the t.bone RB 500 Reviews

Only 100 euro's for this??

There are better ribbonmic's i presume. The fact is: What you want to hear trough a high-sensitive mic in relation to price, distortion, reflection, honesty etc.

This t.bone RB500 learns YOU and therefore i recommend it for almost anyone. Especially low-budget-homestudios, this is the first mic you should have!

great value

This ribbon mic is great value for money, it's got great quality, and really adds nice warmth to your tracks. Great for male vocals, guitars, overheads, or room mic

Sounds lovely

I use this mic to record guitar, bass and vocals

I record with this mic hanging in front of my amp, with a sm57 pointing at the amp aswell

I then blend the sounds of both mics with a mixer, which then goes into my recording unit

The sound from the two blended is a much more natural and rich sound then just the sm57 or just the tbone, although just the tbone can sound beautiful and lush also to be honest

I would certainly reccomend this

Decent Value

I bought two of these to make "Blumlien Pair" for stereo recordings. The RB 500 has a very wide frequency response so they're perfect for this. I'm really happy with them.

Great Ribbon Mics!

Amazing for drums if you want that old school warmth great value for money too! i got a stereo pair.. fab!

Cheap price, but great mic!

These are fantastic microphones for the money!

I have used them for various applications in the past such as drum overheads, room mics, guitar mics and vocals - the RB 500 excelling in all of those applications. Overall a great sounding mic if used in the right application.

They are built very well, the grill and mounting are very strong, however I always make sure to be very careful with the attached XLR as to not break it, as it would be a hassle to replace.

These are very reasonably priced ribbon microphones, ideal for somebody who may not be familiar with this style of microphone, but looking to try it out. Ribbon microphones are generally not as bright as condensers, so the slightly duller sound may surprise people who are not used to their sound - as will the bidirectional polar pattern of the microphone.

For those familiar with ribbon microphones, you may be sceptical of the cheap price, but I fully back this microphone as being a worthy entry into your mic locker!

Good sound from this mic

I have used this on acoustic guitar, guitar amps and as a drum overhead.

This mic seems to have the "sweet" ribbon mic sound that I have read about.

The figure 8 pattern is an interesting aspect with pros and cons. It offers side axis nulls, but can cause phasing or flamming if placed too near a wall. The sound is not as " fast" and crystal clear as a condenser mic, but in my opinion it is a bit fuller and clearer sounding than a dynamic mic like an SM58.

This mic needs a powerful preamp, which must be factored into the budget. It sounds good with my old TLAudio Ivory 5051.

It seems to be solid in construction but I don't think it wants to be roughly handled.

I like it a lot. It's a fun mic, if not the most versatile "desert island mic".

Great character

As usual, t.bone delivers fantastic mics at an affordable price. This one is quite extraordinary, it renders a warm, rounded-off sound with a lot of character. Picks upp the slightest tone changes for high-volume things lika a valve guitar amp. Been using it together with a t.bone MB 75 on a Fender Blues Junior which I found is a fantastic combo for a rich, detailed and big guitar sound.

Also recorded some vocals with this and sure, it is not the brightest, but a perfect fit for more mellow/vintage-y styles of music.

Do be aware of how ribbon mics work before you consider buying one - they are very sensitive to the surrounding room due to their pickup patter. If you want to try out the ribbon sound - do like me and start with this one, it is impossible to be disappointed given its price.

If I would point out one flaw is the arrangement of the included, non replaceable mic cable - since it cannot be replaced I would have liked a more sturdy one. Also, it makes it a bit difficult to fit the mic in the included case.

That vintage sound

Gets you that vintage ribbon sound for a bargain. Not much to think about if you want to try a ribbon miss which does the job just perfect. I know big studions using many of these.

Great ribbon mic

I use this in conjunction with a Presonus TubePre for my own home studio recordings - mostly vocals but some didgeridoo too. It has a rich, warm tone that I find quite distinctive. It has a great price too and for me represents excellent value for money. Would definitely recommend!

Great and inexpensive!

Incredible price/quality ratio! It works great on guitar cabinets, didn't test it yet on voice but I guess will be great as well. The sound is quite balanced and natural, placed only few centimeters aways from an electric guitar's cab.

Worth the investement if you need a ribbon but also have to buy other microphone/gear. Otherwise, if you have more money to put on only one microphone and you're sure it has to be a ribbon, I would suggest a Cascade Fathead or even a Royer, because they have a better frequency response and are more towards pro requirements. Also, they would let you plug your own cable. In fact, would be great if this same microphone would allow you to plug your cable instead of having its stock one, which if broken, would render the mic useless. Other than that, bravo t.bone, great product!!!

Good first ribbon

Smooth and dark sound. Works nicely as a room mic for drums, smashed to oblivion with a compressor. Also mixes well with an SM57 for fuller guitar sounds.

Seems to take abuse pretty well, I haven't managed to break it yet even with bumping it to drum stands etc.

Good value!

Sounds really great on guitar-cabs, vocals and drums.

Instant vintage.

I got two of these for recording drums (40's/50's style Chicago blues) and the sound is close to perfect IMO. Works quite good on guitar for that gritty blues-sound with an old 10w tube-combo as well.

Unbelievable tone for the money !!!

This mic offers up a simply unbelievably great tone for the money. Having read various magazine articles about recording engineers using this microphone, I thought I would give it a try. And I was not disappointed!!! A truly great sounding ribbon mic with a wonderful full warm tone :)

Really good budget ribbon mic

This is a really good budget ribbon mic. I took out some material from the inside of the grill and got a much clearer tone. Really good for overheads or in combination witha condeser on a guitar cab

My favourite Ribbon mics!

T.bone microphones never fail!

The low priced t.bones always deliver and sound like million bucks!

Can't go wrong whit this!

This is my first ribbon mic. I used them on practiclay everything, all with good bas rich results. It is very quiet mic, so you have to have preamp with lots of gain. Recently i got FetHead for it and it changed the way i use ribbon dramaticaly. Now I'm able to put mic 3 feet in front of acoustic guitar, and have plenty of healty signal with no noise.

Build quality is okay, nothing special, but with carefull handling, this microphone should have long life.

I'm fairly in love with this mic

I have 2 RB500s, which are in constant use in my tracking sessions. I use them as drum overheads, on guitar cabs, bass cabs, acoustic guitars, vocals, violin, anything.

I'm not saying they're the best ribbon mics out there, but for the price they are absolutely brilliant. The sound, as is typical of ribbons, is big and smooth. The bottom end is so big that on everything except maybe bass guitar, I end up cutting a huge amount of it out. Then, as the top end tapers off above 10k, I might boost to get some brightness in, if I need it.

On bass, it's just very smooth. I don't really consider using anything else for bass!

On electric guitar, the tapered top end is great because it puts the guitars back in the mix a little, getting it out of the way of the vocal. People don't really dig the sound of it on electric guitar because it's not as bright as a dynamic or condensor, but I find it sits in the mix way better with a ribbon. That said, I think the way forward is to mic with a ribbon and a condensor or dynamic, and mix to taste.

On vocal again, the smoothness can be really lovely for a voice that you don't want to shove in the listeners face.

It takes time to get used to the sound of ribbons, but if you want to get away from the super bright character of a lot of pop music, these are a great place to start to develop your palette!

reasonable

These are ok for the money, careful placement can produce reasonable results.