AEA R44C

Traditional ribbon sound at its best

The AEA R44C is the premium model in the portfolio of the traditional American manufacturer AEA and is classically used for vocals and as the main microphone for room miking or as drum overhead. Especially when recording with only a few microphones, the first-class quality of microphones such as the AEA R44C becomes apparent with its particularly deeply graduated spatiality and the finest resolution of even small details. At the same time, the R44C lends all signals its special, characterful signature that is typical of AEA's ribbon microphones: Especially sources that tend to have sharp or annoying-sounding frequency components benefit from the elegant softening of the treble and at the same time receive an excellently presented midrange profile, so that they come into their own in the mix, even with few or no support microphones. The tight and full bass range also gives them a weighty, but cleanly articulated and dense foundation.

What is there to consider?

The application of phantom power must be avoided at all costs, as must rapid fluctuations in air pressure, such as can be caused by blowing or blowing into the microphone at close range or during on-axis miking of percussion instruments, because they can destroy the sensitive ribbon. Therefore, when miking critical sound sources, a pop filter is used, a suitable safety distance is maintained, or the microphone is angled at about 45°. However, very high sound levels far above the pain threshold, such as those produced by very loud amps, are not a problem.

As with most passive ribbon microphones, when recording quiet sources, care must be taken to use a preamp with appropriate, low-noise gain reserves due to the relatively low output level. Suitable preamps are available from AEA itself, but also from AMS Neve, BAE Audio, SPL or elysia. If you know your stuff, a tube preamp, e.g. from Universal Audio, will not give you the required signal-to-noise ratio, but a wonderfully full recording in the style of the 50s. High-quality inline preamps from Cloud Microphones or Tierra Audio turn any Preamp into a front end suitable for passive ribbons.