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The "Secret Sauce"
We all know the struggle - the guitar sounds great from an amp, but once recorded, its almost flat. Why? Probably because you haven't invested into one of those ribbon mics :)
I use this one at the same time with Shure SM57 and that gives me the quality & dynamic range my guitars deserve. SM57 is very precise, but IMHO flat when used by itself.
The RM 700 adds the warmth & bass that counter-balances the precision of the 57. Together they form a duet that will kick some serious a**.
Would I use it by itself? Probably not, but I don't believe anyone should record amps with only 1 mic.
In terms of build quality - Wow! Sound quality - wow! Even the wooden & metal cases will fool you into thinking it is a $400-1000 mic.
Basically, if you are serious about your sound, this is a no-brainer. Just go for it & prepare to take your guitar recording to the next level.
I use this one at the same time with Shure SM57 and that gives me the quality & dynamic range my guitars deserve. SM57 is very precise, but IMHO flat when used by itself.
The RM 700 adds the warmth & bass that counter-balances the precision of the 57. Together they form a duet that will kick some serious a**.
Would I use it by itself? Probably not, but I don't believe anyone should record amps with only 1 mic.
In terms of build quality - Wow! Sound quality - wow! Even the wooden & metal cases will fool you into thinking it is a $400-1000 mic.
Basically, if you are serious about your sound, this is a no-brainer. Just go for it & prepare to take your guitar recording to the next level.
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S
Good for Acoustic Mandolin
I like the sound this mic gives me with several different mandolins. It sounds natural and very musical.
Previously I'd been using condenser mics, which are often tuned for vocals, with a peak in the upper frequencies. The condenser-mic recordings I made of mandolin were detailed but shrill, harsh, painful at times, and not really resembling the original instrument. I took a gamble on the RM700 as a low-cost introduction to ribbon mics. I was not disappointed - if anything it has exceeded my expectations. When I listen to recordings with this mic, there doesn't seem to be anything missing, at least everything I want to be there is captured, with none of the harshness.
The microphone works pretty well straight into my recorder (Tascam DR100III) though the gain has to be turned up quite high. Adding a preamp of the 'cloudlifter' type would help - I went for a very low-cost option and it seems ok. Even without anything extra, the recordings are loud enough to not have any obvious preamp noise.
The only sense in which it is slightly inappropriate for my needs is the generous low-frequency response, going down to subterranean frequencies, but that is easily handled with a bit of low-cut. The Tascam is helpful in that respect, offering several different settings.
Overall, I'm pleased, I like the sound of the RM700 with my acoustic instruments.
Previously I'd been using condenser mics, which are often tuned for vocals, with a peak in the upper frequencies. The condenser-mic recordings I made of mandolin were detailed but shrill, harsh, painful at times, and not really resembling the original instrument. I took a gamble on the RM700 as a low-cost introduction to ribbon mics. I was not disappointed - if anything it has exceeded my expectations. When I listen to recordings with this mic, there doesn't seem to be anything missing, at least everything I want to be there is captured, with none of the harshness.
The microphone works pretty well straight into my recorder (Tascam DR100III) though the gain has to be turned up quite high. Adding a preamp of the 'cloudlifter' type would help - I went for a very low-cost option and it seems ok. Even without anything extra, the recordings are loud enough to not have any obvious preamp noise.
The only sense in which it is slightly inappropriate for my needs is the generous low-frequency response, going down to subterranean frequencies, but that is easily handled with a bit of low-cut. The Tascam is helpful in that respect, offering several different settings.
Overall, I'm pleased, I like the sound of the RM700 with my acoustic instruments.
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S
Perfect for the Trombone
I'm utterly delighted with this microphone and would recommend it for sure. It is very well build, sounds great recording brass and comes housed in a wooden box, which is held in a small flight case! It' also comes with a great shockmount, so is a total bargain
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B
Sounds great!
A great sounding mic to compete with more expensive ribbon microphones on the market. Just recorded an album with the RM 700 mic on guitars and i was blown away with the result. Pairs well with an tube preamp.
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MT
I like this thing. Have been using it for a year, trying it on voice, guitar and clarinet. Bought another one to try out Blumlein array. You have to learn using and positioning this mic, sometimes it sounds great in another context it does not and you better use something else. Sometimes you have to eq and it works. I havn´t fully understood it. The self noise of this mic is really really low. I love that. It does not react as crazy sensitive on floor vibrations as its larger brother RB 500. That makes it much more easy and universal to use. The price is incredible low. Perhaps one of the best cheap ribbon mics you can get. Shockmount box and case just perfect.
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LUSH! And NOT FRAGILE!
Hard as nail, have one laying around, hooked to the sound card and constantly in monitoring mode, gives you the lushest sound if you position AND angle it right but if you always wondered what is it to record with ribbons, there you go, before you spend big bucks on known suspects, for me personally, this coupled with the FetAmp quenched my thirst
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J
Dark and vibey
For not much money you get a really dark mic (not much treble) and characterful mic. I use a second mic for distorted guitar recordings. It gives fat sound to add to a sm57's fizzy vibe.
The 2 sides sound a little different to each other so don't forget to check both sides.
Not recommended for people looking for hi-fi clarity. It's a great "vibe" mic.
I recently recorded a pro trumpet player with it and he couldn't believe how good the sound was. Dark, murky ribbons are the way to go when recording brass.
The 2 sides sound a little different to each other so don't forget to check both sides.
Not recommended for people looking for hi-fi clarity. It's a great "vibe" mic.
I recently recorded a pro trumpet player with it and he couldn't believe how good the sound was. Dark, murky ribbons are the way to go when recording brass.
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A
Surprisingly good value
I'm new to home recording and to ribbon mikes, I'm predominantly a guitar player and have some boutique valve amps capable of great sounds at 'home' volumes and wanted to be able to capture that on my basic DAW. I tried an SM57 and a LDC mic, not bad but not what I was after.so after reading a lot on the Internet I thought I'd try the RM700. I don't know how these are made for the price, packaging is great and the mic itself has a nice weight and feels solid. Sound is great, deep and rich. Ribbons are typically a bit lacking in upper frequencies but I didn't find this to be a negative thing with this mic, also it seemed to have plenty of output, I certainly didn't need to crank the gain too much (using a focusrite saffire6) so noise wasn't a problem either. All in all, I'm delighted with this so far.
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MC
Excellent for recording blues guitar.
I didn't have to go bankrupt in order to provide an excellent mic to record blues with in my home studio. Thanks again Thomann!
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A
NIce vintage sound on the cheap
For anyone who hasn't tried ribbons before, and want a mic with some weight to the sound, rolled off highs and a nice "in the room" feel to the sound, I recommend these. I use them mostly as drum overhead or drum room, works very well in both applications to give weight to the drums - cymbals sounds very nice too.
In OH applications I use them alongside an SDC (AKG C451, Line Audio CM2 or Audiotechnica ATM-450), works well to balance and not have to EQ so much to get different tones. That said, I find these ribbons take EQ well.
Also used on Saxophone as Room mic and it blended very nicely with a Sennheiser MD-421 on the bell.
In OH applications I use them alongside an SDC (AKG C451, Line Audio CM2 or Audiotechnica ATM-450), works well to balance and not have to EQ so much to get different tones. That said, I find these ribbons take EQ well.
Also used on Saxophone as Room mic and it blended very nicely with a Sennheiser MD-421 on the bell.
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