Pronomic RM-1 Ribbon Microphone

I had been recording at home using either a stage mic ( SM58 ) with a USB lead or a BlueYeti USB Condenser microphone. I was never totally happy with the sound of the mics.When I first started in bands back in 1965, we used to use a RESLO Ribbon mic which always sounded amazing, even through our really basic PA that we used at the time.With the memory of our old ribbon mic still in my conciousness, I read the reviews for the Pronomic RM-1 and thought that it might be better for recording voice and acoustic instruments which I have been using. The reviews looked good and the price is great too, so I took the plung and ordered one.It took a few days to arrive from the supplier in Germany but it arrived on time and very well packed ( love the little aluminium case it came with too ).When trying a few recordings, it produced exactly the sound I had been looking for for around six years....rich, deep and very clear.Excellent product and great service - highly reccommended.

I wasn't sure what I was going to get for my money, after all, Ribbon mics are expensive, aren't they? Well, not this one... But surely if it is not expensive it won't be any good, right? Not this one...I have 2 other quality mics that I have been using but because I don't have a sound treated area to do my voiceovers I always had to do an extensive amount of post processing to get rid of the excess noise caused by high gain and room ambience.Yes, there is a certain amount of hiss but that is a quick fix in post, use a Fethead on the mic and you don't get that noise at all (or cloudlifter).This mic has a lovely warm tone to it with minimal noise, bear in mind DO NOT put phantom power through this mic, you will destroy it. Bear in mind also that like most ribbon mics this is bi-directional so the use of a portable sound booth behind the mic is recommended unless you are in a soundproof booth.For the money, this thing is amazing and has the warmth of the old tube mics, nice low end response without being 'muddy' and enough mid and top end to give a wide range without being sharp, the proximity effect on this thing is really good.This is so good I bought 2 of them just in case I ever damaged the first one.A great all metal-bodied mic that performs well, looks good, comes in a nice carry case with the shock mount and performs well.I would recommend the use of a Pop filter, plosives aren't too bad but a pop filter just makes it sound better.Glad I bought it (them :-) ).

This mic comes from Germany - and arrived promptly, i love the DPD tracking info you get as on the day of delivery they told me 'Pete' would deliver the parcel between 1236 and 1336! - and in the middle of that period he did. didn't check his name though.. ;)The mic is a little smaller than you may imagine, the head is ~ standard mug diameter.Nice little aluminium case as you expect and the shockmount is decent and will house most narrower necked microphones.From reading up, i was concerned about the quality control of these mics, as they all hail from china originally.Whether pronomic ensure they only sell good ones i don't know, but mine exibits no 'sag' or noise when tilted and the general response is a pleasant sound, even through my budget preamp. it needs about 50-60 db of gain, but despite that, noise/hiss etc is low.I'd not used ribbons before despite recording ALOT over the years and was attracted to the smooth hi-freq response and flat extended lows that are expected with ribbons.this mic does those things perfectly well. i've tested mostly with spoken voice so far and some quick trumpet, and considering the figure of 8 pattern means you will record more room ambience than a cardiod (front sensitive) mic, the raw results are good, and what is most pleasing is that it 'takes' to EQ very well,I can shape the sound quite easily, remove some of the strong low mids that a voice and ribbon combo produce and with the usual treatment i'd give a Voice Over the result is definitely reminiscent of that old broadcast warm sound without any harshness.I may go on to do some of the simple modifications that are recommended for these types of mics,eg removing some of the grill mesh to open things up, but for now i'm happy and maybe with another £50 i'll have a pair for stereo miking.