The Steel Guitar Forum

I've been doing some tracking (steel) but one song the client wanted Dobro. In the past I've used an SM57 and SM58 for the Dobro but not really what I wanted. I have an MXL R144 Ribbon mic (bought on a M/F sale) and tried it. I've used the Ribbon as an "overhead" for drums and it did good. I tried it with my Regal Dobro and what was recorded was exactly what I hear from the Dobro!

I ran the Ribbon mic to a Focusrite ISA One preamp to my MOTU recording interface unit.

A (good) ribbon mic will always have a better transient response than a robust dynamic mic like a Shure. That's why it's so good for drums and guitars. Also wind instruments with spiky waveforms like trumpets and oboes. And fiddles.

Jack, I also purchased one of those on sale at MF, I fooled with it but still have not used it. It seems very low on gain, how did you compensate for that ?

Tony, Ribbon mics are low level. A preamp is the answer. As noted I ran mine through my Focusrite ISA One preamp. My MOTU 896Mk3 Hybrid has enough gain for a -14 recording level with the Ribbon mic but I like to record a little hotter so I used the preamp.

I'm not a MXL mic fan but this one seems to do well, or I just got lucky and got a good one.

Ribbons mics are fantastic. If you get the chance try out a Royer or Coles. To me ribbon mics are strongest in the range of human speech and they sound natural. This can be seductive and not always the best for recording. I use my ribbon constantly but only on one track at a time. I treat it like butter. It is perfect but if you put it on everything it doesn’t work.

As far as levels go that is one of those Internet experts problems. If you have a decent pre amp you turn it up. There might be issues with the lower priced ribbons that I ‘m not aware of though.

I keep some Triton FetHead preamps around for low gain mics. They go inline with the cable and are phantom powered. They add gain at the source and let you back off your preamp a bit. They are other brands like Cloudlifter that do the same thing. There are also lots of active ribbon mics available with this built in. Great microphones

This was a comment on the Sonar forum:

I love my mxl ribbon.

It sounds just like my Royer. It is probably more fragile, but I've never replaced a ribbon yet.

Tony Prior wrote: It seems very low on gain, how did you compensate for that ?

This is what I use for my ribbon mic as well as my dynamic mics.
Works great!

https://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/CL2Cloud

This is what I like to use on guitar cabinets:

http://cascademicrophones.com/cascade_f ... .html#fhbe

Jack Stoner wrote: I have an MXL R144 Ribbon mic (bought on a M/F sale) and tried it. I've used the Ribbon as an "overhead" for drums and it did good. I tried it with my Regal Dobro and what was recorded was exactly what I hear from the Dobro!

Those are extremely affordable mics!
What the heck...I just ordered one from zZounds.

Looking forward to trying it out.

The mic I bought is an MXL R40, I guess one of these days I'll see what it can offer. I think it was $50 on an MF blowout. I have a few different preamps including a Behringer ultra gain which I also got on blowout and still have not used.


I guess I should stop buying stuff on blowout

Tony Prior wrote:The mic I bought is an MXL R40, I guess one of these days I'll see what it can offer. I think it was $50 on an MF blowout. I have a few different preamps including a Behringer ultra gain which I also got on blowout and still have not used.


I guess I should stop buying stuff on blowout

I just bought a stereo pair of AEA R 84... Wow I am impressed. I have a small mic locker and these two upped my locker big time. I use the Cloud Lifter to give me the extra power I need to make the R 84's sing.. Nice thing about Ribbons they take eq real well... only thing ya got to remember is with a ribbon best put a pop filter if singing close and do not blow into the mic to see is it on.. They can take high spl but blowing into them will over time break the ribbon. I always record a cab 2 to 3 feet away and get a great sound. Right now AEA is selling more Ribbon mics than any one else out there and there is a reason why, try them out..Plus with the R 84 you can still gets some proximity effects from it. The closer you are when recording with it the more oomph you get in sound.

I bought an MXL R144 as well. I've been thinking about a ribbon for a while, and it was well less than $100.

Seems pretty good on acoustic guitar ( contrary to what I read on fora ). It's more "sluggish" sounding than a comparable MXL condenser - a bit woolier and bassier. "Bassier" is probably the very pronounced proximity effect - a figure 8 mic is twice as prone to this as a cardiod.

The bassiness can be taken care of with the free "Engineer's filter' by rs-met.

It's *really* nice on guitar cabinets. No obvious peaks or valleys.

This being said, I wouldn't assume it would keep up with a nice Royer.