Our good friend Warren Huart is back with another video and this time he has brought along a few ribbon microphones for a good, old-fashioned shootout. Ribbon microphones are known for smoothing out the harshest sounds a studio can offer up, in addition to being a favorite tool for recording guitars. Warren puts four mics, including the Royer R-121, Mesanovic Model 2, AEA R84 and Coles 4038, to the test on both acoustic and electric guitars.
You can hear Warren test all four microphones in the video below or download each individual file by clicking here and give them all a closer listen. Stay tuned for more videos from Warren that feature the world's best audio gear from Vintage King.
Was funny hearing Warren keep saying he didn't know price of mics after commenting on the Mesanovic. Seems like he thinks it's way more expensive and is hesitant to say that he really likes it as much or more than the others. I'd be curious to hear what he thinks when he finds out it's one of the least expensive of the four.
I went and priced them, they are all within $200 of each other...I would get either that Mesanovic as a result for sure! AEA would be my second choice, then the Royer
Thanks, good shootout.
Playing back on the tiny speakers in my monitor...
Clean I prefer Mesanovic and Coles, depending on whether you are after "balanced" or "beefy".
Driven I prefer Mesanovic and Royer, depending on whether you want "balanced" or "aggressive".
The AEA actually is pretty good, but didn't seem to win either category. If you have one though, it's fine sounding.
If I was buying one today, I'd probably go Mesanovic.
Nice job, Warren, that was interesting. I've owned an R-121 for years, and it's my go-to for electric guitar, and useful on drums. I've used the the Coles quite a bit as drum overhead and room mics, and they are hard to beat for that purpose. I own a pair of the newer AEA N8's, and really love them. Able to use phantom power, they have a higher output, and are good on almost any stereo mic situation, are almost as good as the Coles for drum overheads, great on acoustic instruments in general, but for sax and trumpet, oh my! The best, most "finished" sound I have heard on those instruments. The Mesanovic seems like a real bargain. It stood tall with the others, and is 10-50% less expensive.