MXL R144 Ribbon Microphone Discussions | Drop

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MXL R144 Ribbon Microphone

Audiophile

FULL DISCUSSION

nulldevice

Apr 10, 2016

I've owned one of these. They're pretty good mics, and make a great gateway drug to the world of high-end ribbons. But like most of the cheaper ribbon mics, they benefit from a little care and tweaking. And there are a few things to know:
1) they are very, very low gain. You think you gotta crank your preamp level for an SM57? Keep cranking. So you need a preamp with a lot of clean gain and pretty high impedance to get the most out of one. Adding something like a cloudlifter to the chain often helps, too.
2) they are very dark. They roll off steeply above about 10khz. Which makes them great for recording horns and strings, guitar cabs, drum overheads, and for certain types of vocals, but compared to a large diaphragm condenser it'll sound like a blanket was thrown over the mic. It takes some getting used to. They tend to have a decidedly vintage characteristic, which can be pretty awesome, and they have a sort of velvety sound overall (they don't have that really crispy condenser response). So they take some practice, and they're not generally an all-purpose mic.
3) Ribbons are relatively fragile. store them upright, to keep the ribbon from sagging, make sure phantom power is off (it's in truth generally not a problem if everything in your setup is in good shape, but if you've got a cable that's got a short in it the power load can fry the ribbon, so better safe than sorry), and stay away from heavy plosives and loud sources - a sudden change in air pressure can tear the ribbon. Even the best-cared-for mics can sometimes experience ribbon sag (if you have the mic plugged in, and you hear an audible "clunk" on your channel when you turn the mic sideways slowly, it means your ribbon is getting floppy) so find somebody who can tune them up for you when that happens. There are people on the internet who do it, if you're not near a place that can do it for you.
Enjoy ribboning!

Apr 10, 2016