In article writes:

I recall someone (was it Harvey Gerst?) saying that the VTB-1
sounded good with his vintage RCA ribbon mic. Would this translate
well to the Beyer M500? Budgetary limitations are important at the
moment.

If your budget is tight, use the mic preamps you have. The M500 is
nothing like an RCA 77DX. Just treat it like any other mic and forget
that it's a ribbon. Hopefully you didn't buy it unheard just because
it was a ribbon mic.

Also, I haven't seen any posts from Stephen Sank lately. May I assume
that he's still doing ribbon mods? If so, how do I contact him?

http://stephensank.com

--
I'm really Mike Rivers )
However, until the spam goes away or Hell freezes over,
lots of IP addresses are blocked from this system. If
you e-mail me and it bounces, use your secret decoder ring
and reach me he double-m-eleven-double-zero at yahoo

haligonab wrote in message . ..
I've got a Beyer M500 on the way. At present I have available a
Soundcraft Spirit FX8 board and a (ahem) Presonus Blue Tube pre. I'm
also considering a Studio Projects VTB-1, based on reviews I've read
here. I recall someone (was it Harvey Gerst?) saying that the VTB-1
sounded good with his vintage RCA ribbon mic. Would this translate
well to the Beyer M500? Budgetary limitations are important at the
moment.

Also, I haven't seen any posts from Stephen Sank lately. May I assume
that he's still doing ribbon mods? If so, how do I contact him?
Thanks!

Steve

Stephen not only does the ribbon mic mod's but works on a lot of
other gear as well. There was a recent thread about his mod's for the
Peavey VMP-2. Using this link you can see all of his posts:

http://groups.google.com/groups?hl=e...40thuntek.net+

He has posted as recently as a week ago. His signature line has all
of his contact information.

haligonab wrote:

I've got a Beyer M500 on the way. At present I have available a
Soundcraft Spirit FX8 board and a (ahem) Presonus Blue Tube pre. I'm
also considering a Studio Projects VTB-1, based on reviews I've read
here. I recall someone (was it Harvey Gerst?) saying that the VTB-1
sounded good with his vintage RCA ribbon mic. Would this translate
well to the Beyer M500? Budgetary limitations are important at the
moment.

The M500 is not much like the RCA, and has much more output than many
ribbons. I've had no problems for years using mine with the likes of
Mackie 1202, Soundcraft 200B, A&H GL2200 or similar grade preamps. Use
it first with what you already have and maybe save your money for an RNP
from FMR Audio, which would put you in possession of a very versatile
preamp..

--ha

haligonab wrote:

I've got a Beyer M500 on the way. At present I have available a
Soundcraft Spirit FX8 board and a (ahem) Presonus Blue Tube pre. I'm
also considering a Studio Projects VTB-1, based on reviews I've read
here. I recall someone (was it Harvey Gerst?) saying that the VTB-1
sounded good with his vintage RCA ribbon mic. Would this translate
well to the Beyer M500? Budgetary limitations are important at the


I'd hold off until you get and try the mic out. I've used a couple of M500's
on a Live 4 Soundcraft board and a A-H MixWizard without any problems at all.

Hank gave you some good advice about waiting and looking at the FMR RNP or a
Great River MP-1NV, which would put you in the big leagues.

--Wayne

-"sounded good to me"-

Groove Tubes ViPre

On Sun, 10 Oct 2004 19:29:33 GMT, (hank alrich)
wrote:

haligonab wrote:

I've got a Beyer M500 on the way. At present I have available a
Soundcraft Spirit FX8 board and a (ahem) Presonus Blue Tube pre. I'm
also considering a Studio Projects VTB-1, based on reviews I've read
here. I recall someone (was it Harvey Gerst?) saying that the VTB-1
sounded good with his vintage RCA ribbon mic. Would this translate
well to the Beyer M500? Budgetary limitations are important at the
moment.

The M500 is not much like the RCA, and has much more output than many
ribbons. I've had no problems for years using mine with the likes of
Mackie 1202, Soundcraft 200B, A&H GL2200 or similar grade preamps. Use
it first with what you already have and maybe save your money for an RNP
from FMR Audio, which would put you in possession of a very versatile
preamp..

--ha


Thanks Hank and Wayne,

I'm very glad to hear that the M500 has higher output than older RCA
ribbon mics. Hopefully the Soundcraft pres will be up to the task.
I've already been considering shelling out for an RNP and will at some
point (love the RNC), but it's not in the budget at present. Perhaps
if I sell acouple of things.

Any input on the VTB-!?

(xy)
Groove Tubes ViPre

Might a product for better interfacing ribbon mics to micpres be a good
idea, maybe a box with a transformer and a variable impedence switch?

Will Miho
NY Music & TV Audio Guy
Off the Morning Show! & sleepin' In... / Fox News
"The large print giveth and the small print taketh away..." Tom Waits

Will Miho wrote:

Might a product for better interfacing ribbon mics to micpres be
a good idea [ ... ] ?

I really think so. Sanken makes an in-line "pre-preamp" (model = HAD-48)
that has a nice high input impedance, that takes phantom powering, raises
the signal level from a low-output microphone by 20 or 40 dB, and sends it
down the cable at a uniform, low impedance. I'm not sure whether the noise
levels of the Sanken doohickeys are the very best that could be achieved
(there was some discussion here about alternative approaches), but the
idea itself seems like a good one--especially these days with more and
more RF signals around us.

I intend to make some systematic tests of preamp noise whenever I get a
day or two free, and I'll be sure to check these things out; I've got a
pair (OK, no jokes please).

--best regards

Old RCA Ribbons still sound best with the old RCA tube pre's they were
designed to use (if the pre has been kept up to snuff and the mics are
in good condition (ie: meet specs for ribbon tension and condition).
My 77dx, 74b and BK5 all sound awesome through my RCA BC3B console
which exceeds the original specs.
Failing that, the Great Rivers have enough gain and sound
awesome and so does the Vipre or any of the DW Fearn tube pres which I
understand are loosely based on the old RCAs.
However, the newer designs are quieter.
Ribbons expect proper loading and lots of gain to really show their
stuff.
The Vipre allows you to play around with the impedance the mic sees
and most of the old RCAs offer multiple impedance as well, starting at
30 ohms going up to 250 ohms, depending on how the internal
transformer is strapped.

On 11 Oct 2004 07:15:16 -0700, (David Satz) wrote:

Will Miho wrote:

Might a product for better interfacing ribbon mics to micpres be
a good idea [ ... ] ?

I really think so. Sanken makes an in-line "pre-preamp" (model = HAD-48)
that has a nice high input impedance, that takes phantom powering, raises
the signal level from a low-output microphone by 20 or 40 dB, and sends it
down the cable at a uniform, low impedance. I'm not sure whether the noise
levels of the Sanken doohickeys are the very best that could be achieved
(there was some discussion here about alternative approaches), but the
idea itself seems like a good one--especially these days with more and
more RF signals around us.

I intend to make some systematic tests of preamp noise whenever I get a
day or two free, and I'll be sure to check these things out; I've got a
pair (OK, no jokes please).

--best regards

Mike Cleaver Broadcast Services
Voice-overs, Newscaster, Engineering and Consulting
Vancouver, BC, Canada

Mike Cleaver
Old RCA Ribbons still sound best with the old RCA tube pre's they were
designed to use (if the pre has been kept up to snuff and the mics are
in good condition (ie: meet specs for ribbon tension and condition).

I find a similar thing with older designed mics (like Neumann U87's and
Shure SM57's) and the micpres with transformers that were designed around the
same time (like Telefunken V78/72 V672 V276/ Neve 1272). It's not as
uncolored maybe a result as you get with many of the newer transformerless
design micpres, but it's a really great sound, a classic sound.

Will Miho
NY Music & TV Audio Guy
Off the Morning Show! & sleepin' In... / Fox News
"The large print giveth and the small print taketh away..." Tom Waits

On Sun, 10 Oct 2004 19:29:33 GMT, (hank alrich)
wrote:

snip

The M500 is not much like the RCA, and has much more output than many
ribbons. I've had no problems for years using mine with the likes of
Mackie 1202, Soundcraft 200B, A&H GL2200 or similar grade preamps. Use
it first with what you already have and maybe save your money for an RNP
from FMR Audio, which would put you in possession of a very versatile
preamp..

--ha


The M500 arrived Thursday. It got a very hurried test yesterday to
make sure it was working. The pre's in the Soundcraft Spirit FX8 seem
well up to the task, as you suggested. So I'm afraid the RNP is going
to have to wait (dammit).

Maxy wrote:
Do you think I colud change the transformes of the ML52?

Maxy, the November issue of TapeOp has a procedure for swapping out
the transformer in the Oktava ML52 for a Lundahl 2911 ribbon mic
transformer, which are around $60 from www.kandkaudio.com. They're
square so they don't fit into the round hole the Oktava's transformers
fit in, but you glue them down in the cavity.
Will Miho
NY Music and TV Audio Guy