I have a Shure 330 that needs a new ribbon, and a RCA SK 35, same as the SK 46, but with the case stuffed with fiberglass. It sounds great, and sits on my desk in my collection.
keep it up with these videos. i'm currently in the market for a ribbon mic to pair with a condenser on a mostly clean guitar cab and i've been on the fence between a vintage RCA 74b or something newer like a Royer 121 or a Mesanovic Model 2, and your videos have been the best out there for what the old RCAs sound like on guitar
Thank you man! If you haven’t already, check out my Instagram page where I sell these mic’s @colepicksvintage - That’s a tough one though! I love 121’s and 74’s.
When I asked Steve Albini why he used a 74b over a Royer he said it's because of the mid bump designed to accentuate vocals. Even though he used it on my guitar cab, the little bump made the tone sit perfect in the mix without EQ. Gotta say I'm tempted to get one, though I'm also a fan of these 330's . . . and I know a guy who makes killer new ribbon mics to . . . so yeah.
BM 2 was most unique to my ear, it really accented the upper freq in a way that would sound great sitting in the track, I would think. It had a lot of cool vintage compression as well, real brought out the voxiness of the vox. That said, it is more of a mic you buy when you have a big collection, it likely isn’t your go to mic for everything. You couldn’t miss with the RCA or the BM-3 those are beautiful, Shure was a little lackluster and focused on the lower end to my ears, but who knows in track? I would gladly take any of them. Cool mic’s and demo. Thank you. Enjoyed that.
They all sound quite muffled on the acoustic guitar. It's like they all roll off at about 6000 Hz, and by 13000 it sounds like it's -9 dB at least. I think this is on purpose though, these are studio voice mic's and rolling off the high frequencies helps reduce the 'plosives', the dreaded exploding "P"''s and hissing "S";s non-talented voice actors tend to have... lol But for acoustic guitar, what's needed is a good flat frequency response with as little microphone internal resonant frequencies as possible, and good high frequency sensitivity to be able to pick up the crisp sound of new strings, the sound of the pick, or sounds from fingering etc. They all sound pretty good on the first voice test though, when you were speaking directly into the mic like it's intended use.
I have a Sure 330, but it is not working. I think it needs a new ribbon. I also have other ribbon mics in my collection; Amperite SR 80, Amperite RBM 30, Reslo PRL, Electro-Voice V1, Bumblebee RM-6 (a modern mic sold as a kit from the UK). I also have a mic with related, but not actually a ribbon, the RCA-MI-1245. All of these actually work, some well, and some not so well. One of these days, I will make a recording of them all, and post it.
I’d be really curious to hear that 50’s rca pa head you have in the background. The one behind the computer to the right. What’s that thing like? Thanks
Best Mic video on youtube. No nonsense, no tricks, no sales, just the love for music and vintage mics!
It's amazing how much sound technology advanced with the ribbon microphone being widely used by the late 1930s!
I have a Shure 330 that needs a new ribbon, and a RCA SK 35, same as the SK 46, but with the case stuffed with fiberglass. It sounds great, and sits on my desk in my collection.
really love the 330 sound
keep it up with these videos. i'm currently in the market for a ribbon mic to pair with a condenser on a mostly clean guitar cab and i've been on the fence between a vintage RCA 74b or something newer like a Royer 121 or a Mesanovic Model 2, and your videos have been the best out there for what the old RCAs sound like on guitar
Thank you man! If you haven’t already, check out my Instagram page where I sell these mic’s @colepicksvintage - That’s a tough one though! I love 121’s and 74’s.
When I asked Steve Albini why he used a 74b over a Royer he said it's because of the mid bump designed to accentuate vocals. Even though he used it on my guitar cab, the little bump made the tone sit perfect in the mix without EQ. Gotta say I'm tempted to get one, though I'm also a fan of these 330's . . . and I know a guy who makes killer new ribbon mics to . . . so yeah.
Great video! They all sound great and have places on different sources/styles.
I love ribbon mics❣
All of these mics sound great👍🏻 I want all of them to add to the ones I already have. 😜
I love the control on the highs of the bm3 and the sk-46. Would be great for drums and deep vocals, I’d assume.
BM 2 was most unique to my ear, it really accented the upper freq in a way that would sound great sitting in the track, I would think. It had a lot of cool vintage compression as well, real brought out the voxiness of the vox. That said, it is more of a mic you buy when you have a big collection, it likely isn’t your go to mic for everything. You couldn’t miss with the RCA or the BM-3 those are beautiful, Shure was a little lackluster and focused on the lower end to my ears, but who knows in track? I would gladly take any of them. Cool mic’s and demo. Thank you. Enjoyed that.
Great takeaways! Thanks for checking it out. More shootouts on the way!
They all sound quite muffled on the acoustic guitar. It's like they all roll off at about 6000 Hz, and by 13000 it sounds like it's -9 dB at least. I think this is on purpose though, these are studio voice mic's and rolling off the high frequencies helps reduce the 'plosives', the dreaded exploding "P"''s and hissing "S";s non-talented voice actors tend to have... lol
But for acoustic guitar, what's needed is a good flat frequency response with as little microphone internal resonant frequencies as possible, and good high frequency sensitivity to be able to pick up the crisp sound of new strings, the sound of the pick, or sounds from fingering etc.
They all sound pretty good on the first voice test though, when you were speaking directly into the mic like it's intended use.
SK-46 dig that!
I have a Sure 330, but it is not working. I think it needs a new ribbon. I also have other ribbon mics in my collection; Amperite SR 80, Amperite RBM 30, Reslo PRL, Electro-Voice V1, Bumblebee RM-6 (a modern mic sold as a kit from the UK). I also have a mic with related, but not actually a ribbon, the RCA-MI-1245. All of these actually work, some well, and some not so well.
One of these days, I will make a recording of them all, and post it.
the 74-b man wow
Overall, the RCA 74B is the winner hands down. Body and response at differing distances.
Rca the most warm and natural mate
I’d be really curious to hear that 50’s rca pa head you have in the background. The one behind the computer to the right. What’s that thing like? Thanks
Thanl you for this test!
RCA 74 B 👌🏻
Rca 74b!
Is the 74 distorting or what?
Do ppl buy these mics without hearing them first? Btw someone is claiming to sell your RCA SK-50 on Reverb.. Is that really your mic? :)
Witch kind of preamps do you use- in particular with the b&o bm3?
In this particular video I believe these were into an AEA TRP2!
Where in the F did you get all these mics??
I run a business! Check out colepicksvintage.com
What audio interface do you use?
Back when I made this video just a UAD Apollo!
For me its the RCA