I've come across a Beyer M500 ribbon mic for around $315 and was wondering if that's a good deal. I'm only familiar with the Beyer M160 and RCA 77 as far as ribbons go, and though I assume the M500 is neither of those mics, how does is compare? Is $315 a good deal?
Thanks in advance for any feedback.

Search m500. It turned up 106 threads in which someone mentions the m500.

I've never owned or heard one.

$315 is a good deal for a german made ribbon but don't expect an M160 with a bargain price tage. different sound. can't really explain it. i don't use mine that much. it's not a bad mic at all it's just that most of the singers i have recorded don't sound good through it. not bad on cabs. probably god on hihat tho i haven't tried it. probably good on the right singer. nice mic if you want to tame any piercing/shrilly sounds.

A friend has a pair of M500s that he had modified by Stephen Sank. I have used them on drum overheads with great results. They have good high end detail. I used them on toms and they sounded great, but alas, this is a risky spot to place a fragile mic so I don't do that anymore. Also, I've gotten fantastic guitar sounds using an M500 and Josephson C42 together on guitar cabinet. I really like the M500, but I'm not sure how much the changes that Stephen Sank made affect the sound. Ironically, I hate this mic on vocals, which is what I believe it was designed for.

I own two M500s and they are mostly used on overheads and cabs, very nice on hihat also...I don't think 315$ is a bad deal though...check if they are in perfect condition, because a lot of them on Ebay f.e. are with damaged ribbons - Beyerdynamic charges roughly 150$ for fixing that plus postage. I tried them on vocals on some occasions, they never won over the other mics. On electric guitar...so sweet: shiny but not shrill.