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moosers
Published on 06/28/10 at 10:41
The RCA BK-5B is a vintage ribbon microphone that is designed for broadcast and studio purposes. I've only got experience using the mic in the recording studio, but I do believe that the original intentions for the mic were for broadcasting. The mic has a cable attached to it and also comes on a small mic stand that is made for putting the mic on your desk. The mic has a uniaxial pick up pattern, which is similar to a cardioid pattern but it also picks up sounds from the side and from the side. It will pick up frequencies between 30 Hz and 20 kHz.
OVERALL OPINION
The RCA BK-5B is definitely a great mic to have around the studio. It's kind of a like a really thick sounding Shure SM57, as it seems to work well for similar applications. Although it's physically thicker and larger than a 57, it has the sound to match. I've used the BK-5B for a variety of applications including for recording kick drum, snare drum, vocals, and electric guitar. It's definitely versatile enough to be used across the board, but these were the applications that I got a chance to use it for. Even though it's a ribbon microphone, it doesn't sound like a traditional ribbon microphone, although it does share a low output level. I don't really know what kind of price the BK-5Bs go for used these days, but I would imagine that they would be about mid level. You definitely won't see too many BK-5Bs out there, as I've only seen the one that I've used before. They probably didn't make too many of these, but if you are interested in vintage ribbon microphones that aren't as expensive as other vintage RCA mics, the BK-5B is something you should definitely be aware of.
OVERALL OPINION
The RCA BK-5B is definitely a great mic to have around the studio. It's kind of a like a really thick sounding Shure SM57, as it seems to work well for similar applications. Although it's physically thicker and larger than a 57, it has the sound to match. I've used the BK-5B for a variety of applications including for recording kick drum, snare drum, vocals, and electric guitar. It's definitely versatile enough to be used across the board, but these were the applications that I got a chance to use it for. Even though it's a ribbon microphone, it doesn't sound like a traditional ribbon microphone, although it does share a low output level. I don't really know what kind of price the BK-5Bs go for used these days, but I would imagine that they would be about mid level. You definitely won't see too many BK-5Bs out there, as I've only seen the one that I've used before. They probably didn't make too many of these, but if you are interested in vintage ribbon microphones that aren't as expensive as other vintage RCA mics, the BK-5B is something you should definitely be aware of.