Fast on the heels of the highly successful N22 comes the N8, the latest in AEA’s burgeoning Nuvo family of ribbon mics. The N8 may look like the N22, but it sounds vastly different. AEA’s idea was to create the most open and natural sounding ribbon microphone ever made — but with clarity and warmth — for applications such as drum overheads, room miking, strings, orchestra, classical ensembles, and other acoustic instruments. The N8 utilizes AEA’s signature “Big Ribbon” for superior transient response, in the lineage of the popular R88 stereo ribbon and AEA’s R44 flagship ribbon, but with an unobtrusive size and “stealth” matte black finish for live and television work. The N8 uses phantom-powered electronics and a custom German transformer for low-level detail capture and ideal distortion performance, even with long cables.