Omni Room Mic Suggestions?

[D. Patrick DoughertyParticipant]

Wondering if anybody could suggest a decent Omni Mic for fixed ceiling placement. Preferably under $500. Earthworks/Neumann seem a bit steep considering I just want something to blend in a little room tone with. Tried an EV 635a (dynamic), but output was a little too low to be useable. Any tips appreciated. Thanks

[Anonymous]

The T-Bone (RB 500) Ribbon mics from Thomann are awesome! If you modify them, they will sound even better! The modification is very easy to do. Just carefully remove the microphone's acoustic mesh gasket. You will see a white sort of cotton around the ribbon. Carefully remove it and put the gasket back on the mic. Price: £87.16, believe it or not!

https://www.thomann.de/gb/the_tbone_rb500.htm

[Anonymous]

Sorry, I was a bit too fast with my reply. The RB500 has a Figure of 8 polar pattern. However, with your budget, you can buy two of them, set one of them upside down on top of the other mic and turn one of the mics 90 degrees. The result is more or less an omni polar pattern (I guess).

[D. Patrick DoughertyParticipant]

Beat me to it-- Yeah, was wondering abt side rejection. I take it you have at least one of these, any issues with ribbon slack if upside down? Thing I was wondering is the ribbons I have need 60+ db of clean gain minimum, are the RB's sensitive and detailed enough? Much appreciated. Best, -D

[Anonymous]

Yes, I have two of these microphones. I experience no problems with hanging them upside down. However, one side of the ribbon has a small boost in the low end compared to the other side but that is, as far as I know, with every figure of 8 mic. The RB500 captures a very detailed sound (because of the modification), but it definitely needs more gain, which introduces a little extra noise. Nevertheless, this disappears in the noise floor of the mix and besides, noise is good! It reminds you of the ocean. :-))

[D. Patrick DoughertyParticipant]

Thanks for the tip. Will keep these in mind.

[Gary HarrisonParticipant]

http://avantonepro.com/cv-12-bla.php Aveontone BLA you can use it for a lot of things. 9 polar patterns, and with the BLA mod it takes out the hype of the top end (some people complain about).

[D. Patrick DoughertyParticipant]

Wow, never seen these. Been meaning to check out the new BLA micro clocks. Will check into it. Thanks!

[John PoloyannisParticipant]

If budget is in the equation, haver a look at the Blondies... I have a matched pair.... they are quite good.

[Jeff MacdonaldModerator]

This may seem a little odd by conventional thinking but the Oktava MK-012s with Omni capsules make stellar room mics. They have excellent low-end response for a SDC. I just made the switch over to them from ribbons and couldn't be happier. I do prefer cardiod for them in my room, but the omni capsules for stereo room mics worked well too. If you do go the ribbon route a Fet boost like the cloud-lifter might be a good idea as well as you're not going to get much output with ribbons pulled so far back from the source.

[D. Patrick DoughertyParticipant]

Wow. Cool, thx. Will check into them.

[Martin Østervig LarsenParticipant]

Love ribbons for rooms. Not sure about the price point in the US, but I would look at getting one (ore two) beyer m-160 or maybe a single m-130. These are much better than the cheap ribbons IMO.

I use two m160 for rooms as well a mono room with a Lewitt 840 in omni which also sounds great.

But a lot of options will work. The sound of the room and placement is more important than the mic. Just avoid bright condensers since they will almost always give you way too much cymbals.

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