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Author Topic: I have this incredible BM5 stereo B&O microphone  (Read 16939 times)

malice

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I have this incredible BM5 stereo B&O microphone
« on: April 23, 2004, 02:18:08 PM »

God I love that forum


I have to say it loud



I bought for like $350 on ebay a mint condition B&O stereo ribbon


This mic rocks I tell you. I saw several less lucky posters claiming a slight difference between left and right chanels, but mine has not much hours of use, let me tell you. It's a great mic.

So here's the question. It's supposed to be a design that inspired theRoyer  SF12. I've been told that Royer is even re-reboning the BM5.

How close is it ? I'm curious ...

Klaus, did you have the opportunity to test them side by side

btw, you can tweak the angle between the two sides, it's a must
as well as the look and the rosewood box Wink


Denis Moulin
aka Malice
French Microphone lover Very Happy

Klaus Heyne

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Re: I have this incredible BM5 stereo B&O microphone
« Reply #1 on: April 23, 2004, 03:31:31 PM »

This B&O mic is one tad too obscure for me. (Maybe if I would cut out every other activity from my life but microphones I would know about this one, but, hey- you 've got to draw the line somewhere!)

I will contact Dave Royer to answer you directly here, for more background on the two designs' similarities or lack of same

Kind regards,
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Klaus Heyne
German Masterworks
www.GermanMasterworks.com

malice

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Re: I have this incredible BM5 stereo B&O microphone
« Reply #2 on: April 23, 2004, 03:55:43 PM »

That would be great Klaus

I mean there are little infos on that model

I know that B&O are part of the Ribbon mics history.

I never compares R121, BM5 and SF1/12 side by side, but my feeling is that this B&O has a bit of the character of the R121 and a bit of the "airy" SF12

very interesting microphone

I would love to hear a chime from David about this

best to you

denis

PS: I think it was sold as an option to one of their hi-fi tape deck at one point ...

RobertRoss

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Re: I have this incredible BM5 stereo B&O microphone
« Reply #3 on: April 24, 2004, 11:17:09 AM »

Malice -

Stephen Sank - www.stephensank.com - re-ribbons B & O mics with old RCA ribbons. While this is not likely what you are after, I am sure he has a wealth of information about the stock BM5 and others.

I remember asking Stephen a question about the BM5 ( I think it was regarding the +/- switch), and he sent me to a URL *at* the B & O site... They had a lot of "legacy" documentation, albeit in Danish...

As I am aware, he also has an excellent source for B & O mics somewhere in Denmark. It seems as though every time I speak to him, he is bringing in a BM3, etc.

For whatever it is worth, I much prefer the Sank re-ribboned BM5. He uses RCA 44BX ribbons.

- Robert Ross
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Klaus Heyne

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Re: I have this incredible BM5 stereo B&O microphone
« Reply #4 on: April 24, 2004, 04:20:04 PM »

I contacted Stephen and asked him to respond here with his knowledge.
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Klaus Heyne
German Masterworks
www.GermanMasterworks.com

malice

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Re: I have this incredible BM5 stereo B&O microphone
« Reply #5 on: April 25, 2004, 05:47:42 AM »

Klaus Heyne wrote on Sat, 24 April 2004 22:20

I contacted Stephen and asked him to respond here with his knowledge.



thanx Klaus, yer the best

denis

Fletcher

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Re: I have this incredible BM5 stereo B&O microphone
« Reply #6 on: April 25, 2004, 07:53:14 AM »

RobertRoss wrote on Sat, 24 April 2004 11:17



Stephen Sank - www.stephensank.com - re-ribbons B & O mics with old RCA ribbons.



I once had the misfortune of experiencing one of those, it was perhaps one of the thinnest, most nasal sounding ribbon mic I had ever experienced.  Perhaps some of them come out great, the particular one I tried came out very poorly.  While Royer doesn't make a habit of re-ribboning B&O mics, they redid this one as a favor to me and it's fine now... but I have to tell you, I am very apprehensive about the "RCA ribbon replacement" thing from that experience.

One of the things I love about ribbon mics is their full, rich, not overly bright yet often very clear tone.  The mic I tried that was modified by Mr. Sank was about as far from "full and rich" as any mic I have ever experienced.  Hopefully it was an anomaly as I would hate to think that Mr. Sank was actually butchering once great microphones on a regular basis.
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CN Fletcher

mwagener wrote on Sat, 11 September 2004 14:33
We are selling emotions, there are no emotions in a grid


"Recording engineers are an arrogant bunch.  
If you've spent most of your life with a few thousand dollars worth of musicians in the studio, making a decision every second and a half... and you and  they are going to have to live with it for the rest of your lives, you'll get pretty arrogant too.  It takes a certain amount of balls to do that... something around three"
Malcolm Chisholm

hargerst

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Re: I have this incredible BM5 stereo B&O microphone
« Reply #7 on: April 25, 2004, 09:29:11 AM »

Fletcher wrote on Sun, 25 April 2004 06:53

RobertRoss wrote on Sat, 24 April 2004 11:17



Stephen Sank - www.stephensank.com - re-ribbons B & O mics with old RCA ribbons.



I once had the misfortune of experiencing one of those, it was perhaps one of the thinnest, most nasal sounding ribbon mic I had ever experienced.  Perhaps some of them come out great, the particular one I tried came out very poorly.  While Royer doesn't make a habit of re-ribboning B&O mics, they redid this one as a favor to me and it's fine now... but I have to tell you, I am very apprehensive about the "RCA ribbon replacement" thing from that experience.

One of the things I love about ribbon mics is their full, rich, not overly bright yet often very clear tone.  The mic I tried that was modified by Mr. Sank was about as far from "full and rich" as any mic I have ever experienced.  Hopefully it was an anomaly as I would hate to think that Mr. Sank was actually butchering once great microphones on a regular basis.
I can tell you first hand that Stephen is very conscientious about re-ribboning microphones. Sounds more like it got banged up in transit.
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Harvey "Is that the right note?" Gerst
Indian Trail Recording Studio

dexter

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Re: I have this incredible BM5 stereo B&O microphone
« Reply #8 on: April 25, 2004, 10:19:35 PM »

God! $350!!!!! You scored there alright....

As you've probably figured out it has a very weak output, even for a ribbon, and its noisier than any modern mics people might be used to. If you want hi-fi and perfectly matched left-right look elsewhere, but this is one of my favourite tools and I take it to most sessions.

I've had mine for a while now, and its a fantastic choice for overheads when I'm looking for THAT sound....Even use it on a Leslie cabinet once in a while for a nice bit of flavour. it really sounds like nothing else I have.

I too contacted Royer when I bought mine and they suggested Clarence Kane at Enak. I was considering the Sank mod too but was steered towards Enak by several knowledgeable folks, and I'm glad I did. He also made up a new stereo cable as that funky 5-pin thing that comes standard proved impossible to find.

On a final note, i asked someone at the Royer booth last AES what they thought of the mic, and they basically said it was so noisy and its output was so weak it was basically unusable.

I guess thats the difference between someone who judges mics based on their specs and someone who judges them for their musicality................


dexternyc
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Klaus Heyne

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Re: I have this incredible BM5 stereo B&O microphone
« Reply #9 on: April 26, 2004, 02:21:50 AM »

Dexter,
Please adhere to the ground rules from now on: use your real name (it's not even in your profile) if you wish to continue to share your knowlege here.


Thanks for your info. I have also had good experiences with Charles Kane (ENAK spelled backwards) in the past. He did more than I asked him to, including some cosmetic work using original RCA factory colors. He obviously has love for what he does.
But it's been a while and the man does not get any younger...



Kind regards,
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Klaus Heyne
German Masterworks
www.GermanMasterworks.com

Fletcher

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Re: I have this incredible BM5 stereo B&O microphone
« Reply #10 on: April 26, 2004, 06:52:34 AM »

hargerst wrote on Sun, 25 April 2004 09:29

I can tell you first hand that Stephen is very conscientious about re-ribboning microphones. Sounds more like it got banged up in transit.


That would be odd... as the exact same packaging [which was very well done] was used out an back from Royer.  Again, I don't know if this was an anomaly or not... and I'm sure he's very conscientious... but the fact of the matter was I had a very negative experience and am therefor very apprehensive about using, or even thinking about suggesting Sank... especially when Clarence and Wes both do exceptional work.
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CN Fletcher

mwagener wrote on Sat, 11 September 2004 14:33
We are selling emotions, there are no emotions in a grid


"Recording engineers are an arrogant bunch.  
If you've spent most of your life with a few thousand dollars worth of musicians in the studio, making a decision every second and a half... and you and  they are going to have to live with it for the rest of your lives, you'll get pretty arrogant too.  It takes a certain amount of balls to do that... something around three"
Malcolm Chisholm

Fibes

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Re: I have this incredible BM5 stereo B&O microphone
« Reply #11 on: April 26, 2004, 11:15:04 AM »

I beleive i know the mic Fletcher is talking about, in fact, i may have been responsible for the Sankification. The mic was foud at a Goodwill and sold to a friend of mine cheap. One side sounded great, the other was toast. He had it Sankified and it came back totally wrong, albeit matched on both sides. It now lives in a much happier place from what I understand (hearsay), hopefully in the near future i will be able to hear it in it's newfound glory.  
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Fibes
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malice

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Re: I have this incredible BM5 stereo B&O microphone
« Reply #12 on: April 26, 2004, 12:24:42 PM »

I guess I'm the lucky guy that found this mic with both side identical and sounding great. Not an incredible level, but clean given the fact that I used it in a good set of pres (in that case Quad Eight MM100)

I'm working abroad now, but end of the week I can provide three little sound clips (acoustic guitars, dms overhead and shakers)

Not that it is a good way to have a "clear" idea, but for you to check on the overall quality...

The mic was in a rosewood case showing very little use I must say ...

denis "malice" moulin Wink

Klaus Heyne

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Re:Stephen Sank's Reputation
« Reply #13 on: April 26, 2004, 09:25:09 PM »

E-mailed him a second (and last) time to state his side of the story here.
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Klaus Heyne
German Masterworks
www.GermanMasterworks.com

Stephen Sank

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Re: I have this incredible BM5 stereo B&O microphone
« Reply #14 on: April 27, 2004, 02:56:57 AM »

Mr. Fletcher-
I have NEVER had ANY business dealings with you WHATSOEVER, and have certainly NEVER serviced any mic or anything else for you.  You DO, however, seem to have some irrational dislike for me, which seems to have started when I supposedly under-cut you on my selling of a mint 77DX a few years ago, AS IF I had any clue that you were also trying to sell one(which, of course, I did not).  It was immediately after this that you started flaming me on rec.audio.pro & then sent me an insanely venomous email, afer which I blocked you from my email & from my newsgroup viewing.  I have not since had any correspondence of any kind with you, and yet you still seem bent on impugning my reputation.  It would be wise of you to cease and desist such activity, lest you find yourself in civil court.
IF you got your hands on a B&O mic that I supposedly serviced, it was certainly damaged if it sounded anything but excellent.  Anyone that actually HAS legitimately done business with me will automatically know this to be the case, and that I stand by what I service and sell 100 percent.  
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Stephen Sank
Talking Dog Transducer Co.
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