The Ribbon Microphone (opens in new tab)

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's an amazing video, the first 30min Youtube I've seen that is densely packed with usefulness and without any fluff (in pace, audio and visuals).

I wish he had vocals in his comparison set.

I did love to see five different U87s tested. They have such a great reputation, and we used them so much when I was producing but it's amazing to me how variable they were from mic to mic. Knowing that I would avoid moving forward unless it's my own, that I know.

I think people get too hung up on the natural frequency response of mics. A ribbon mic can achieve such a low noise floor with high sensitivity that high gain EQ stays clean.

That is a ridiculously well made video, thanks for sharing!

It's a fascinating topic, how technology forms new genres of music. The microphone is often overlooked for its importance in 20th century music evolution.

You might be able to use a laser, with a video camera as the sensor. Even though the frame rate of the camera is much less than the sampling rate required for audio, it potentially has a high enough spatial resolution that there are multiple pixels per audio wavelength, giving enough bits of information per unit time. Some smart maths, effectively modelling the ribbon and matching its response to the observation, would be required. In this way, the vibration of the whole ribbon might be measured.

You could probably do so with something like this right now, pointing it at the ribbon: https://pki-electronic.com/products/audio-surveillance-equip...

Or just a sheet of glass in front of the singer.

This is a common problem with stylesheets based on tufte-css (an excellent project) which attempts to make things nice for mobile users but often makes the wrong assumption about screen geometry.

My blog had the same problem until I removed the css styles that triggered the font size.

I don't have this particular issue, but instead the text size is hilariously huge. The CSS contains this fragment:

  @media (min-resolution: 1.5dppx) {
   :root {
    font-size: 2.4rem;
   }
  }

My 27 inch 4k monitor comes in at a device pixel ratio of ~1.58, triggering this (presumably) phone-targeted style.

the author is in fact reading this and will make some changes

edit: haven't managed to replicate the absurdly huge image; what version # & os are you on?

In Safari it looks like there has been a “text-transform: lowercase” in the CSS.

And like this in Windows/Chrome latest:

https://imgur.com/a/QnNbLEG

on a non-maximized window.

Not the case on v134.0.1 on Linux Mint.

https://i.imgur.com/vmUFR9K.png

They have a bit different characteristics to dynamic/condenser mics - usually less high frequency content, and pronounced proximity effect.

Often used for horns, violin, guitar cabs - sources where you want to reduce "shrillness" but you can use them anywhere.

Amy Winehouse “Back to Black”. They tracked her vocals with an RCA ribbon mic.

Edit: fixed a typo

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.

it looks like there's a recording linked at the end of the post

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.

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

Recording drum kits with them must be a delicate business…

One of my favorite winter fireside poems as a child.

https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/45081/the-cremation-o...

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

capitals could damage the ribbon

ifyouthinkthatsbadbearinmindthatbothcapitallettersinlowercasetextandspacesbetweenwordsarefairlyrecentinventions

I also fell for the purple text that didn't turn out to be a link

This is quite the style

on my machine, the text is also gigantic, and some of it is outside the screen :')