has a bigger bottom end but it does not capture the sweet upper end of the 44BX. Infact I have yet found a Ribbon to capture the sweeter upper end of this mic. I thought the bottom end was going to be huge but after having the Stager SR1a nothing comes as close as that mic to a massive bottom end. RCA 44BX I think I am in love. I was actually quite surprised at how close the Cloud 44a comes to sounding similar to this. I think if you had a handful of 44bx's in a line up and put the Cloud 44a in there, you would be hard pressed to pick it out in the line up. Looking forward to spending more time together with this, I should not say that too loud with my wife just behind me ! Congratulations! I have been trying to convince the local public radio station to sell me one or both of the 77 shells sitting on display in the lobby!
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Post by hadaja on Dec 11, 2017 2:33:16 GMT -6
Okay so what preamp are you using with the RCA 44Bx? I was testing a few mics out against specifically the 44bx. I was using a JZ V67, Soyuz, Royer R101 these were the mics close at hand. I wanted see how they sounded in different preamps compared to the 44bx. Just doing some vocals and I found that some tube preamps seemed to sound very nice, the Daking not as nice but still stood up well but the Portico that just sounded brilliant with the 44x and but lost it with the others. So just wondering is there nay magic preamp style that works better with 44bx or have i hot the nail on the head with the Portico? Just another side note, once you get use to that big 44 sound its hard to go back to a condenser of any sort. Take a step back or two and it disappears quickly but the room sound really creeps in fast.
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Post by EmRR on Dec 11, 2017 7:47:23 GMT -6
Ya know the octal tube RCA stuff has a treble 'air' rise meant to work with the treble droop of their ribbons. Just sayin'. True of a lot of older tube preamps. FWIW.
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Post by aremos on Dec 11, 2017 8:51:51 GMT -6
Well I finally got my hands on a RCA 44bx. Thanks goes to the Stephen Sank for doing a splendid job of servicing it. Did a quick test/ Now I see what people are liking about these. The Stager Sr1a has a bigger bottom end but it does not capture the sweet upper end of the 44BX. Infact I have yet found a Ribbon to capture the sweeter upper end of this mic. I thought the bottom end was going to be huge but after having the Stager SR1a nothing comes as close as that mic to a massive bottom end. RCA 44BX I think I am in love. I was actually quite surprised at how close the Cloud 44a comes to sounding similar to this. I think if you had a handful of 44bx's in a line up and put the Cloud 44a in there, you would be hard pressed to pick it out in the line up. Looking forward to spending more time together with this, I should not say that too loud with my wife just behind me ! So, the Cloud 44 is closer to the original thing than the AEA44? I'm interested in a ribbon 44 for vox & the only things made out there right now are the AEA & the Cloud ... and now the Stager. Have you tried the RCA v. the AEA as you did with the Cloud? Thanks.
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Post by matt@IAA on Dec 11, 2017 9:15:49 GMT -6
Has anyone had a chance to use a LM Watts Polyribbon?
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Post by cowboycoalminer on Dec 11, 2017 9:43:59 GMT -6
I added quite a bit of high shelf for that video. Listen closely and you'll hear some noise. Dan, do you still have your R 84? I watched that video you did removing the resistor on the tube pre and it made a huge difference. Nice.
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Post by spindrift on Dec 11, 2017 11:38:55 GMT -6
I added quite a bit of high shelf for that video. Listen closely and you'll hear some noise. Dan, do you still have your R 84? I watched that video you did removing the resistor on the tube pre and it made a huge difference. Nice. I ordered my DB Tube Mic pre from Dan with a switch to do exactly this, lift the resistor out of the input for my ribbons. Best of both world and the demos of that unit sound fantastic. Anxious to get mine!
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Post by jeremygillespie on Dec 11, 2017 13:38:07 GMT -6
Okay so what preamp are you using with the RCA 44Bx? I was testing a few mics out against specifically the 44bx. I was using a JZ V67, Soyuz, Royer R101 these were the mics close at hand. I wanted see how they sounded in different preamps compared to the 44bx. Just doing some vocals and I found that some tube preamps seemed to sound very nice, the Daking not as nice but still stood up well but the Portico that just sounded brilliant with the 44x and but lost it with the others. So just wondering is there nay magic preamp style that works better with 44bx or have i hot the nail on the head with the Portico? Just another side note, once you get use to that big 44 sound its hard to go back to a condenser of any sort. Take a step back or two and it disappears quickly but the room sound really creeps in fast. Chandler tg2 works great, as do a few of our old RCA and Langevin preamps. V76 is great too but not exactly reliable enough for live tracking.
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ericn
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Balance Engineer
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Post by ericn on Dec 11, 2017 20:16:43 GMT -6
Well I finally got my hands on a RCA 44bx. Thanks goes to the Stephen Sank for doing a splendid job of servicing it. Did a quick test/ Now I see what people are liking about these. The Stager Sr1a has a bigger bottom end but it does not capture the sweet upper end of the 44BX. Infact I have yet found a Ribbon to capture the sweeter upper end of this mic. I thought the bottom end was going to be huge but after having the Stager SR1a nothing comes as close as that mic to a massive bottom end. RCA 44BX I think I am in love. I was actually quite surprised at how close the Cloud 44a comes to sounding similar to this. I think if you had a handful of 44bx's in a line up and put the Cloud 44a in there, you would be hard pressed to pick it out in the line up. Looking forward to spending more time together with this, I should not say that too loud with my wife just behind me ! So, the Cloud 44 is closer to the original thing than the AEA44? I'm interested in a ribbon 44 for vox & the only things made out there right now are the AEA & the Cloud ... and now the Stager. Have you tried the RCA v. the AEA as you did with the Cloud? Thanks. Saw a used Cloud 44a on GuitarCenters site for less than $1300 if I remember right.
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Post by hadaja on Dec 12, 2017 0:26:49 GMT -6
I have not used an AEA 44 to compare against the Cloud. So i cant say whether the Cloud is better then the AEA - AREMOS. I do like that you can use the Cloud without any problems of gain being active. I did compare it using the Music mode on the Cloud.
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