Love in ribbons

I recorded my EP back in 2005 in a great studio in NYC. Of all the different fancy mics the engineer used on the record, this is the only memorable one. Tracked my baritone voice beautifully, and captured the mandola and guitars impeccably. I'll be getting one for my new songwriting studio.

THE MIC OF AGES!!!

This is THE MIC OF THE AGES!! Caveat - I think finallly I have ACHIEVED MY DREAMS ON VOCALS. I'M ACTUALLY GOING BONKERS OVER THESE MICS. IF YOU WANT ONE OF THE BEST MICS THIS IS IT JUST BUY THIS BABY GET TWO OF EM LIKE I DID THEY ARE UNBELIEVABLE TRULY A MAJOR TURNING POINT IN MY LIFE NOW MY VOCALS WILL NEVER EVER BE THE SAME. THANK YOU SAGE SO MUCH AND ALL YOU AT SWEETWATER DAMN I LOVE THIS MIC!!!!!!!!

Mic Cabinet MUST.

In long search for that "put the mic where it sounds good in the room with your ears"-mic, the R84 does EXACTLY THAT.

I've heard much hype about this mic, and I finally gave in. I WILL NEVER LOOK BACK. Its characteristic sound is everything you want a 'real' ribbon mic to have. Smooth highs (not dark), impecable and luscious mids, earthquake lows. So far I've used it on drums, vocals, and guitars both acoustic and electric. There is no shining star application because they ALL sound INCREDIBLE.

If I lost it I would break the bank, go in debt, and sell organs to get another.

Look for warmth, and look no further than this mic.

Classic indispensable golden sound resurrected intact in the 21st century

This microphone is also part of of my studio. Ribbon mics, unlike condensers are ideally compatible with digital recording media. They were abandoned due to tape recorders smearing out the natural sound of the ribbon mic. Condensers were created to compensate for that by being harder and more pronounced in the high frequencies. The same principle as pre-emphasis in mastering analog tape more or less.

Therefore I would recommend that someone starting a DAW studio today , first get great ribbons and great dynamic mics before they great condensers. It takes a lot of experience to use condensers well with DAWs and also expensive mic pres. Great solid state mic pres cost even more than great tube pres. You can't really escape that reality and a U87 will not sound too good at all with a cheap mic pre. But ribbon mics work fantastically well with many pres. and are very forgiving until you know mic technique inside out.

Added to that, you will keep your ribbons even after you can buy costly condensers and mic pres worth your time and money. The R84 is in my experience the fullest , most classic sounding ribbon, besides the coles mics. It is not a hard textured mic or wooden sounding like most of the new ribbons made today.

And it is made expertly by people who love with devotion what they make. Definitely not just another cool "product". This is a work of art and love.


It is almost instant 60s big sound that never tires your ears. It is a secret weapon for retro lush orchestral sounds and thick, present vocals, drums, recording amazing violin tones...really anything as long as one pays attention to positioning, impedance, and the fact that they are figure eight polar pattern. It is true that they take eq forever. You would have to pay around 5 times more for a condenser that can take eq like the R84 an sound beautiful afterwards.

Pure Heaven

I've wanted to add a pro-quality ribbon to my mic cabinet for a while. It's pretty easy to find a ribbon for under a couple hundred these days, but most of the "inexpensive" choices seem to all sound the same and don't really have the magic that an old RCA or Coles does. Every part of a sound influences everything downstream, from my hands, pick, guitar, amp, etc. - if it's not right from the start, you can't fix it later. I was looking for something that had the qualities of the classic ribbons, but without the hassle of caring for a 50-year-old RCA 44 or 77 that had been through who knows what.

I considered a Coles 4038, they certainly sound good, but seemed (to me, at least) to have a reputation of being somewhat more fragile than most. I also considered a Blue Woodpecker. I've always had good luck with Blue mics, and the Woodpecker is no exception. However, to me, it seemed too "modern" and not the "vintage classic" I was going for. That's also my reason for not selecting a Royer. Royer mics are incredible, especially the R121 that has become a standard, but still not quite what I was looking for. I ended up with the R84 because of Wes Dooley's experience with RCA ribbons and AEA's R84 design philosophy of keeping the sonics of the RCA 44 while modernizing the construction. If I'd had an unlimited budget, I probably would have picked the AEA R44, but it seemed like their R92 was, again, "too modern" for my tastes. While I didn't have a chance to try one of the new Shure ribbons, I think I'd likely put them in that category, too.

So, when my R84 arrived and I was able to use it in my home studio, it's even better than I expected (and I had pretty high expectations). It's smooth; it's fast; it's extraordinarily detailed; it's warm; it can be as clean as I want it to be, but when it's driven hard, it's pure heaven. This is *exactly* what I wanted and so much better than I thought it was going to be.

Best Mic in My Locker

Condenser mics are great but this ribbon mic is dead on tone, especially with vocals. Right now I am using my ART MPA Gold preamp to drive the R84 (believe it or not it does a great job) and I am astonished how sweet it is (sorry Jackie Gleason)! I love it, love it, love it!

AEA R84 ribbon for brass and winds

Man, this is the best sounding mic for brass and winds, hands down. And for the money, it is a no brainer. I use it on my trumpet daily doing sessions and everyone that hears it says "what is that mic?" - I have used it on a tenor sax and french horn and both results were outstanding. I liked it so much I now own two of them - purchased through Sweetwater!

exactly what I needed

I own two of these mics because the first one I bought worked so incredibly well! It was originally purchased to record a soprano vocalist on a remote session. It ran through a Grace pre and I couldn't be happier with the result. Every neuance of her vocal was captured with great warmth to compliement her extremely bright voice at a distance of 5 feet. It's great on guitar amps, acoustic string instruments, and stereo applications. I used the pair to record a chamber orchestra and with the addition of a little piano and bass reinforcement, it sounded excellent. Great for room micing drums and alright when used as overheads as long as you desensitize the rear lobe in untreated or funky sounding rooms. LOVE the AEA R84

Review of the AEA R84

This microphone is a wonderful way to get a smooth rich sound into your sonic arsenal. I was lucky enough to be an early adopter of this mic, and in the 9 months or so that i've been using the R84, it continually suprises me with its sonic beauty.


I often use the R84 on vocals, where it will exibit a smooth thickness in the midrange, and a soft top that is definitely not sibilant. Up close it will give you a huge low end, thanks to its extreme proximity effect.


Not only does the R84 work well with vocals, but it also accels with guitar amps and bass amps. This mic has become my go-to mic for acoustic guitar giving me the body of the acoustic without nearly as much pick sound, unlike my schoeps microphones, which almost become too pick-ey


I am extremely happy with my purchase and would reccomend it to anyone who needs some more colours on their sonic pallet.


Marshall Simmons

The Music Factory Studios

Toledo Ohio