For anyone interested in how mucrophones can sound different, check out Jim Lill's video [1] where he A/B tests a bunch of mics against one another and industry standards.
He has a whole series of videos where he explores what contributes the most to "guitar tone", all the way from the strings to your ears and in between. It's a bit of an eye opener to say the least. Highly, highly recommended.
Love his series, but you really have to keep in mind that his testing methodology is "reductionist": a microphone's quality can't just be distilled to its EQ response. Phase, transient response, clipping, etc. are also part of the equation.
edit: My "case in point" moment is Jim's (excellent!) DIY amp section in this video: https://youtu.be/wcBEOcPtlYk?si=jkehIfyo6AgeTLUo&t=918. Its EQ indeed sounds like the big names, but I'm sure you'll also notice how its dynamics also sound so thin. That's likely because solid state clipping != (saggy) tube overdrive.
An interesting feature of ribbon mics - because the ribbon is open at the front and the back, they reject sound from the side (and top/bottom) almost perfectly. You can arrange these cleverly in live or studio settings to amplify one thing while rejecting another completely.
A typical usecase for this is a singer with an acoustic guitar - one mic can pick up the guitar and almost fully reject the vocals, and vice-versa. Pretty cool.
It also led to the ability to sing in a quieter, more natural way, and gave birth to the "crooner" style. The earlier popularized carbon button microphone (invented in 1878) didn’t enable this personal singing style. If you look at one you might mistake it for the receiver of an old telephone handset (which in essence it was).
As you’ve pointed out High SPL isn’t what breaks ribbons, it’s high SPL at low frequencies (ie wind/air moving frequencies, like those produced from a slamming wooden case lid.
Kick drums and bass guitar amps might not be a good match for a ribbon, but speech (with a pop filter) is fine.
Modern mics like those from Royer Labs can handle high SPL (cranked 100w guitar amp).
There are a few reasons why professionals still like ribbons for certain tasks: unlike condensers and dynamics, the resonant frequency of the ribbon is typically very low (20Hz), so you don’t get any peaks or artifacts when the source audio vibrates at the resonant frequency of the mic. Also, if you like the sound of your expensive mic preamplifier, the low output ribbon mics let you add gain/dirt/harmonic distortion which to some is pleasing to the ear.
Love that the op built his own, that’s really awesome.
Yeah, I have a Royer R-121 which I use in combination a SM57 on guitar cabs/amps - classic combo as you get the fullness and low-end of the Royer, and attack and top-end of the dynamic. But eyewatering price when considering it's only one microphone (though it has more use cases, like overhead).
With that said, every ribbon mic I've owned, I've felt like I've had to handle with kid gloves, just in case.
Is this basically just the inverse of an electrostatic speaker? I've seen DIY builds of those using very thin films coated with some electrosensitive solution - would that work as an alternative for the foil/leaf used here?
No, a ribbon microphone is sort-of a dual of a dynamic microphone if you squint hard enough. An electrostatic speaker is closer to the inverse of a condenser (capacitor) microphone
It sounds just like any other mic, with subtle differences audible only to the most trained ear.
Their frequency response is probably well characterised and documented, so you can simulate one by putting an appropriate EQ over a "normal" mic and the outcome will be indistinguishable from the real thing.
This was an excellent read! I dabbled in DIY audio gear as a teenager, mostly building headphone amps. Never dreamed of trying something as complex as this.
For anyone interested in how mucrophones can sound different, check out Jim Lill's video [1] where he A/B tests a bunch of mics against one another and industry standards.
He has a whole series of videos where he explores what contributes the most to "guitar tone", all the way from the strings to your ears and in between. It's a bit of an eye opener to say the least. Highly, highly recommended.
1: https://youtu.be/4Bma2TE-x6M
Love his series, but you really have to keep in mind that his testing methodology is "reductionist": a microphone's quality can't just be distilled to its EQ response. Phase, transient response, clipping, etc. are also part of the equation.
edit: My "case in point" moment is Jim's (excellent!) DIY amp section in this video: https://youtu.be/wcBEOcPtlYk?si=jkehIfyo6AgeTLUo&t=918. Its EQ indeed sounds like the big names, but I'm sure you'll also notice how its dynamics also sound so thin. That's likely because solid state clipping != (saggy) tube overdrive.
That is a ridiculously well made video, thanks for sharing!
Relevant Wired articles from 2011:
* "Relics Reborn: Ribbon Microphones Rally for Vintage-Audio Geeks" https://www.wired.com/2011/01/gallery-ribbon-mics-part-1/ https://web.archive.org/web/20240118172709/https://www.wired...
* "Ribbon Microphones: Audio Icon You Can Build in Your Garage" https://www.wired.com/2011/01/ribbon-mics-part-2/ https://web.archive.org/web/20160326035336/https://www.wired... (the internal link from part 1 to part 2 in the Wired story is currently broken!)
(These were posted in 2011 by user mainland but didn't get any comments.)
An interesting feature of ribbon mics - because the ribbon is open at the front and the back, they reject sound from the side (and top/bottom) almost perfectly. You can arrange these cleverly in live or studio settings to amplify one thing while rejecting another completely.
A typical usecase for this is a singer with an acoustic guitar - one mic can pick up the guitar and almost fully reject the vocals, and vice-versa. Pretty cool.
It also led to the ability to sing in a quieter, more natural way, and gave birth to the "crooner" style. The earlier popularized carbon button microphone (invented in 1878) didn’t enable this personal singing style. If you look at one you might mistake it for the receiver of an old telephone handset (which in essence it was).
I built a ribbon mic from a kit a while ago, and only broke the ribbon once putting it together! https://www.bumblebeepro.com/
Of course, as soon as i tried to record my guitarist with it, he cranked his amp and broke it again. Guitarists, man...
Recording drum kits with them must be a delicate business…
Ribbon mics: Expensive, and notoriously fragile (to high SPL).
Some are so sensitive that you can actually destroy the ribbon by shutting the (mic) case lid too fast.
As you’ve pointed out High SPL isn’t what breaks ribbons, it’s high SPL at low frequencies (ie wind/air moving frequencies, like those produced from a slamming wooden case lid.
Kick drums and bass guitar amps might not be a good match for a ribbon, but speech (with a pop filter) is fine.
Modern mics like those from Royer Labs can handle high SPL (cranked 100w guitar amp).
There are a few reasons why professionals still like ribbons for certain tasks: unlike condensers and dynamics, the resonant frequency of the ribbon is typically very low (20Hz), so you don’t get any peaks or artifacts when the source audio vibrates at the resonant frequency of the mic. Also, if you like the sound of your expensive mic preamplifier, the low output ribbon mics let you add gain/dirt/harmonic distortion which to some is pleasing to the ear.
Love that the op built his own, that’s really awesome.
Is the frequency response purely a function of the physical shape? I wonder why you can't use a similar diaphragm shape but as a condenser?
Yeah, I have a Royer R-121 which I use in combination a SM57 on guitar cabs/amps - classic combo as you get the fullness and low-end of the Royer, and attack and top-end of the dynamic. But eyewatering price when considering it's only one microphone (though it has more use cases, like overhead).
With that said, every ribbon mic I've owned, I've felt like I've had to handle with kid gloves, just in case.
Is this basically just the inverse of an electrostatic speaker? I've seen DIY builds of those using very thin films coated with some electrosensitive solution - would that work as an alternative for the foil/leaf used here?
No, a ribbon microphone is sort-of a dual of a dynamic microphone if you squint hard enough. An electrostatic speaker is closer to the inverse of a condenser (capacitor) microphone
Is there a recording somewhere to hear what this sounds like?
It sounds just like any other mic, with subtle differences audible only to the most trained ear.
Their frequency response is probably well characterised and documented, so you can simulate one by putting an appropriate EQ over a "normal" mic and the outcome will be indistinguishable from the real thing.
Disagree. Ribbon mics have a very distinct sound. The top end in particular. They also distort when pushed.
Amy Winehouse “Back to Black”. They tracked her vocals with an RCA ribbon mic.
Edit: fixed a typo
Any Winehouse is such an unfortunate typo
Fixed! Thanks for catching.
This was an excellent read! I dabbled in DIY audio gear as a teenager, mostly building headphone amps. Never dreamed of trying something as complex as this.
That’s great, but would love to hear samples to see if it’s any good!
All lowercase text is so hard to read.
on my machine, the text is also gigantic, and some of it is outside the screen :')
capitals could damage the ribbon
I also fell for the purple text that didn't turn out to be a link
This is quite the style
i didn't find it hard to read, personally
perhaps the author is anti-capital-ist?
having an entire separate alphabet just to mark the start of sentences, and proper names, does seem extremely wasteful
on the microphone, it looks like quite a delicate process
i've modded some cheap aliexpress microphones (eg following https://audioimprov.com/AudioImprov/Mics/Entries/2015/12/20_...) but i'd want to see some measurements or reviews before embarking on something like this one