[muzician21]

I got an MXL R40 ribbon for grins. My initial experiments with it
haven't blown me away. It may be I haven't found the right formula for
EQ'ing it. I've been really happy with MXL condensers I've had and
I've seen good reviews of this particular mic. Wondering if my pre
just isn't right for this mic. I have a Studio Projects VTB-1. I have
to really crank it to get acceptable gain.

Thoughts? Any experience with this particular mic?

Thanks.

[muzician21]

On Mar 14, 5:39*pm, muzician21 wrote:
I got an MXL R40 ribbon for grins. My initial experiments with it
haven't blown me away. It may be I haven't found the right formula for
EQ'ing it. I've been really happy with MXL condensers I've had and
I've seen good reviews of this particular mic. Wondering if my pre
just isn't right for this mic. I have a Studio Projects VTB-1. I have
to really crank it to get acceptable gain.

Thoughts? Any experience with this particular mic?

Thanks.


I should probably add that the MXL condensers I've had I've run
through this same pre.

(yes, I know not to use 48v with the ribbon plugged in)

[Mike Rivers]

On 3/14/2012 5:39 PM, muzician21 wrote:
I got an MXL R40 ribbon for grins. My initial experiments with it
haven't blown me away. It may be I haven't found the right formula for
EQ'ing it.

Well, the reason why you use a ribbon mic is because, on the
appropriate things, you shouldn't need to EQ it, at least
not with magic. If you think it needs EQm, you're probably
using it on the wrong source. Or maybe it just isn't that
good of a mic. There's gotta be some difference between your
$130 MXL and a $2,000 AEA, or a priceless RCA.

Wondering if my pre
just isn't right for this mic. I have a Studio Projects VTB-1. I have
to really crank it to get acceptable gain.

More importantly, it may not be the right input impedance.
Contrary to popular believe (even by some ribbon mic
manufacturer), most ribbons perform best into a high
impedance, 10,000 ohms or more. Your preamp is switchable
between 300 and 2,000 ohms. I'll bet that if you've
discovered that switch, you're running it at 300 ohms
because you heard someplace that ribbon mics are low
impedance. AEA's ribbon mic preamp is, I belive, 18,000
ohms in. Also, mic preamps from the days when ribbon mics
were the standard studio mic had at least 10 dB more gain
than contemporary preamps, which are all around 60 dB. So
don't expect meter-slamming levels, and don't be afraid to
turn your preamp's gain up full.

Play around with it for a while, but if it doesn't do
anything for you, don't think there's something wrong with
the mic, or the preamp, or with you, it may just not be the
mic you need.



--
"Today's production equipment is IT based and cannot be
operated without a passing knowledge of computing, although
it seems that it can be operated without a passing knowledge
of audio." - John Watkinson

http://mikeriversaudio.wordpress.com - useful and
interesting audio stuff

[Scott Dorsey]

muzician21 wrote:
I got an MXL R40 ribbon for grins. My initial experiments with it
haven't blown me away. It may be I haven't found the right formula for
EQ'ing it. I've been really happy with MXL condensers I've had and
I've seen good reviews of this particular mic. Wondering if my pre
just isn't right for this mic. I have a Studio Projects VTB-1. I have
to really crank it to get acceptable gain.

Thoughts? Any experience with this particular mic?

It's a Chinese adaptation of an RCA motor design built by someone who didn't
really understand how the RCA works or the physics of the whole thing.

If you put it into a high-Z input, it will have a little more top end,
but it really doesn't have very much top end.

Try it on a close-miked fiddle or something else you don't want much top
end on. Try it on an electric guitar cabinet.

Also, be aware that these things are tensioned by hand and no two are
tensioned quite the same way, so if yours doesn't sound right, the next
one on the production line might.
--scott

--
"C'est un Nagra. C'est suisse, et tres, tres precis."