adavidmackinnon wrote: Tue Feb 04, 2025 10:10 pm Are you sure it 50Kohm and not 50 ohm? Lots of old ribbons and dynamics like the Altec salt-shaker mics we're super low impedance. If that's the issue then one of these is great - https://xaudia.com/transformers/transformer-boxes. I got one for my salt shaker and it's a totally different animal.

If the mic is in fact 50Kohm then you can run a DI. It's worth experimenting to find one that does the best job.

Definitely 50K. It's an Aiwa VM-15. I've been reading around and it seems replacing the transformer is the thing to do. Lacking good info on the original transformers though (for the 50K or 600ohm versions) identifying the most ideal transformer is a bit of a challenge. Research continues...

I'd suggest talking to Stewart at Xaudia. He's super knowledgeable and helpful and seems to know everything about every ribbon mic ever made. He could likely point you in the right direction on your hunt for a transformer or maybe even make what you need.

adavidmackinnon wrote: Wed Feb 05, 2025 12:17 pm I'd suggest talking to Stewart at Xaudia. He's super knowledgeable and helpful and seems to know everything about every ribbon mic ever made. He could likely point you in the right direction on your hunt for a transformer or maybe even make what you need.

Thanks, He's on my list of folks to reach out to.

“All buttons in” or “british mode” compressor settings - what do yall do with those? Is that just a drum thing? I have an Audioscape 1176 that does it but I’m sure plugins and other stuff does it as well.

The only ‘all buttons’ use I’ve found on my comp was making a baritone guitar sit upfront but still pulled back a bit, so that it wasn’t causing big level jumps weaving in between the vocal - I comped between that and a 4:1 ratio when I wanted it to stick out more for a bar or two. Normally I don’t like hearing a lot of compression, but it really worked on this element that wasn’t too far up or back.

If I recorded rock bands I could probably make use of a whole rack of these things.

thecr4ne wrote: Fri Dec 13, 2024 5:50 pm Anyone have experience buying from Japanese auction sites? I stumbled onto https://www.jauce.com but haven't actually ordered anything yet. Anyone used this site? or have others to recommend? I'm also curious about logistics RE: shipping and whatnot.

To answer my own question, I took the risk and created an account on https://www.jauce.com which is a "proxy service" for buying items listed on Japanese shopping sites, and more importantly, yahoo auctions Japan. I proceeded to buy a bunch of stuff, and have my first shipment on the way.

How it works:
You deposit $ which is converted to Japanese Yen (JPY) with that you can bid on or buy items, which are then shipped to the Jauce warehouse, where they are stored for up to 60 days at no additional cost, and for an additional 60 days for a fee. Once you're ready you create a shipping order which involves consolidating your items into fewer parcels, and overseas shipping. There's a fast way (DHL) and a slow way with corresponding pricing. Also varying levels of insurance. My first shipping order arrives Monday, and there's still a possibility I'll have to pay customs/import fees or something. I'll follow up on that.

Having spent some time with this service, my takeaways so far (which I share at the risk of increasing buyer competition) are as follows:

-Great for buying Japanese items below inflated ebay/US prices.
In my case, Mics. Sony condensers, Sanken mics, Toshiba and Aiwa ribbons. In your case, maybe Japanese made guitars. MIJ Fenders, Orville by Gibson, Teisco, Greco, Etc. DEFINITELY check it out. Some US/European made stuff that's hard to come by, but a lot of that can be even more inflated than domestic prices.

EDIT (forgot to add this)
-Sniper bids
You can place a sniper bid, which will bid on your behalf 6 minutes before the end of the auction. Apparently Yahoo auctions adds 5 minutes to an auction if a bid is received within the last 5 minutes. Not like ebay where you can drop a bid at the very last second and knock someone on their ass. If you REALLY want something, it can involve getting up super early and being online to keep bidding if you get into a bid war with someone else, which can just keep drawing out the end of the auction. But if you have a hard limit, just set it and forget it. You'll get emails if you win or get outbid. I haven't really done this. I shouldn't be spending this much anyway. but dealz.

EDIT(forgot to add this too)
-Search Results
Search results are just a picture and a current price, so know what you're looking for. Lots of scrolling required. Also keep in mind that original text is Japanese and machine translated, so spell out your search terms (MICROPHONE, not MIC). Also the Japanese version of "As-Is" is "Junk". I gather there's a higher standard for cosmetic condition than I can afford to care about, sometimes adding "Junk" to your other search terms can be a good thing.

-BUYER PAYS FEES.
All this stuff is in Japanese Yen (JPY) and you have to make a deposit before you bid. I've been doing so via Paypal, and haven't noticed if there's another option. Paypal, of course takes a cut. Other costs incurred: Shop Tax, usually 10% of the sale price, Local Shipping: From seller to Jauce Warehouse, Banking fee: 300JPY per seller per day, International Shipping from Japan (a few options available as described above), Possibly Import/Customs.

-"Blocked" items
Some items are blocked for various reasons. A lot of this stuff is blocked by some algorithm that doesn't know its ass from its elbow. You can request something be unblocked and every time I've tried that it's been unblocked within a day. Some items are blocked because of low or overly negative seller feedback. No way around that via this site.

-Counterfeit Items are still a thing
I made the mistake of buying some "Neumann" mics, which I strongly suspect are Chinese knock-offs. Will follow-up once they arrive on Monday. I think this is really only an issue with those sorts of brands that are used for predatory purposes.

-My Scores:
So far I've got a Pair of Sony C38's (look kinda beat up) A pair of (likely knock-off) Neumann KM184s, 1 Gefell M390, 1 Toshiba Type G, 1 Aiwa VM15, 1 Sony C55AC which all look really great. Some are in great working order, others unknown working order. After all the fees and shipping costs (pending import/customs), the average total price is $393 USD per mic.

Since ordering the shipment I also won an Aiwa VM-16, and there are a few others I've got my eye on.

Hopefully this is useful. There's some cool shit out there...I'm way over budget, but I think it's worth it. Your Milage May Vary.

llllllllllllllllllll wrote: Thu Feb 06, 2025 3:48 pm “All buttons in” or “british mode” compressor settings - what do yall do with those? Is that just a drum thing? I have an Audioscape 1176 that does it but I’m sure plugins and other stuff does it as well.

The only ‘all buttons’ use I’ve found on my comp was making a baritone guitar sit upfront but still pulled back a bit, so that it wasn’t causing big level jumps weaving in between the vocal - I comped between that and a 4:1 ratio when I wanted it to stick out more for a bar or two. Normally I don’t like hearing a lot of compression, but it really worked on this element that wasn’t too far up or back.

If I recorded rock bands I could probably make use of a whole rack of these things.

I've used it for rock vocals a fair bit. It works really well helping a vocal compete with a wall of guitars. It can give the vocal a nice aggressive tone. It adds hair.

I also like it on acoustic guitars where the acoustic is functioning more like an electric. It can get you in the ballpark of that late 60's Rolling Stones acoustic sound. Street Fighting Man or Jumping Jack Flash

Kind of more of a random thoughts, but gear-centric:

Am I the only person who wants a guitar with a humbucker bridge and a single coil in the neck? It seems like it.

It's just the perfect combination: big saturated rock in the bridge, and dark spank in the neck.

Makes me want to get another Squire tele and gut that shit.

I've been having issues with video/audio sync'ing lately. Sometimes I'll export the video's audio into Reaper for eq, compression etc and when I recombine them back in iMovie they no longer sync across the whole song. The Thru Zero flange was kinda cool once but it's just pissing me off now.

Is there something about video processing that can alter the time of a file? I can't figure where else it could be coming from.

losthighway wrote: Sat Feb 08, 2025 10:20 am Kind of more of a random thoughts, but gear-centric:

Am I the only person who wants a guitar with a humbucker bridge and a single coil in the neck? It seems like it.

It's just the perfect combination: big saturated rock in the bridge, and dark spank in the neck.

Makes me want to get another Squire tele and gut that shit.

see: most super-strats from the 80s

Dr Tony Balls wrote: Sat Feb 08, 2025 12:52 pm

losthighway wrote: Sat Feb 08, 2025 10:20 am Kind of more of a random thoughts, but gear-centric:

Am I the only person who wants a guitar with a humbucker bridge and a single coil in the neck? It seems like it.

It's just the perfect combination: big saturated rock in the bridge, and dark spank in the neck.

Makes me want to get another Squire tele and gut that shit.

see: most super-strats from the 80s

Oh yeah. Am I lame that the only thing keeping me from those is aesthetics?

The internet coughed up the Squire 51 to answer my inquiry. Pretty cool. Body looks borderline unsubstantial the way a Mustang does, but might be fun.