[cporro]

a while back i posted about having a nasal voice that needs taming (i
sound a bit like bob geldolf).

2 suggestions were the beyer m500 and the EV re20.

i borrowed a friends re20 and found it very dull sounding. so dull i
immediately threw in the towel. duller then my sm57 or 58beta and less
detailed. i wonder if something wasn't wrong with the mic. or maybe i
should have been right on it instead of 12" back. any ideas?

i saw that they still make these new. any comment on their current
sound? i may still buy and try.

also tried the m500. so far i like this better on my voice then
anything else i've tried. i'm finding the mic i choose also depends on
the mix. this mix is open and the voice is really naked. it does not
need to punch through.

where is a good place to buy an m500? do i dare ebay? i'm concerned
about getting a run down ribbon.

k, one more. i was reading that the m500 is tricking when it comes to
preamp loading. i mostly use a FMR really nice preamp and the pres in
the RME fireface 800. is this an issue?

thanks for the ongoing advice

[nebulax]

On Oct 16, 4:07 am, cporro wrote:
a while back i posted about having a nasal voice that needs taming (i
sound a bit like bob geldolf).

2 suggestions were the beyer m500 and the EV re20.

i borrowed a friends re20 and found it very dull sounding. so dull i
immediately threw in the towel. duller then my sm57 or 58beta and less
detailed. i wonder if something wasn't wrong with the mic. or maybe i
should have been right on it instead of 12" back. any ideas?

i saw that they still make these new. any comment on their current
sound? i may still buy and try.

also tried the m500. so far i like this better on my voice then
anything else i've tried. i'm finding the mic i choose also depends on
the mix. this mix is open and the voice is really naked. it does not
need to punch through.

where is a good place to buy an m500? do i dare ebay? i'm concerned
about getting a run down ribbon.

k, one more. i was reading that the m500 is tricking when it comes to
preamp loading. i mostly use a FMR really nice preamp and the pres in
the RME fireface 800. is this an issue?

thanks for the ongoing advice


RE-20's can sound dull compared to other vocal mics, but you should
probably get right up on top of it for best results. They're a
favorite with radio announcers, in part because of the lack of
boominess when you get really close to it. There's a newer model
called the RE-27, which may be brighter sounding, but I haven't
actually tried one.

I like beyer m500 mics for vocals too, but I don't think they're made
anymore. Someplace like eBay might be one of your few choices for
finding one.

-Neb

[Scott Dorsey]

cporro wrote:
a while back i posted about having a nasal voice that needs taming (i
sound a bit like bob geldolf).

2 suggestions were the beyer m500 and the EV re20.

i borrowed a friends re20 and found it very dull sounding. so dull i
immediately threw in the towel. duller then my sm57 or 58beta and less
detailed. i wonder if something wasn't wrong with the mic. or maybe i
should have been right on it instead of 12" back. any ideas?

It does not have a presence peak the way the SM57 and SM58 do. These
mikes have a gargantuan boost at 4KC or so that make things sound very
forward. The RE-20 does not have that.

If you want that presence peak, you can either EQ it in yourself, or try
the RE-27, which is like an RE-20 with a presence peak (although still
smaller than the cartoonish one of the SM-57).

i saw that they still make these new. any comment on their current
sound? i may still buy and try.

The RE-20 sounds very neutral. If you don't want neutral, it's not the
mike for you.

also tried the m500. so far i like this better on my voice then
anything else i've tried. i'm finding the mic i choose also depends on
the mix. this mix is open and the voice is really naked. it does not
need to punch through.

The M-500 has a MONSTER presence peak, just as big as the SM-57. It's
like what God's own SM-57 would sound like.

where is a good place to buy an m500? do i dare ebay? i'm concerned
about getting a run down ribbon.

So buy one on Ebay, and expect to have to re-ribbon it. I don't recall
what Beyer is charging for a ribbon replacement, but find out and take
that into account when you buy one.

k, one more. i was reading that the m500 is tricking when it comes to
preamp loading. i mostly use a FMR really nice preamp and the pres in
the RME fireface 800. is this an issue?

Dunno, it's probably fine. What did you try the M-500 on your voice with?
If you tried it with your FMR, and you liked it, you'll be fine. You might
like it a little more with a different preamp, but then again you might
not either. If you like it enough now, that should be sufficient.
--scott
--
"C'est un Nagra. C'est suisse, et tres, tres precis."

[cporro]

i wrote beyer's service dept in germany. we'll see if they get back to
me. i kinda have a feeling its about $300 and the mics go for around
that on ebay.

yeah, i used the RNP on the m500. so i'll stick with that.

thanks again all.

[Roy W. Rising[_2_]]

cporro wrote:
i wrote beyer's service dept in germany. we'll see if they get back to
me. i kinda have a feeling its about $300 and the mics go for around
that on ebay.

yeah, i used the RNP on the m500. so i'll stick with that.

thanks again all.

If you must have the M500, there are several folks in the US who replace
ribbons in various mics. A friend was very satisfied with what Jerry
Silvia did for his RCA BK-5. http://www.silviaclassics.com/about/

Another approach to your vocal problem might be to avoid the HF harshness
of mics with presence peaks in favor of a smooth top end, and roll off the
bottom to get the Bass/Treble balance you seek. You might find the RE20
less dull that way, and it could give you greater clarity.

--
~
~ Roy
"If you notice the sound, it's wrong!"

[Scott Dorsey]

Roy W. Rising wrote:
cporro wrote:
i wrote beyer's service dept in germany. we'll see if they get back to
me. i kinda have a feeling its about $300 and the mics go for around
that on ebay.

yeah, i used the RNP on the m500. so i'll stick with that.

thanks again all.

If you must have the M500, there are several folks in the US who replace
ribbons in various mics. A friend was very satisfied with what Jerry
Silvia did for his RCA BK-5. http://www.silviaclassics.com/about/

The problem is that the M-500 ribbon is very strange, and rather than
being corrugated like the RCA ribbons, it's stamped. It's a lot easier
to make the RCA ribbons.

If you put an RCA ribbon in a Beyer mike (like Steve Sank will do for you),
it sounds more like an RCA than a Beyer.

Beyer has replacement assemblies available for the M-500. They aren't all
that expensive, considering. If you get one installed, ask for the old
parts back and send me the transformer.

Another approach to your vocal problem might be to avoid the HF harshness
of mics with presence peaks in favor of a smooth top end, and roll off the
bottom to get the Bass/Treble balance you seek. You might find the RE20
less dull that way, and it could give you greater clarity.

The HF peak can help balance out the nasal peak on really nasal voices.
I find the M-500 really is a miracle cure for some nasal sounds, but I am
really not sure exactly why.
--scott
--
"C'est un Nagra. C'est suisse, et tres, tres precis."

[nebulax]

On Oct 16, 2:12 pm, cporro wrote:
i wrote beyer's service dept in germany. we'll see if they get back to
me. i kinda have a feeling its about $300 and the mics go for around
that on ebay.

yeah, i used the RNP on the m500. so i'll stick with that.

thanks again all.


BTW, beyer makes some other ribbon mics, like the the M160 and M260,
but they sound quite different than the M500, with little or no
presence peak to speak of.
-Neb

[Scott Dorsey]

In article . com,
nebulax wrote:
On Oct 16, 2:12 pm, cporro wrote:
i wrote beyer's service dept in germany. we'll see if they get back to
me. i kinda have a feeling its about $300 and the mics go for around
that on ebay.

yeah, i used the RNP on the m500. so i'll stick with that.

BTW, beyer makes some other ribbon mics, like the the M160 and M260,
but they sound quite different than the M500, with little or no
presence peak to speak of.

And they are EXCELLENT and to be strongly recommended, but they won't
help with nasal vocals. It's that presence peak that is helping to
hide the honk, I think.
--scott

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

[Roy W. Rising[_2_]]

(Scott Dorsey) wrote:
In article . com,
nebulax wrote:
On Oct 16, 2:12 pm, cporro wrote:
i wrote beyer's service dept in germany. we'll see if they get back to
me. i kinda have a feeling its about $300 and the mics go for around
that on ebay.

yeah, i used the RNP on the m500. so i'll stick with that.

BTW, beyer makes some other ribbon mics, like the the M160 and M260,
but they sound quite different than the M500, with little or no
presence peak to speak of.

And they are EXCELLENT and to be strongly recommended, but they won't
help with nasal vocals. It's that presence peak that is helping to
hide the honk, I think.
--scott

I wonder what mic Randy Travis uses. He doesn't have a problem making
megabucks with his "honk"! ;-)

--
~
~ Roy
"If you notice the sound, it's wrong!"

[hank alrich]

Scott Dorsey wrote:

In article . com,
nebulax wrote:
On Oct 16, 2:12 pm, cporro wrote:
i wrote beyer's service dept in germany. we'll see if they get back to
me. i kinda have a feeling its about $300 and the mics go for around
that on ebay.

yeah, i used the RNP on the m500. so i'll stick with that.

BTW, beyer makes some other ribbon mics, like the the M160 and M260,
but they sound quite different than the M500, with little or no
presence peak to speak of.

And they are EXCELLENT and to be strongly recommended, but they won't
help with nasal vocals. It's that presence peak that is helping to
hide the honk, I think.
--scott

They also cannot be worked closely for vox without a pop screen as they
lack that internal anti-blast screen that's in the M500.

--
ha
Iraq is Arabic for Vietnam

[cporro]

one problem find while posting here is using words like nasal. kinda
generic. would it help if i posted an FFT plot? seems that would be
better then one instance in time like a spectroscope. the way i
understand it an FFT is like average energy at different frequencies
over a span of time. for me i think it's 15 sec.

thoughts?

[Scott Dorsey]

cporro wrote:
one problem find while posting here is using words like nasal. kinda
generic. would it help if i posted an FFT plot? seems that would be
better then one instance in time like a spectroscope. the way i
understand it an FFT is like average energy at different frequencies
over a span of time. for me i think it's 15 sec.

The FFT is a whole lot less useful than using your ears and just listening.
Either it sounds good or it doesn't, and if it doesn't, it's your job to
find out what isn't right and correct it.
--scott
--
"C'est un Nagra. C'est suisse, et tres, tres precis."

[Edwin Hurwitz]

In article .com,
cporro wrote:

a while back i posted about having a nasal voice that needs taming (i
sound a bit like bob geldolf).

2 suggestions were the beyer m500 and the EV re20.

i borrowed a friends re20 and found it very dull sounding. so dull i
immediately threw in the towel. duller then my sm57 or 58beta and less
detailed. i wonder if something wasn't wrong with the mic. or maybe i
should have been right on it instead of 12" back. any ideas?

i saw that they still make these new. any comment on their current
sound? i may still buy and try.

also tried the m500. so far i like this better on my voice then
anything else i've tried. i'm finding the mic i choose also depends on
the mix. this mix is open and the voice is really naked. it does not
need to punch through.

where is a good place to buy an m500? do i dare ebay? i'm concerned
about getting a run down ribbon.

k, one more. i was reading that the m500 is tricking when it comes to
preamp loading. i mostly use a FMR really nice preamp and the pres in
the RME fireface 800. is this an issue?

thanks for the ongoing advice

I might have a pair of M500s for sale. They are special edition versions
with a copper colored body. I'll know in a few days. I love them, but
they don't get a lot of use these days.

Edwin
--
If you want to make peace, you don't talk to your friends. You talk to your
enemies.
-Moshe Dayan

[hank alrich]

Edwin Hurwitz wrote:

I might have a pair of M500s for sale. They are special edition versions
with a copper colored body. I'll know in a few days. I love them, but
they don't get a lot of use these days.

I bought four M500's in 1972 or '73, and all of them were that copper
color. When I sent them to Beyer for refurb in 1982 (they had seen a
_lot_ of action on the stage of Armadillo World Headquarters) they came
back with the same serial #'s but black bodies. I still have two of
them.

--
ha
Iraq is Arabic for Vietnam