AEA R84 ribbon

I've recorded since '75, mainly studio but some live. I record voice to reel, then to Fostex standalone multitrack, master on HHB 850. I use an SPL Vitalizer, which I recommend for everyone, hands down. It increases transparency, creates an apparent "sweet spot" mic placement (after the fact!) and does things to bass that are a little short of sorcery and that cannot be created using any kind of EQ or other processing, period, including the vastly overrated BBE. I've used these mics: Neumann 1959 tube with M7 (or is it M5, can never remember) capsule, Tracy Korby C1 FET condenser, a few AT's (yecch, they're ice queens), EV R20 (the most forgiving dynamic in the world along with SM57), Neumann TLM 103, various AKG's and CAD's. None of them can touch the AEA with a ten-foot pole. It seems like every engineer I talk to recently has bought one. Or two or three.

This mic (see it at mercenary.com) is AEA's rebuilt and reissued guts of RCA's Model 44 ribbon, which was first built in the '30s. It has an NOS RCA ribbon (as do all AEA ribbon mics). This is the most forgiving, warm-sounding, up-close and personal mic I've worked with. It has a low output, though, so you need a strong and quiet preamp, like a Great River. It's figure-of-eight, and has quite different sounds at front and back, very useful. Nice natural bass rolloff without sacrificing any mids, highs, or warmth when it's addressed at about a quarter-turn from the front.

It comes with a padded, very handsome-looking duffel-type bag that's designed to cover it when not in use, for the ribbon is quite fragile. You MUST use a pop filter with it and never, ever, EVER blow into it. It doesn't use phantom power, and if you put phantom into it and there's any bad connections, there's an excellent chance it will snap the ribbon, which is not covered under the warranty.

But you're a pro, so you don't have to worry that you'll do that stuff, right?

The reviews all say the same thing, and they're spot on: this microphone is perhaps the most uncolored mic in the world; it doesn't even sound like a microphone, it's that accurate. I'll never go back to condensers. Condensers have a mid-hi resonance peak created by the tensioning of the diaphragm. The AEA's ribbon is tensioned very low by contrast, so its resonant frequency is, I believe, subsonic, so there's no artificial boost. The only thing I wouldn't use it for is in-your-face hard-driving material where you want whatever you're miking to jump out and grab you by the throat. It's an incredible machine for voiceover artists and singers who want the true sound of their voice to come out. Again, I strongly recommend the use of an SPL Vitalizer, which makes it even more dazzling -- but still 100 percent natural and very, very pleasing. Get one.