AEA N22 Active Ribbon Microphone Reviews

Sounds good on acoustic guitar as well as electric guitar amp.

This microphone is an absolute must have. If you are looking for a near field ribbon mic look no further. This is my first ribbon mic and now I understand why AEA is constantly praised. As soon as I heard the N22 on my voice I knew I finally found the mic I had been looking for for nearly 30 years. Then on my acoustic instruments it was simply heavenly. That slight lift and bass roll off is an absolute sonic grand slam. I have pairs of some excellent higher priced Austrian and German large diaphragm condensers that may end up on the shelf or find themselves being traded in for more AEA mics. You really can't go wrong with this mic.

I had purchased one of these a year or so ago and it's useful for so many sources. I use it mostly for acoustic guitar, electric guitar amp cabinets and vocals. It's very smooth and warm. So I bought another as I track alot of instruments live off the floor. Wonderful addition to the locker!

Absolutely love this Mic. I have used a number of microphones to try to capture acoustic guitars and vocals and this one has exceeded my expectations. Probably the most natural-sounding mic I have ever owned. Especially nice since I record in a small room and at times there is ambient noise coming from various directions since I do not have good sound insulation. You can place this mic to seriously reduce ambient noise 90 degrees from the front or back which is very helpful in this situation. Would like to thank Alan Moon, my go-to guy at Sweetwater. I have worked with several representatives at Sweetwater over the last 5 years or so, but Alan is the best!! I've spent tens of thousands of dollars at Sweetwater and it's really nice to have a rep like him who always goes out of his way to help even if I'm bugging him time after time for tutorial advice after the sale. I've never had such a knowledgeable rep and he has really helped me get rolling with my new adventure in recording..

I don't know how they did it but I can't get this mic to sound bad! I wish I had this years ago. My wife bought me this for my birthday and I am stunned! Vocals, acoustic guitar, octave mandolin, trumpet…all sound amazing. Natural sound, no harshness. And I can eq in the post without fear of any weirdness..unbelievable. I need a few more of these, I will be calling Yuval…

I had been looking at ribbon mics for over a year. I had done my research, talked with a lot of people and listened to a lot of samples. The I spoke with AEA founder Wes Dooley. We talked for about 30 minutes about my wants and needs. I told Wes I was looking for the Holy Grail of mics for recording my vocals. I wanted to capture every detail I wanted to capture a rich close natural sound. Wes suggested the N22.
This mic bridged the gap between the top-end clarity of a capacitor mic and the classic tone of a ribbon. The N22 is voiced to have a gentle LF roll-off below 200Hz, which partly compensates for the proximity effect and allows it to be positioned a little closer to the sound source than you might expect for a ribbon mic.Thanks to Wes Dooley and to Joe Copenhaver at Sweetwater I have found the Holy Grail microphone.

This is my first ribbon microphone. I got what seemed to offer good flexibility and durability. The extensive protection means it should be fine recording just about anything, and the active electronics ensure high, quiet output.

I really couldn't have imagined how different it would be from both condensers and coil + membrane electrodynamic microphones.

Condensers tend to have that "even clearer than real life" type of presence bump, which sounds GREAT and is the popular sound especially for vocal these days, and dynamics tend to just have that typical "voiceover" sound.

All I can really say to describe the sound of this ribbon is "real." It records what your ears hear. The high end is certainly there, but not at all hyped. No harsh sibilance, no brittleness from close-mic'ing bowed strings. It really just captures the source in a clear, neutral way.

HOWEVER, and every review/guide will say this, the proximity effect with this thing is massive. It's supposedly not as extreme as other ribbons, which I can hardly imagine since it's so strong here compared to directional condensers and dynamics.

This isn't a "problem," but if you record a singer who moves around a lot, some multiband dynamics will definitely come in handy in evening out the bass response, and that's in addition to a static low cut.

An incredible tool if its nature as a ribbon is accounted for.

Believe the hype! This microphone is truly professional, incredibly detailed, the highs are there but in such a pleasant way, the low end is so comfortable to my ears. I bought it to record my Ecstasy through the Bogner 2x12 cabinet and it is a superb choice. You don't need to spend too much time placing the mic, you just put in front of the cab and it will give you EXACTLY what you hear. No more, no less. I did not notice the proximity effect that other ribbons usually have when placed too close to the speaker. I mean it is that simple.
I would buy another one in a heart beat. Actually I bought the N8 also to record the acoustic guitar but I feel these mics can be used for everything. I use it with my Apogee Duet 2 interface. I was contemplating buying an Apollo Twin but honestly I don't know if I am going to need it. Try one, you will not regret it.

Just got this wonderful microphone last week and was immediately impressed by it's responsiveness, clarity, and warmth. I haven't had a chance to try it on vocals yet but I did use it on acoustic guitar and small percussion elements. The clarity of the guitar recordings were just what I've been looking for in a mic. This is my first ribbon mic and I hope to be ordering another one of these AEA N22s soon.

This is such a useable piece of gear. Still trying it out in a variety of applications. Thus far, I've been quite pleased by its versatility and essentially the 'bang for the buck' factor. To my ear, it has a 'character' with a mild mid boost that's really nice to use on featured instruments to be blended in to drive your listeners focus. I like it.

For a Ribbon mic that is under $, this one is amazing.
Electric guitar, Acoustic guitar and even vocals.
It's not as dark as the Royer mics, which I love as well.
The N22 has some top end that is smooth and pleasing.
I even used this on some vocals. Put it up with a U87 and was shocked by the amazing results.
For guitars, I mic about 6 inches from the speaker and off axis just a bit. Works like a charm.
I'll be getting another one of these soon.

Okay so I am using a heritage audio DMA 73 preamp, one channel is miking a Dr. Z 1x12 18 watt boutique amp (12'' alnico blue custom speaker) with a Mojave MA-200 tube condenser, while the other channel is miking with the AEA N22. The results are phenomenal. There is plenty of output from the N22. That is without a doubt NOT a problem (i.e. no CloudLifter needed here folks then again DMA 73's have 80 dB of gain) - this isn't like your typical ribbon mic at least from my perspective. What else....well it blends in really well with tube condensers on amps/electric guitar (using my ES-335 that I bought from sweetwater a while back), and I've even been using it on vocals and harmonizing with myself in Pro Tools HD and gosh its just absolutely amazing given its price. Ideally I'd love the R122-V its a tube ribbon. Thats the ultimate and I am a ribbon junkie without a doubt. I love em. This is a lot better than Peluso thats for sure. Its up there with Royer's R121 maybe even an R122 which costs quite a bit more than this humble microphone. I mean if you want the best of a ribbon without burning holes in your pockets, GET THIS. Trust me you'll not regret it. I suspect this mic can be used with another or by itself on ANY application. That is from electric guitar to brass to woodwinds and everything in between.

This was suggested to me by my sales engineer Geoff Allen, and this may be the best thing that's ever happened to female vocals. With perfect vintage/modern vibe hybrid that just works with the right voice. Also amazing on guitar cabs and horns. I know ya'll probably won't believe me, but this based on versatility and just usableness straight at the source before EQ has the Royer 121 beat to my ears on most all relevant applications.

Now I'm sorry I didn't buy a pair. The N22 made all my other mics sound like an old Caruso's recording. Yeah, exaggerated but you know what I mean.

A great sounding, versatile mic that is very responsive to placement and always sound good. Just find the spot that sounds the best. So easy to work with and it seems to sound good on everything. Like another reviewer wrote, I liked mine so much I bought two. I will be keeping these mics for life!!

I purchased my N22 in December of last year, and for the past three months, I have so enjoyed having such a beautiful microphone for my home studio. I'm a jazz and classical guitarist, so I mainly record instruments and amp cabs. In addition, I've used my N22 to record horns and piano, both sound fantastic.

Its a very natural sounding microphone with lots of "air" on top. Really a great choice for those who want to spend under 1K on a nice mic for most purposes.

I like how the mic is phantom powered, it has a high output gain and works perfectly with my Apogee Duet. Other Ribbons I've used needed a cloud lifter for extra gain. This mic acts very much like a condenser and needs little to no extra gain.

Strongly encourage guitarists to check this mic out

First of all let me say this is the most unbeilveable Microphone I have ever used.Mic up you guitar,Mandolin,Banjo,ukelele and you got the sound of that instrument.To sing with it is Angel like.get yourself a T.C. Helcon Harmony GTX,or other voice sound FX and let the fun,insperation and party time take over.Thank you Sweetwater If I never entered the contest you were having I would never have had the pleasure of owning such a beautiful Microphone.And thanks to Nick Lamendola for calling me and leting know I won it,also for being so helpful

5 stars means "blown away" in this case, especially for the price. Very natural sound. This microphone is very forgiving about placement, and for my tastes, I don't find them "thin" sounding when used for distance. I bought 2, having borrowed a Royer SF-24 a few years ago, and finding it to be the closest thing to a "desert island" mic I had ever heard. I set the 2 up in a Blumlein pair about a foot in front of my guitar, and this is about as close to that magical guitar sound that Gary Paczosa gets with his A-list Nashville players - even with my substandard guitar! Quite simply, it sounded just like my guitar does - a first in all my searching in the last few years. (Not including my experience with the SF-24). Considering that a pair of these is $1800 and not $4200, it will get you about 99.9% there. Best of all, it makes my voice sound like me, and since it is SO responsive to EQ, you can give it the character of a condenser or an SM58 with the right curve. But far and away, to my ears, this works best in a Blumlein pair, much more so than a spaced pair. Scary accurate yet "three-dimensional" stereo imaging in the former configuration.

Being a project studio owner and part-time session engineer, having worked with plenty of great mics - I think if you are a musician looking for a pair of mics to keep you focused on music-creation without worrying about the sound of things, THIS is the one to get. It's been a long time coming, but given the price and the fact that this was specifically designed for the project studio owner, but it's hard to do much better than this without spending 3 times as much for MUCH LESS than a subjective 1/3 improvement in clarity and flattery.

This is a wonderful mic. You can tell AEA was trying their hardest to get it down to this price point. No nice and shiny wood box, shockmount, cable, or much of anything. Just a pretty basic plastic case and a rubber mic clip. I doubt there's a whole lot of money in these mics. It sounds amazing for a lot of different applications. Don't get too far away from it, all the bottom will go away. This is what it was designed for though. Close mic EVERYTHING. Don't be afraid of proximity boom with this mic. It sounds very clear and present and natural for acoustic guitar on the neck position. Well balanced, just watch your position, if you move back too far it becomes lifeless real quick. Not loving the bridge position too much though. It works insanely well for a lot of hand percussion stuff (shakers, tambos, cabasas, bells, etc.). And it can make an excellent main vocal mic, to me it sort of sounds like an re20 with a little less weight and a little more air and of course much more ambience (figure 8). But it'll come in really handy for backing vocals. I'll probably end up buying a second one someday, but for now I'm happy with the one.

I liked the first one so much, i bought a second one. Sounds killer on my leslie speaker lower postion....also nice for acoustic guitars...

excellent mic. excellent.

Well... I"ve had this mic for about 6 months- in and out of the studio. When I get lucky and do intimate acoustic sets, I use this and an Rover R-10 on stage. Well, one night- the vocal microphone I use (won"t list the brand) died on me (?). Something happened with its connection and just would not stop giving off this wild buzzz/hmmm/static sound. Without any backup for vocal mics, I just took 2 minutes to adjust up this AEA N22 Ribbon for vocals.

...And now this has become my favorite vocal mic for those intimate, acoustic settings. There is this warm- almost vintage- feel to the mic. While its a ribbon, it isn"t picking up low-rumble from the stage or other distant sounds like a condenser would. It is now my Magic Mic..rohpone..!

In the studio- it is very versatile. My bassist and lead guitar love this on amps/cabs. Again- it has this raw/vintage feel that you can"t grab from an SM57 or even the Rogers- it captures those mids/highs in a nice subtle way. Thanks AEA and Sweetwater!

The AEA folks came to my studio and let me demo this mic for about a week. I used it on fiddle and guitar the sound was well balanced, smooth, no overtones and I didn’t use any EQ in the final mix only compression and reverb. I also like that you can use both sides of the mic at once in a live studio setup with two singers. I would highly recommend this mic it's a great addition to any studio!