Posted in the spirit of a *no fees will be paid*/*no invitation to to tender
for a consultancy contract exists or is being offered*, amateur/hobbyist
enquiry* only does anybody disagree the ribbon mic beats the Oktava for the
alto sax** in these 'near identical' (simultaneously recorded and edited,
but not level matched) clips?

(Please note the backing track is not properly *mixed* - merely being played
in the background over speakers for practice purposes!)

http://www.moirac.adsl24.co.uk/shown...ClipOktava.wav

http://www.moirac.adsl24.co.uk/shown...ClipRibbon.wav


Only my recently acquired favourite 'Choob Mic' has succumbed (temporarily,
I hope) to the 'Gadget Pox' *pandemic* that we are currently experiencing
and is humming along with the tunes, so I gotta mess with one of these two
mics 'til I get it sorted!!

Responses appreciated; all calls and texts returned, your photo gets mine,
&c....


*(Also summat of a progress report for Iain! :-)

**Very recently arrived; Swim Bo's earliest efforts....!!

Not heard it, but the polar diagram and responses of ribbon mikes always
make things sound different.
Very fragile mics too.
Brian

--
Brian Gaff -
Note:- In order to reduce spam, any email without 'Brian Gaff'
in the display name may be lost.
Blind user, so no pictures please!
"Keith G" wrote in message
...
Posted in the spirit of a *no fees will be paid*/*no invitation to to
tender for a consultancy contract exists or is being offered*,
amateur/hobbyist enquiry* only does anybody disagree the ribbon mic beats
the Oktava for the alto sax** in these 'near identical' (simultaneously
recorded and edited, but not level matched) clips?

(Please note the backing track is not properly *mixed* - merely being
played in the background over speakers for practice purposes!)

http://www.moirac.adsl24.co.uk/shown...ClipOktava.wav

http://www.moirac.adsl24.co.uk/shown...ClipRibbon.wav


Only my recently acquired favourite 'Choob Mic' has succumbed
(temporarily, I hope) to the 'Gadget Pox' *pandemic* that we are currently
experiencing and is humming along with the tunes, so I gotta mess with one
of these two mics 'til I get it sorted!!

Responses appreciated; all calls and texts returned, your photo gets mine,
&c....


*(Also summat of a progress report for Iain! :-)

**Very recently arrived; Swim Bo's earliest efforts....!!

"Brian Gaff" wrote in message
. ..
Not heard it,


Hah!


but the polar diagram and responses of ribbon mikes always
make things sound different.
Very fragile mics too.


Yes, I know but I think I'm looking for someone to give me a 'by a country
mile' verdict!

I like them both and (as usual) can never decide - the 'early days'
raggedy-arsed playing doesn't help, I know....

"Keith G" wrote in message
...

"Brian Gaff" wrote in message
. ..
Not heard it,


Hah!


but the polar diagram and responses of ribbon mikes always
make things sound different.
Very fragile mics too.


Yes, I know but I think I'm looking for someone to give me a 'by a country
mile' verdict!

I like them both and (as usual) can never decide - the 'early days'
raggedy-arsed playing doesn't help, I know....



OK, OK, I get it - 'neither one, go and fix the valve mic', eh?

Replaced this (probably perfectly OK) JAN Philips with a nice little
'Chelmer' badged short plate (for, er, low microphony) Sovtek 12AX7 and
thought I had at least significantly reduced the hum for a while, but it's
back now!!

http://www.moirac.adsl24.co.uk/showntell/AKG-1.jpg


(Guess I now know why the mic was on eBay!! :-)

Here is a shot of the orange LED that makes the valve 'light up':

http://www.moirac.adsl24.co.uk/showntell/AKG-2.jpg


I tell ya, the most common cause of death will soon be 'Bull****
Overload'....

Keith G wrote:


Here is a shot of the orange LED that makes the valve 'light up':

http://www.moirac.adsl24.co.uk/showntell/AKG-2.jpg


I tell ya, the most common cause of death will soon be 'Bull****
Overload'....


LMAO...it's good to see tube technology moving forward.



--
Bill Coombes

Keith G wrote:

OK, OK, I get it - 'neither one, go and fix the valve
mic', eh?

Replaced this (probably perfectly OK) JAN Philips with a
nice little 'Chelmer' badged short plate (for, er, low
microphony) Sovtek 12AX7 and thought I had at least
significantly reduced the hum for a while, but it's back
now!!

http://www.moirac.adsl24.co.uk/showntell/AKG-1.jpg


(Guess I now know why the mic was on eBay!! :-)

Here is a shot of the orange LED that makes the valve
'light up':


Hum?

Power supply should supply regulated DC for heaters and HT.
Does yours have a "ground lift" switch?

AKG mics seem to be well supported with info such as he

http://www.akg.com/mediendatenbank2/...5d251a2cd0.pdf

Ian

"Ian Iveson" wrote in message
...
Keith G wrote:

OK, OK, I get it - 'neither one, go and fix the valve mic', eh?

Replaced this (probably perfectly OK) JAN Philips with a nice little
'Chelmer' badged short plate (for, er, low microphony) Sovtek 12AX7 and
thought I had at least significantly reduced the hum for a while, but
it's back now!!

http://www.moirac.adsl24.co.uk/showntell/AKG-1.jpg


(Guess I now know why the mic was on eBay!! :-)

Here is a shot of the orange LED that makes the valve 'light up':


Hum?

Power supply should supply regulated DC for heaters and HT. Does yours
have a "ground lift" switch?



Yes and I'm sure I've tried it both ways, but I'll have a more careful look
at it in the week. I don't think it is the valve, but if it was, there's
always the chance I've swapped one noisy valve for another!


AKG mics seem to be well supported with info such as he

http://www.akg.com/mediendatenbank2/...5d251a2cd0.pdf



Thanks for that - I have already got that somewhere but I don't think I'll
be stripping it down that far myself. If it comes to it, I'll send it off to
have it serviced by someone who knows what he is doing!

Reading some of the information about these mics on the Net I'm seeing a lot
of people have swapped the valve for the *exact same* Mullard I gave/loaned
to a friend for use in his Croft preamp which the *****ing idiot*
suddenly/surprisingly sold, letting the Mullard go with it!

Worth about 40 quid at the time, IIRC - I had forgotten that; now I am
reminded....

"Brian Gaff" wrote in message

Not heard it, but the polar diagram and responses of
ribbon mikes always make things sound different.
Very fragile mics too.

Remember the naive audiophile's mantra: "If it sounds different, it must
sound better". ;-)

In article ,
Keith G wrote:
Posted in the spirit of a *no fees will be paid*/*no invitation to to
tender for a consultancy contract exists or is being offered*,
amateur/hobbyist enquiry* only does anybody disagree the ribbon mic
beats the Oktava for the alto sax** in these 'near identical'
(simultaneously recorded and edited, but not level matched) clips?

The STC 4038 ribbon - probably *the* classic mic of all time - is
excellent on sax. Of course they have to be in good condition. And it's
much more expensive to make a good ribbon mike than a condenser.

--
*Never underestimate the power of very stupid people in large groups *

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

"Dave Plowman (News)" wrote in message
...
In article ,
Keith G wrote:
Posted in the spirit of a *no fees will be paid*/*no invitation to to
tender for a consultancy contract exists or is being offered*,
amateur/hobbyist enquiry* only does anybody disagree the ribbon mic
beats the Oktava for the alto sax** in these 'near identical'
(simultaneously recorded and edited, but not level matched) clips?

The STC 4038 ribbon - probably *the* classic mic of all time - is
excellent on sax. Of course they have to be in good condition. And it's
much more expensive to make a good ribbon mike than a condenser.

The STC 4033 also was an interesting idea with both a moving
coil and a ribbon element. STC made a condenser too, the
4108.

The STC 4038 ribbon was indeed a fine mic, but is rarer
than hen's teeth these days. Also it was not one of the
two microphones which we were asked to compare.