Beautiful playing!!! I'm a fan of mics, but wont be buying any of these tbh. My sights are set on Coles. One day 😅 I've experience with fig8 mics (tube and condenser), they can be extremely directional, so the Golden Age is picking up the top end of the horn there due to its position. The Stirling should be but isnt, which is strange, sounds kind of muffled. When you turn them to play in the "null point" I think only the fathead is actually in that null, so its the one that picks up the room the best.
The ST170 has more of a null than this demonstrates but it’s still an awesome video to learn about affordable ribbons. You’re only really in the null area of the middle mic and you can hear it. Thanks!
Thanks for watching! Yeah, this isn’t the most scientific method to test mics, for sure! I did end up with a favorite mic out of it, and the others have ended up being my go-to for other applications. The Fathead sounds amazing in front of a guitar amp, and I love the sound the ST170 gets on low brass instruments like trombones and tubas. None of them are anywhere near a Coles 4038 but they’re not meant to be.
@@spankypdx And some of people’s fever about their 💰 mic locker is gear-porn (Hey guys, I own a Faberge egg!) It’s obviously not all hype re: Coles, but we have access to great cheap mics compared to the past. Null!
The sterling sounded more up front but not so well on other 2 tests? How do u think it would handle piano using a Tascam model 12 +58db gain? My concern with Ribbons is noise. How u manage to get them so quiet and what would be an affordable way to drive the passives? Many thanks and I love your gorgeous playing which deserves a Ribbon for sure! Much love my man : )
I agree the Sterling is a bigger more up-front sound, the fact that it’s powered might be part of the reason why. Overall I didn’t like the tone on my sax as much on the Sterling as with the other two though. I might not necessarily want to use a ribbon mic for piano, a stereo pair of small condensers work better IMHO. I use a pair of Røde NT5 condensers in XY formation about 6 inches above the middle of the strings. Preamps make a huge difference as far as noise. Get a preamp that’s as clean as possible, especially for the passive ribbons which need more gain. Some people also will use an additional box like a Cloudlifter; I’ve heard good things about those but haven’t tried one myself. I use an Apogee Element 88 which has the lowest noise of any pre I’ve ever tried. Apogee pretty much invented D/A converters too so there’s that.
@@spankypdx hey cheers. It is very good for the price I guess. I was looking at rodes, oktava and line audio mics. There's also a small company in Australia I found called 3u audio and for budget custom ribbons called No Hype Audio. Thanks : ) I'll check out the apogee 88.
As said above, the Sterling is an active ribbon mic, which needs phantom power, so that gives it a higher output. As for passive ribbon mics, you can use something like the cloud lifter, or any of the other "mic pre-pre amp booster" for an extra 25db of gain, which allows for a lower noise floor.
@@phoenixrising1576 I have heard alot of folks say 'nah nah, don't use ribbon for pianos only SDCs' but I beg to disagree. RIbbons' have a high fidelity reproduction when it comes to acoustic instruments and way easier to eq than SDCs esp very colored ones like the Rode NT5. If you can't afford a KM184, get a ribbon. I guess the Sterling would sound better on the piano because of its active circuitry. If you haven't bought any yet, try the ART AR5 active ribbon, it seems to sound better than the sterling and nearly like the Golden age. As for noise, passive ribbons have a noise level that will NEVER make its way into your recording ( pretty low noise ) but the active ones will have a self noise just like any condenser. I wouldn't worry about noise at all. It's the least thing to worry about. Get a Triton fethead for dynamics to get a +27db gain ( fethead's got one for passive/Dynamic mics and one for condensers/active mics )
Came for the mic shootout, stayed for the lovey sax playing. Thanks!
Thanks for checking it out!
Great vid. I like the Golden Age mic. Beautiful playing too.
Thanks! The Golden Age is my favorite too.
Beautiful playing!!! I'm a fan of mics, but wont be buying any of these tbh. My sights are set on Coles. One day 😅
I've experience with fig8 mics (tube and condenser), they can be extremely directional, so the Golden Age is picking up the top end of the horn there due to its position. The Stirling should be but isnt, which is strange, sounds kind of muffled. When you turn them to play in the "null point" I think only the fathead is actually in that null, so its the one that picks up the room the best.
The ST170 has more of a null than this demonstrates but it’s still an awesome video to learn about affordable ribbons. You’re only really in the null area of the middle mic and you can hear it. Thanks!
Thanks for watching! Yeah, this isn’t the most scientific method to test mics, for sure! I did end up with a favorite mic out of it, and the others have ended up being my go-to for other applications. The Fathead sounds amazing in front of a guitar amp, and I love the sound the ST170 gets on low brass instruments like trombones and tubas. None of them are anywhere near a Coles 4038 but they’re not meant to be.
@@spankypdx And some of people’s fever about their 💰 mic locker is gear-porn (Hey guys, I own a Faberge egg!) It’s obviously not all hype re: Coles, but we have access to great cheap mics compared to the past. Null!
Sterling wins with my ears! Nice playing
amazing what these low price ribbons can do though . you can use them all on a session!
Golden Age R2, sideways!
I honestly prefer the MCA-RK47 condenser. I suppose it could be mic placement.. it sounded more natural
Great playing!
Thanks!
Great job!
I havent opened the box of my new st170 but look forward to trying it out. $150/ea on black friday gc
I like the cascade
That's my favorite mic for trumpet and also for directly in front of a guitar amp.
The sterling sounded more up front but not so well on other 2 tests? How do u think it would handle piano using a Tascam model 12 +58db gain? My concern with Ribbons is noise. How u manage to get them so quiet and what would be an affordable way to drive the passives? Many thanks and I love your gorgeous playing which deserves a Ribbon for sure! Much love my man : )
I agree the Sterling is a bigger more up-front sound, the fact that it’s powered might be part of the reason why. Overall I didn’t like the tone on my sax as much on the Sterling as with the other two though.
I might not necessarily want to use a ribbon mic for piano, a stereo pair of small condensers work better IMHO. I use a pair of Røde NT5 condensers in XY formation about 6 inches above the middle of the strings.
Preamps make a huge difference as far as noise. Get a preamp that’s as clean as possible, especially for the passive ribbons which need more gain. Some people also will use an additional box like a Cloudlifter; I’ve heard good things about those but haven’t tried one myself. I use an Apogee Element 88 which has the lowest noise of any pre I’ve ever tried. Apogee pretty much invented D/A converters too so there’s that.
@@spankypdx hey cheers. It is very good for the price I guess. I was looking at rodes, oktava and line audio mics. There's also a small company in Australia I found called 3u audio and for budget custom ribbons called No Hype Audio. Thanks : ) I'll check out the apogee 88.
As said above, the Sterling is an active ribbon mic, which needs phantom power, so that gives it a higher output. As for passive ribbon mics, you can use something like the cloud lifter, or any of the other "mic pre-pre amp booster" for an extra 25db of gain, which allows for a lower noise floor.
@@phoenixrising1576 I have heard alot of folks say 'nah nah, don't use ribbon for pianos only SDCs' but I beg to disagree. RIbbons' have a high fidelity reproduction when it comes to acoustic instruments and way easier to eq than SDCs esp very colored ones like the Rode NT5. If you can't afford a KM184, get a ribbon. I guess the Sterling would sound better on the piano because of its active circuitry. If you haven't bought any yet, try the ART AR5 active ribbon, it seems to sound better than the sterling and nearly like the Golden age.
As for noise, passive ribbons have a noise level that will NEVER make its way into your recording ( pretty low noise ) but the active ones will have a self noise just like any condenser. I wouldn't worry about noise at all. It's the least thing to worry about. Get a Triton fethead for dynamics to get a +27db gain ( fethead's got one for passive/Dynamic mics and one for condensers/active mics )
Golden age sound the best.
I liked the sound of it best on my saxophone too, but I like the Cascade better for other instruments.
The sterling sounds bad!!! Not like a ribbon at all..