MF has what seems to be a great price on an MXL ribbon mic. I cannot attest for this particular mic but a lot of the MXL stuff is very good for it's price point


Stupid Deal of the Day: MXL R40 Ribbon Microphone, $69.99. Today only! http://www.musiciansfriend.com/stupid?src=3GOA2F5A

Welp, I think I might just say fuck it and buy two when I get home and then drive to a Mickey D's for some free wifi. I've no idea how they sound, but I'm willing to bet they're cool. !!IRRESPONSIBLEIMPULSEBUY!!

You're the man, tor.

Yeah, i am thinking they are probably: cool.

Though in my own setup i would have trouble utilizing them, because i don't have really any specific control over where my phantom power goes when it is on.

Welp, I've got a ribbon mic headed home. I tried to buy two, but I guess the deal is limited to one mic..? I tried to choose the quantity as two, but it kept switching it over to one..? Weird. Oh well, I probably only need one anyways.

Nice scoar Mr. Cam! You'd only need a pair if you wanted to use them as overheads or stereo drum room. (We did this on Garda's Republic with a pair of Coles 4038 ribbons. They're pretty prominent in the mix; the majority of the room sound.) Or wanted to mic up a couple cabs at once.

Have fun doing the ribbon thing. I can't speak for the R40 myself either, but unless it's oddly voiced for a ribbon, think smooove and deeep. I'd give it a pop filter for things that could smack the ribbon with a good blast of pressurized air- kick drum, bass cab. It'll probably have a lot less output than most of your mics and will need a lot of gain from the mic pre, so you might start introducing some noise on quiet sources just from boosting the thing up a lot. I've found ribbons too dark for my taste on vocals. The figure-8 pattern makes placing them interesting in a decent room. Very much their own thing and a cool flavor to have around.

ahh glad someone took advantage of that.

From what I have read, it's a pretty quiet and neutrally voiced ribbon. Also seems to be fairly detailed sounding for what it is. I mainly plan on using it for bass/room mic work. Wish I had two though so I could mic a room and use the other for either kick drum or bass (interchanging between the RE40 and D112) depending upon the application.

You are amassing yourself a decent little collection there! Solid choices, too. The D112 thing came up in conversation after metalband rehearsal yesterday about it being a kick-flavored mic we don't hate on bass cabs.

Never tried the D112 on floor tom. Liked my old Sennheiser e602 on there instead of a 604 (had the set); stuck a big condenser (padded down) in the kick instead. Tried singing into the 602 once, sounded like ass. I forget what the ribbon was like on snare. Again, too dark I think? But it's been a few years now.

Seeing as you do have a good drum room available once you return to civilization, I'm looking forward to seeing what this'll do in front of the kit. You did snag the TapeOp article Chris was kind enough to post re: room mic placement, right?

...I suppose if you were taken by the thing and wanted another, they'll show up on the 'bay occasionally?

I did indeed read it, but did not put it anywhere for safe keeping. I will have to relocate it at some point!

Off topic: I am a little bit unnerved by the fact that the ribbons will be damaged by phantom power, my interface only let's me send PP to mics 1-4 and/or 5-8, limiting me to 4 condensers if I wish to use the ribbon in the setup. I've only got 3 as it stands though.. Still, might bring mild annoyance later. I suppose I could just buy some cool dynamics to even out the problem, but I planned on eventually getting nice OHs and using my 2001s for tom mics.. I suppose I should just get some dedicated dynamic toms mics.

It does present a bit of an issue. The obvious answer is another interface, of course. Chain them together for more ins. (Or an outboard pre; I forget what you have for an interface and whether you'd have to go into the line ins with it or could take it digitally for additional channels.) But it could be worse than groups of four. Phantom won't fuck with your dynamic mics (unless you have a 57 you pulled the transformer from, which some people do). Having had Mackie mixers with globally switchable phantom, that would have suckéd if I tried to set them up as a serious studio front end with ribbons kicking around.

Now, I've heard some say modern ribbons really aren't sensitive to phantom power, and I know there's some high end ones that have no beef with it at all. I wouldn't chance it with mine and don't recommend you do it with yours either.

ahh I will add that should you need an decent inexpensive pre, I have one I am no longer using so when you get to that point hit me up.

That'd be just the answer I'm looking for, Joey.

And my interface is a Tascam US-1800.

Oh and: what be the deetz on that preamp? I was looking in the classifieds section as I thought the schtuff was in there, but to no avail.

I will get you that info, I wasn't going to sell it, but I am not using. It's the M-Audio DMP-3 Mic Pre.