I have been following M500s for sale since this thread (or at least FM mdc’s posts about them) and would love that model number!FransFromBavaria wrote: Wed Jun 26, 2024 9:55 am I had a few M500s and used them for a number of things. They were the weapon of choice in the upper end of live vocal mics back in the 70s, where you regularly saw ABBA with them on stages. Legend has it that Frank Sinatra liked it for singing live as well.
A) as somebody else said: shelve 10khz, why not
B) if not afraid of convoluted stupid ideas: pair the M500 with any SDC, align the capsules, lowcut the SDC and add to taste
C) shelve 10khz
It is one of the ribbons that withstands the most SPL of any ribbons besides the Crowley and Tripp.. if the original (non-RCA-crimped) ribbon is in there. Stewart from Xaudia once told me, this way of crimping has a spoonful more of nonlinearity than the RCA style, but for keeping ribbons from dying it can be stressed more.. i hope i have quoted it kind of not completely wrong.
IMHO the M500 is not one of the mics that easily fit a lot of sources, just some. For making it more universal, pull down a bell around 3-4 khz, it is voiced kinda like a .... (duh!) vocal mic. Another Stewart Taverner quote: "Ribbon mics naturally have a big rich proximity effect, which is one of the things that we love about them. In the M500 a lot of work has gone into removing that sound."
Beyer said to me they were trying to re-create that thing with their ribbon vocal mic line they had again until recently, i could look up the model numbers if anybody needs the info. I got to try one of these and have to say, it does the thing but way nicer than the M500s. Less obscure, less "omg-i-crap-my-pants-vintage" so less dumb prices.
Re: ISO: microphone recommendation please and thank you
12+1 - curious to know what those mics are!
FWIW I picked up a sony C80 and it sounds really nice in a crisp 'hifi' way, similar to the M500. I like it way more than the soyuz I borrowed for that session. I would happily grab another should one come up for a similar price (I paid $300US).
FWIW I picked up a sony C80 and it sounds really nice in a crisp 'hifi' way, similar to the M500. I like it way more than the soyuz I borrowed for that session. I would happily grab another should one come up for a similar price (I paid $300US).
Re: ISO: microphone recommendation please and thank you
15I have a TLM103 and find it kinda hard to get placed just right. It's really sensitive (pretty low self noise) and really sibilant. Puffs and Ttzzz's can be a problem. Not bad, just kinda fidgety for placement. It has zero character at all. Totally neutral. For vocals, I prefer the much cheaper Shure KSM32 or KSM44. I like those over 414 as well for similar reasons. Dynamic land, I also really like a Beyer M88's and M69's, Sennheiser MD431and much cheaper E935, and of course, a SM7b is a standard of sorts for that kinda thing. Haven't tried one but a friend has a Warm Audio C12 clone that he raves about all the time. They are pretty cheap for what they are.tommy wrote: Thu Jan 18, 2024 9:35 am TLM103 maybe? Doesn’t have as much boost anywhere, but doesn’t dip in the high end like either of those plots.
Re: ISO: microphone recommendation please and thank you
16I think so - the stronger proximity effect might be the biggest difference to the M500. As the M500, the TGV90R doesn't fit every source and it's not a "dark" ribbon, except if you get right up to the grille.