Mic for violin

[crigenjazz]

Hi there.

I am a professional violinist and would like to purchase a studio mic for recording my violin.
I have heard good things about a Russian ribbon mic called the RM-BIV1 (hand made Russian mic) which has good reviews.
Does anyone know if I should get a passive or an active version of this mic?
I have a Focusrite Saffire PRO 24 DSP (see link below) with Phantom Power (48v).
Also does anyone have experience using it or can offer a comparable?

Many thanks,

Chris

https://www.soundonsound.com/reviews/fo ... pro-24-dsp
http://www.bashaudio.ru/rmbiv1.eng.html#rmbiv1.eng

[Sam Inglis]

A ribbon mic is often a good choice for violin, but that somewhat depends on the recording environment. Ribbon mics pick up sound equally from the front and the back, so you would need to be able to position it such that the rear side is not pointing at something unhelpful. For example, if your recording space has a low ceiling, a ribbon mic positioned above the violin will pick up a lot of reflected sound from the ceiling, which often does not sound good. (You don't necessarily have to put the mic above the violin, though!)

I have no experience of the RM-BIV, I'm afraid.

[Hugh Robjohns]

I agree with Sam, a nice ribbon is usually a good choice with a violin -- provided the recording room's acoustics are good (or can be made good) too. In your situation I'd probably go for an active ribbon.

I don't know that Russian model either, but there are lots of other good contenders depending on budget from Rode, sE, Sontronics, Royer, AEA and many more...

[ore_terra]

what about a cardioid ribbon like beyer M160?

[MOF]

I’ve literally just bought a Golden Age Project R1 Mk2 for £166, I’ve had a quick go singing with it and it sounds good.

https://www.gear4music.com/Recording-an ... n-Mic/290V

[Bob Bickerton]

As has been said, ribbon microphones can work well on violin, provided you have a good sounding room to work in. You’re basically looking for a microphone with a smooth or attenuated high frequency response, which many ribbon mics possess.

Many condenser microphones have an enhanced high frequency response which can sound good on vocals, but can bring out unfortunate elements of bowed string instruments. An exception would be the cardioid Neumann TLM193 (or it’s more expensive multi-pattern sibling the TLM170).

Bob

[Sam Spoons]

I’ve literally just bought a Golden Age Project R1 Mk2 for £166, I’ve had a quick go singing with it and it sounds good.

https://www.gear4music.com/Recording-an ... n-Mic/290V

Aparently it has a fig 98 pickup pattern and a 500mm long ribbon

Joking aside I'm quite tempted, good spot MOF

[DanDan]

Beyer made cardioid ribbons. The M160 can be pretty good on Violin, but you need a high gain preamp, you may need 65dB or more. GML. Ribbons are also good on Pipes, and other instruments which have some nasty noises built in. Bombards!
The M260 is a much cheaper, and IMO better mic. I use these all the time for those difficult instruments where one want to enhance the note and the tone, while suppressing the itchy and scratchy stuff. Hard to find, but here's a UK specialist.....http://xaudia.com

[Drew Stephenson]

Hard to find, but here's a UK specialist.....http://xaudia.com

If you're after a ribbon it's always worth seeing what Stew has got available.

Disclaimer, I've known Stew for years but I'm not linked to his business in any way.

[MOF]

Aparently it has a fig 98 pickup pattern and a 500mm long ribbon

Joking aside I'm quite tempted, good spot MOF

I hadn’t spotted that.

[Sam Spoons]

If it really did have those characteristics it'd be a fearsome beast

[Sam Inglis]

The M260 is a much cheaper, and IMO better mic.

I'm glad I'm not the only one who thinks that! I like the M160 a lot on guitar amps, but on most other things I prefer the 260. And it's cheaper.

[zenguitar]

The M260 is a much cheaper, and IMO better mic.

I'm glad I'm not the only one who thinks that! I like the M160 a lot on guitar amps, but on most other things I prefer the 260. And it's cheaper.

That's music to my ears. In the very early 90's I was working as local crew with little income and an 'open' benefits claim (in the weeks I earned enough I received no Income Support, but my claim remained open rather than being closed - common practice then for those on low, variable, incomes).

In the local market a stall had a few items selling for a friend and one of those was a nice looking M260 for £30. I only had £30 in my bank account but thought my brother might want it. So I gave him a call and offered to buy it for him if he could pay me the £30 in a couple of days, My brother wanted it, so I went to the bank, drew the cash, and bought the mic.

It turned out that it was being sold for a guy who developed a new interest, went out and bought the very best gear, but never actually did anything. He bought the mic to go with his cine-camera that was also unused. In the case was the factory frequency response graph dated December 1968 and a sales receipt dated January 1969.

Sadly, my brother passed away unexpectedly 3 years ago. And when I was clearing his house I found the M260 still in it's case and still not used. A quick examination revealed that it had a Tuchel connector instead of an XLR, and instead of mentioning it to me over the years (so I could have come here to ask for advice) he had just put it to one side.

So now I am the proud owner of a never used Beyer M260 dated December 1969. And the only issue is that the glue holding the case together is failing. Once I've finished a few outstanding jobs I will make some MDF formers, dismantle the case, clean off the old glue, and then reassemble it with suitable new glue. Then I will ask Hugh nicely to identify the correct connector so I can knock up a short adaptor lead and spare and finally put a lovely ribbon mic to good use.

But I still fancy an M160 as well

Andy

[Hugh Robjohns]

The Tuchel connectors are still available if you want to roll your own, or there are people offering adapter cables on the web... Eg:

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/DIN-KLEIN-TUCHEL-TO-XLR-ADAPTER-Sennheiser-MKH405T-406-416T-MD421-Beyer-M160-M88-/233126110967

[zenguitar]

Thanks Hugh. I thought there would be something like that, but I was thinking about using a longer, slightly thinner, connecting cable to prevent vibrations getting to the Mic. Or am I over-thinking this?

Andy

[John Willett]

I will ask Hugh nicely to identify the correct connector so I can knock up a short adaptor lead and spare and finally put a lovely ribbon mic to good use.

Very nice -

The connector is a Tuchel (screw-lock DIN).

They are also made by Binder and sold by Canford Audio (which is where I get mine).

THIS is the link.

[shufflebeat]

I'm the proud owner of a Beyer m260n which I found in a Cash Converter (I won't say how much, it'll upset you) and got a Tuchel/XLR adaptor off eBay for £10 (damn, doubled the price).

My preamps are less than boutique so I added a MartAudio booster on the recs of SoS. This fulfils three requirements:

- Boosts the signal (duh!)
- Isolates the mic from phantom power
- As it's on the end of the adaptor it helps soak up any minor physical vibration along the cable.

Viola!

[Hugh Robjohns]

That particular adapter is a bit odd... why would you not make it long enough to at least put the XLR on the floor rather than dangling a few inches from the mic?

But it was just a quick search to demonstrate the general availability...

Personally, I'd specify a 5m cable (probably in an unusual colour or with coloured sleeves just to make it easy to identify it) so I could use it without needing to extend it all the time! I'm sure that particular supplier -- or any of the many others you can find on line -- could construct one to whatever length you wanted.

Then again, soldering up a mic cable is well within your abilities.

You can get compatible 3-pin cable sockets here:

https://cpc.farnell.com/lumberg/kv30/socket-din-straight-3-pin/dp/CN16857
https://uk.farnell.com/lumberg/kv30/socket-din-straight-3way/dp/1321485

or here (for twice the price!):

https://www.canford.co.uk/Products/8710 ... CKET-3-pin

[zenguitar]

Thanks John & Hugh.

I had already decided to use a different colour cable to identify the cable easily. And yes, I shall be wielding a soldering iron to make the cables myself.

Andy

[Sam Spoons]

Make two, if you only have one it'll hide in the back of a drawer every time you want to use it

[zenguitar]

Don't worry Sam, I did say I was going to knock up a cable and a spare.

Andy

[Sam Spoons]

I never doubted you Andy....

[shufflebeat]

That particular adapter is a bit odd... why would you not make it long enough to at least put the XLR on the floor rather than dangling a few inches from the mic?

So it can live in the mic case until needed, at which time it can be popped on the end of any mic lead. With my filing system, based on random number generation and a prayer this is a basic precaution.

Also, I know where my MartiAudio booster is.

Also, I have switching XLRs on my recording mics so I can bring up my monitors without feedback. If the adaptor went to the floor I'd be scrambling round on my knees half the time.

[Sam Inglis]

I've accumulated quite a few DIN to XLR cables over the years. I like the DIN connectors in some respects but they are prone to falling to bits!

[crigenjazz]

Thanks everyone for your detailed responses!
It seems the Beyer M260 is a good bet as it has come up several times in your responses.
Also, the Golden Age Project R1 sounds really interesting

The Beyer M260 is a bit above what I was planning to spend, especially as the Russian Rm BIV mic sells for around £130-40.

Oh, just to complicate matters, I also hear the the Apex 205/210 is a great ribbon mic for the price of £150 approx. Any experience with this?

Thanks again and sorry for the sluggish response,

Cheers

Chris