tvickey Posted May 10, 2020 Share Posted May 10, 2020 Does anyone have good blast pad / pop screen recommendations for using together with a Beyerdynamic M160 microphone on a bass amp? This is a ribbon mic... so definitely needs to be coupled together with a good blast pad or pop screen. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dad3353 Posted May 10, 2020 Share Posted May 10, 2020 The recommended pop screen is Beyer PS260, but I don't think it'll help much in your case. The real saver would be distance; this mic is easily overloaded, and handles rather badly high pressure levels. At a decent distance (more than 1 metre..?) I see no issues at 'normal' recording volumes, but I certainly wouldn't choose it for proximity micing. Loud bass, too close, will destroy it, at worst (likely..!), and sound bad (distortion...) at best. It's better suited to ambient recording of cellos, bowed double basses etc. Why would you want to use a ribbon mic specifically..? Is it just because it's on hand..? There are better mics for bass cabs, and better suited ribbon mics, too, but any ribbon mic will suffer from close-micing a bass cab except at very low, 'cabaret' levels. Out of the question for rock stuff, I'd say. Hope this helps; subject to completion, correction and/or contradiction from others. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tvickey Posted May 10, 2020 Author Share Posted May 10, 2020 (edited) Thanks a lot for your very quick, detailed and helpful reply @Dad3353. I managed to pick up a used m160 very recently for a good price. So... I've added this to my collection and am experimenting a bit with different mics on my bass cab (other mics in the arsenal at the moment are: SM57, AKG D112, MD-421 and Lewitt 640 REX). The plan for the m160 in my collection would mostly be for acoustic and electrical guitar (SM57 + m160 is a great sound!), but given the nearly flat response of this mic across the frequency range, I want to give a go at using it on my bass cab in my home studio too. Googling around a bit, the pop screen the kept getting mentioned was this one from Pete's Place: http://petesplaceaudio.com/blast-pad-mic-pop-screen Of course it's not cheap... but neither is getting a ribbon mic repaired! Edited May 10, 2020 by tvickey typo Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dad3353 Posted May 10, 2020 Share Posted May 10, 2020 Well, you'll know if it's earned its cost or not only once you've busted the ribbon or not..! If high SPL is what the filter is protecting against, I'd question the overall frequency response obtained from using the filtered ribbon mic in the first place. Your call, of course, and it will be interesting to know how this plays out, but I'd keep a healthy (for the mic...) distance between the cab and the mic, and even then not crank the amp..! I'll freely admit to being very much more 'budget' than you appear to be, and very likely much less fussed about tiny technical details; I hope this turns out to be worth it for the sound obtained. Post results, please, if you go down this rabbit hole route..? 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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