I have come to understand over the years how important it is to try to keep the ribbon vertical. Obviously this is not completely practical all of the time. Ribbon microphones suffer from changes in their sound more so than any other microphones based upon placement orientation. You may hear a huge difference? You may not? They will still sound good either way. Just try to make sure that you do not orient the ribbon horizontally.

I used to frequently see pictures of recording sessions from days gone by, where the RCA 77 DX were somewhat angled for directivity sake but of course still generally vertical. One thing I always wanted to is what Royer did and that was a phantom powered preamplifier/buffer, on the microphone! I think because the output level is so low and equally affected by long cable runs, it's simply a brilliant idea for ribbon microphones. I think building an aftermarket unit, specifically designed for other ribbon microphones would be really cool. I just haven't done it yet.

Unmotivated with good ideas
Ms. Remy Ann David

RemyRAD wrote: I think building an aftermarket unit, specifically designed for other ribbon microphones would be really cool. I just haven't done it yet.

Maybe this could be something to try?

http://www.rode.com.au/?pagename=Products&product=D-PowerPlug

Gunnar

Ummmm, exactly! That's right, I remember seeing that recently. That is more of a preamplifier than it is just a buffer. Still cool however. I would still like something that is more " microphone gain" oriented than a line level signal. That's why I have a Neve console, so that I can use its microphone preamplifiers and not somebody else's. That unit is certainly more applicable when dealing with extremely long cable runs for dynamic microphones.

High frequency response does get attenuated over long distance cable runs. I once ran a 500 foot microphone snake. The loss in high frequency response from the dynamic microphones especially, was noticeable. Condenser microphones generally don't have as much of a problem because they are already outputting a hotter level. Unfortunately phantom power, because it is DC, DOES NOT TRAVEL WELL THROUGH LONG DISTANCES. So again even having phantom power can be problematic when dealing with long microphones cable runs. And so there is the advantage of having your microphone preamplifier's remotely located, as close to the microphones as possible, along with the associated phantom power supply, then running that back on the long lines to the remote truck. We used to need remote trucks when we had 500 pound Ampex 24 track machines. Those days are gone forever!

I thought I would feel better after losing 500 pounds?
Ms. Remy Ann David

RemyRAD wrote: I think building an aftermarket unit, specifically designed for other ribbon microphones would be really cool. I just haven't done it yet.

It's a nice and seemingly simple concept, but having done it for the SF12 I can only say, "You are entering a world of pain!"

Actually, that's not really true or fair to say. Over a four year period prior to the release of the SF24, my equipment designing friend Terry Demol and I designed, built and refined a fantastic head amp/preamp combo specifically for use with the SF12.

To summarise:

a) the head amp sat with the mic on the end of the winch and had switchable gain (33dB or 39dB IIRC);

b) the preamp sat in the control room with me and offered from 12dB to 36dB of gain in 2dB steps, along with a continuously variable rotary attenutor (0dB to -12dB) for those times when it was necessary to ride the gain;

c) the system used some ingenious electronics that I cannot divulge (it does not come from the audio industry) but which effectively eliminates the cable from the signal path.

I would regularly use this system on cable runs of 300m (over 900 feet!) with no problems at all.

All together it took about three years of trial and error, along with considerable expense (conservative guesstimate to be over AUD $10k), to get it all to the point where I was totally happy with it.

A year or so after there was nothing left to add or take away from the custom solution, Royer released the SF24 and I bought one immediately. Then I sold the SF12/head amp/preamp rig to a former student for considerably less than the purchase price of the SF24. He got a great deal: a custom-made ribbon microphone system that started life as a seemingly simple solution but ultimately became an obsession for two nutcases! It doesn't sound the same as the SF24, but it sounds very good nonetheless. Better in some respects, worse in others...