Re: Ribbon microphones

["Antti Sakari Saario" antti_saario]

Dear all,

Ribbons microphone will also require a 'hefty' amount of gain (can  
sometimes be a problem even in studio applications) and it might  
rather expensive to find a suitable portable mic-pre for nature  
recording purposes. You will almost in all instance be also  
restricted to stereo (or multichannel) setups utilising fig-8  
patterns. Typically they are sought after for the 'nice' colouration  
of the recorded signal, particularly the very smooth high frequency  
that can be obtained from such transducers, along with the (often)  
rather accentuated proximity effect favoured by many broadcast voices  
- values that are not so suited to the more 'natural' sounding or  
accurate recording scenarios. Also the ribbons can be torn quite easily.

Cheers,

Antti

On 1 Nov 2007, at 13:38, Greg Weddig wrote:

> John,
> That's a good question, I too have often wondered about this. I
> suspect that the large ribbon may be very sensitive to wind and
> movement, but I have no direct experience with ribbon mics.
>
> If you are really interested I would call Wes Dooley at AEA
> (http://wesdooley.com). Wes has a lot of experience with ribbon mics
> and though he might try to sell you some of his, he also has an
> appreciation for what us nature recordists do. I spoke with him at
> AES a few weeks ago and he was reminiscing about a field recording
> trip in the 70s in (I think) Africa.
>
> Let us know if you hear anything.
>
> --greg weddig
> http://gregweddig.net
>
> --- In  "John Hartog"
> <> wrote:
> >
> > Hi group,
> > I didn't find much on this topic in the archives, but it seems folks
> > generally avoid ribbon mics for nature recording: is this because
> > their sensitivity is to low?
> > The reason I am wondering is I noticed an ad for a Beyerdynamic M160
> > (hypercardiod) & M130 (figure 8) combo, but looking at the specs I
> > can't understand how to compare them to specs of the condenser  
> mics I
> > am used to using.
> >
> > Beyerdynamic's M130 data sheet shows:
> > Open circuit voltage at 1 kHz (0dB = 1V/Pa): 1.0 mV/Pa &#8801;  
> -60 dBV
> >
> > Can anyone put this in terms relevant to nature recording?
> >
> > Happy Halloween!
> >
> > John Hartog
> > Portland, Oregon USA
> >
>
>
> 



Dr Antti Sakari Saario
Lecturer in Music Technology
Lancaster Institute for the Contemporary Arts (LICA)
Room A4A, Music Building, Lancaster University, LA1 4YX, UK
Tel: +44(0)1524594496 / Fax: +44(0)1524 594900