wiggins wrote:OKay! so I've bid on an Octava ML-19, and, having used the search function, couldn't find a thread about these mics here.

Here you go:

http://sound-room.com/customer/product. ... t=2&page=2

Ugly as fuck. Still, probably typical of the Oktava mics, ie. practically designed, slightly crude but aimed to sound good above all else. It should likely be nice. Oh, and it's cardioid in response.

Did you by any chance buy it from "Ostrovsky"?

I bought a vintage Oktava from him recently - he's very good and packages everything in Russian magazines and newspapers which makes an interesting read!

Rodabod wrote:

wiggins wrote:OKay! so I've bid on an Octava ML-19, and, having used the search function, couldn't find a thread about these mics here.

Here you go:

http://sound-room.com/customer/product. ... t=2&page=2

Ugly as fuck. Still, probably typical of the Oktava mics, ie. practically designed, slightly crude but aimed to sound good above all else. It should likely be nice. Oh, and it's cardioid in response.

Did you by any chance buy it from "Ostrovsky"?

I bought a vintage Oktava from him recently - he's very good and packages everything in Russian magazines and newspapers which makes an interesting read!

Meh, I was outbid. I did find one of those Nady's for $160 shipped, so I went with that. I'll let everyone know how it is...

wiggins wrote:

Rodabod wrote:

wiggins wrote:OKay! so I've bid on an Octava ML-19, and, having used the search function, couldn't find a thread about these mics here.

Here you go:

http://sound-room.com/customer/product. ... t=2&page=2

Ugly as fuck. Still, probably typical of the Oktava mics, ie. practically designed, slightly crude but aimed to sound good above all else. It should likely be nice. Oh, and it's cardioid in response.

Did you by any chance buy it from "Ostrovsky"?

I bought a vintage Oktava from him recently - he's very good and packages everything in Russian magazines and newspapers which makes an interesting read!

Meh, I was outbid. I did find one of those Nady's for $160 shipped, so I went with that. I'll let everyone know how it is...

I got my Nady RSM-1 today and tested it with my voice briefly. It seems to be very low output, I have to crank the trim all the way to get a decent signal. Is this normal?! It sounded pretty good otherwise.

wiggins wrote:I got my Nady RSM-1 today and tested it with my voice briefly. It seems to be very low output, I have to crank the trim all the way to get a decent signal. Is this normal?! It sounded pretty good otherwise.

Yes, that is normal.

What preamp / desk are you using?

60dB gain is a real minimum. 70 - 80dB is handy. It depends on the source of course though.

Behringer MX-3000 at the moment. I'm about to buy a preamp somehow here in the next couple of weeks. Pehaps a kit from PAiA.

Any that you'd recommend? I'll look around here some more for a "cheap 2 channel pre" thread.

wiggins wrote:Behringer MX-3000 at the moment.

That's not great, but not bad nevertheless.

Any that you'd recommend? I'll look around here some more for a "cheap 2 channel pre" thread.

Well, I'd try and get something with adequate gain. I'd try and go for 66dB minimum and then see what's in your price range. Noise is obviously the next issue. Sometimes it's difficult getting noise specs for a pre, but just use your initiative.

I would avoid gimmicky equipment which has added valves and variable impedance inputs, etc. Just get something well respected which does the job. Maybe try second-hand.

check out www.shinybox.com they have an interesting line of inexpensive ribbon mics.

wiggins wrote:Behringer MX-3000 at the moment. I'm about to buy a preamp somehow here in the next couple of weeks. Pehaps a kit from PAiA.

Any that you'd recommend? I'll look around here some more for a "cheap 2 channel pre" thread.

Depends what you mean by "cheap." My Sytek sounds fantastic with ribbon mics, has plenty of clean, quiet gain, and won't break the bank. Four channels. Used at about $600 or $700 last I checked. Mebbe a little more; I think they recently raised the new price.

I'm very intersted too by buying a Ribbon but beetween an Oktava ML-52 and a ShinyBox 46 / 23 what do you think is the best for this range of price ?
Anyway I've heard ShinyBox Sample and it's seems very good to me .

Hey Folks,

I'd add my support to the Shiny Box. I own a 46 model, stock standard. I borrowed a friends AEA R84 and R91 and did some test with me playing a finger picking passage on acoustic guitar.

While you will notice the 46 is a boomier and not as detailed in the mids it sounds great considering the difference in price between the AEA's. You can download the samples here: http://www.matt-allison.com/diy/ribbons/

I'll prob get around to swopping out the stock Chinese trafo for a Cinemag at some point, which I think will help tighten up the low end and bump up the mids.

Cheers

Matt