Nady RSM-2

I produce and host a radio program featuring old time radio shows.
I do small vignettes with my voice dubbed over one of the original OTR characters to start my show. I also produce spots and promos.
I have two RCA ribbon Mics (77D and Varacustic) and an Altec 670B ribbon mic.
I record to my mostly to my computer with a Mackie 1202-vlz mixer or sometimes to my Zoom H2.
I monitor using a small vintage Pioneer amplifier with Klipsch bookshelf speakers and Jensen headphones. This system is tuned to my office/studio acoustics and my ear.

The Nady RSM2 ribbon microphone and others like the Apex 210 etc. are grossly under rated even amidst the great reviews. It may be political bias because they're made in China. It may also be snobbery. Who knows? If these mics were American or German made and were the only ribbon mics available, they would be treated like vintage RCA 44's. I actually use and prefer the Nady. When used with a good pre-amp and some EQ, you get a lush natural character that isn't matched by any other type. I have vintage mics as mentioned and the Nady doesn't need any apologies. You read of modifications available and they may be useful. However, I found a free and non invasive mod that really makes this thing shine even at close proximity. The exaggerated bass response at close range is a natural occurrence with any directional mic. The long ribbon design and natural dark characteristic of this type can hide some of the brilliance of the Nady. The solution is extremely simple and cheap. You can change the figure 8 pattern to a pseudo cardioid effect by placing a thin piece of foamy layered with felt to the backside of the screen. The felt goes in contact with the screen to reduce resonance. Simply use rubber or hair bands to attach the material. I tried placing the material inside the screen but got poor results that way. It isn't necessarily pretty but it sounds amazing. You can also get the effect by placing your hand on the backside of the mic. This will reduce the proximity effect and boost the mids greatly. I don't know why I'm the only one who thought of this but I need to get the word out because the expensive alternatives are really un-affordable for most of us. I don't have a great voice but the Nady really flatters me more than my other ribbon or condenser mics. I only gave it a nine because nothing is perfect for everyone. I highly recommend this microphone wherever this type is appropriate.

I produce and host a radio program featuring old time radio shows.
I do small vignettes with my voice dubbed over one of the original OTR characters to start my show. I also produce spots and promos.
I have two RCA ribbon Mics (77D and Varacustic) and an Altec 670B.
I record to my mostly to my computer with a Mackie 1202-vlz mixer or sometimes to my Zoom H2.
I use a small amplifier with a sub-woofer and two typical small monitor speakers and Jensen headphones. This is in my office/studio.

The Nady RSM2 ribbon microphone and others like the Apex 210 etc. are grossly under rated. It may be a political bias because they're made in China. It may also be a snobbery. Who knows? I actually use and prefer the Nady. When used with a good pre-amp and some EQ you get a lush natural character that isn't matched by any other type. I have vintage mics as mentioned and the Nady doesn't need any disclaimers. You read of modifications available and they may be useful. However, I found a free and non invasive mod that really makes this thing shine even at close proximity. The exaggerated bass response at close range is a natural occurrence with any directional mic. The long ribbon design and natural dark characteristic of this type can hide some of the brilliance of the Nady. The solution is extremely simple and cheap. You can change the figure 8 pattern and create a pseudo cardioid effect by placing a thin piece of foamy layered with felt to the backside of the screen. The felt goes in contact with the screen to reduce resonance. Simply use rubber or hair bands to attach the material. It isn't necessarily pretty but it sounds amazing. You can get the effect by placing your hand on the backside of the mic also. I don't know why I'm the only one who thought of this but I need to get the word out because the expensive alternatives are really un-affordable for most of us. I don't have a great voice but the Nady really flatters me more than my other ribbon or condenser mics. I only gave it a nine because nothing is perfect for everyone. I highly recommend Chinese ribbon mics where that type is appropriate.

15 years of recording experience in a home studio using Mackie 1202VLZ, an old Allen & Heath 4 buss board, Presonus Blue Tube mic preamp and Studio Projects VTB1 mic pre. Currently I record to PC using a Line 6 Tone Port USB interface as well as a Delta 44 card with the computer running Cool Edit Pro. For this mic I only use the Studio Projects VTB1 mic preamp as its the only one that gives this mic enough gain without noise.
Also my monitor setup consists of an Alesis RA-100 amp and Alesis Monitor One nearfield monitor speakers.

This mic is a copy of classic American Ribbon mics with your usual figure-8 pickup pattern. I have not yet done the modifications to this mic yet (afraid of dammaging it), however I'm fairly happy with the stock sound as it definitely provides a darker sound then my other mics which for my own vocals is perfect especially for certain song arrangements where I'm trying to get my voice to blend in with a nice smooth sound. I've also used it on accoustic guitar, a large djembe drum, and on a Crate half-stack. On the accoustic guitar, it wasn't anything special. On the Djembe it sounded nice, deep, and detailed sounding while likewise on the guitar amp it really translated the richness of the distortion quite nicely with this mic now competing with my Sennheiser MD421 as my favorite guitar amp mic.

So basically, even without the modifications, this mic is not a bad mic if you're looking for a dark mic with a bit better sensitivity then a dynamic mic. Eventually however I'll probably do the mods suggested. Also like others I'm not crazy about the cable that is permanently attached. But it seems to be built like a tank and comes with a nice padded cover so I'm fairly certain that this is a mic that will last many decades and that I look forward growing old with and recording great music with.

Over 30-Years experience.
Running a popular cult recording studio past 15 years in SanDiedo.
ProTools HD (Control24, Apogee, API, Neve, etc.)
Listen through NS10's on Control24.
We're a pro studio so we have all the fun toys, amps, guitars,etc.
Have U87, NT1, NT2, ADK Vienna and Hamburg, 57, etc..

Ribbon Mic.
Used on high siblant vocals or sound sources with too much high end, or when we want a little ooomph or warmth without that tube sound.
This mic has a flavor all it's own. One of our favorite mic's to use when the norm just doesn't fit. Don't like the cable permanently mounted to it.

Also note-
My Tech opened the mic and removed ALL grills and the fabric/grill as well. There is basically 1 layer outside.. and the naked ribbon inside. Then stuffed the lower half cavity with That soundproofing blue cotton (shredded jeans I believe) - NOW this thing sounds phenominal!!! Need a good Pre however to really see this shine.
This is absolutely worth the money.

25+ years professional audio product design including 14 years with Dave Blackmer founder of Earthworks Mics and dbx Inc. 10 years of microphone modification work.

Ok, lets start by calling it what it is: A long geometry ribbon mic, model HRM-1 made by Ningbo Alctron Electronics Co., Ltd. in Zhejiang, China. You read what everybody has to say about the stock mic, here are few observations about mods for this mic.

The stock Ningbo Alctron ribbon motor and transformer are really quite decent. They're copied from classic American ribbon mic designs. Priced very inexpensively, thousands of these mics are finding their way into the hands of recordists who are new to ribbon mics and the special handling and usage care they require.

In order to keep down the number of returns due to blown out ribbons, the manufacturer added many layers of wind blast protection to the mic. They sure do work - to the detriment of the fine sound this mic is capable of delivering. To my ear, the stock sound is slightly muffled, bandwidth restricted and has slew rate limitations. To get every last drop of performance out of another great value mic, I recommend removing these mechanical filters.

To get better LF and HF extension, lower mechanical ringing and improved HF detail, remove the inner fine wire mesh grille, a wire box and silk bag assembly, and two perforated shields along with their silk layers. Also add dense foam to the cage supporting the ribbon motor to damp mechanical resonances and stuff open cell foam into the base canister to close off that acoustical chamber and eliminate standing wave resonances.

Top and bottom frequency response are improved by about an octave at each end, transient response is improved, a closed-in congestion is removed and the "pinging" resonance of the perforated plates is eliminated. These modifications produce a great-sounding mic for drum over-head, guitar cabinet or vocal use.

Of course, the mic has to be treated with special care now - it must be kept covered while moving it about the studio and a pop filter used for close mic vocals. NOTE: Improved LF response is not only valuable for picking up low register sounds - better LF extension means better phase accuracy in the important midrange. The bass-to-mid transition is tighter sounding. This is why designers of high end audio equipment try to achieve design implementations that approach DC - to have better low to mid range phase accuracy. Some models of these Alctron mics now available for under $90 - they are great ribbon mic value with modifications.

I have been recording for about 15 years and have a home studio with both vintage and new recording gear. I have recorded various records that span the spectrun of Electro to Jazz. I use Digital Performer along with Adats. The monitors I use are Event BAS 20/20's.

The Nady RSM-1 is a ribbon mic pretty much true to others in this same vain. It is configured to record on both sides and does so with a slight frequency change between the front and back. Before I purchased this mic, I looked for impartial reviews on it's usefulness on vocals. I could not find any. I then debated whether I would purchase another well known ribbon mic which looked similar to this one, but decided I would give the RSM-2 a chance before investing 4 times the money. I was glad I did. This mic has it's good points and it's bad points. First of all, I had the oportunity to compare it to an AEA. The Nady required much more of a boost, and it was a little darker in it's sound. The Nady is not as good of a mic as the AEA. It does not have the same quality of ease of use. That being said, the Nady sounded very similar to it. I paired the Nady up with a Grace 101 (ribbon version), and it sound just like the AEA running through my Neve Clone. Grace preamps are naturaly bright/clear/transparent. I guess what I am trying to say is that, on vocals or probably anything else, the Nady will sound just as good as most other ribbon mics. You just have to get a preamp that it is compatible with, boost the levels, and eq the final result. To me, it was worth saving the extra $700. The Nady has, like other ribbon mics a natural (real) sound to it, a live warm sound and if that's what you want, then this is a good deal. Warning, It has a "drastic" proximity effect that chages the sound of what you are recording. It is extremely bassy if you are too close. The further you are, the better it sounds. I would recomment being 7-10 inches from the sound source or vocalist. It sound's it's best in that range.

I've been playing, writing and recording songs for over 30 years. Currently have home studio w/ Yamaha 02R96, 2 digital 24-track recorders and various rack gear (pre-amps, sampler, compressors, etc).

I was looking for a less brittle-sounding mic for certain female vocalists and figured for the $, this one would be worth a try. Used it a few days ago on a session and am very impressed with the sound (at least on this particular vocalist). The sound is noticably more rounded ("warmer"), as there is definitely more low-end (I did need to roll-off a little low-end during the mix). The highs are a little less than other mics (e.g., AT4060, Baby-Bottle), but the loss is not as much as I expected it to be (pleasant surprise). The other thing I noticed is that the vocal-tone-changes are very noticable depending on the singer's proximity to this mic when compared to almost every other mic I've ever used. That's not a big deal, but it is something I'll be more aware of during future sessions. As others have mentioned: (1) you will need a pre-amp with a lot of gain, and (2) I also don't care for the permanently-attached cord (but it is relatively short and can be hooked onto the mic stand). I wasn't 100% sure I wanted (or needed) a ribbon mic, but am definitely glad I picked this one up, as I already know I'll be using it quite a bit. If you're feeling about the same, it might be worth a shot.

I've been recording for 18 years, five years in a pro studio in michigan. using cuebase and nuendo,mackie hr824's,toft and focusrite isa 428 pres.

nady rsm-2 ribbon figure 8
using the mike for vocals appr. 8" away.
chose the mike for a different flavor to add to my locker and I'm
not dissapointed. my primary vocal mike has been at4047 and although I still think it's a great mike,it doesw sound boxy in comparison. Used nady on male and females and I've been blown away at how smooth, full, and real it sounds!!and for under $200.00, unheard of!!! I definitly did have to use high pass filtering,but that dialed the mike right in. (alotttt of proximity effect). I rated a 9, because it isn't a really pretty mike and I don't really care for a permanent mounted chord.

All this said, I bought this mike to get a taste of a ribbon mike,fully expecting poor quality sound based on the price,and I am more than pleasantly surprised. My condensors are taking a rest.
I would definitely recommend this mike!! however, as I have seen in other reviews, you MUST have a clean pre with alot of gain(as with all ribbons).

I've been at this for more then 30yrs. I mainly record my group and my solo work on a Korg D32 xd. I use Roland Near field 90w speakers for mixing.

This RSM-2 is a ribbon mike and it's very fragile. I couldn't believe how careful you have to be in handling this thing. I bought this mike to record vocals with. I wasn't completely happy with my KSM-27 so I decided to test it against the ribbon. My singer was elated by how natural the playback sounded with the RSM-2. The KSM-27 seemed to be a bit hotter and it was much brighter in comparison, but it sounded less natural

I've been recording for 15 years, playing guitar & some keys for 20 yrs. Current setup: DAW 24/96.

I have spent quite a bit of time with this figure 8 ribbon mic using it with both focusrite ISA 428 & HBB Classic 80 preamps. Without listening first I bought two of them, mostly based on positive reviews from this page. Both mics sound moderately dull on acoustic guitar & sitar; I did NOT find them "open' or sparkly etc., despite playing with my mic pre's variable input impedance and different mic placements. On one mic I swapped the chinese transformer for a Lundahl LL2911 unit and replaced the cabling with Mogami. Oddly enough the original mics were wired with a chinese copy of Mogami Star Quad. Despite these mods, the mic sounded pretty much the same. I even went as far as to order a new ribbon assembly from Nady; after installing it I found no immediately noticable difference. Hence I would not recomend this microphone for general applications or the type of applications one might use a Royer ribbon for (acoustic piano, jazz trio, etc.) Due to the tonal balance of this mic I'm not suprised that other reviewers found it usefull for micing guitar cabs; it's pronounced midrange/low may be good for that application. The microphone's marked proximity effect (bass boost) may also be useful for recording male voice.

Please note that the mic comes with literature stating that "damaged ribbons are not covered by warranty". This basically means that once you open the box, Nady is under no obligation to replace the ribbon whatsoever. If you buy the mic from a reputable dealer they may help you out (I did find the service guys quite helpful) but they don't have to. I bought the mic from an eBay "musicstore" so I was out of luck. Also, the same microphone is sold in Europe with a slightly different grille at a lower price (129 euro), re-badged as the "t-bone RB-500".