Golden Age Project R1 MK2 Reviews

Nice mic!

Very nice mic to vocal - warm sound.

Nice sounding mic

One of the best ribbon mics I have ever used in my life

Really good vintage sounding

Nice ribbon microphone, sounds amazing on tenor sax and trumpet.

A bit boomy on the low end, can sound muddy on low frequencies.

The microphone is heavy and feels sturdy, the screws on the side can be tightened to lock it on an angled position.

The tone is really good if you are looking to record some brass or sax.

It can be damaged by phantom power and doesn't have any switches for filter or pad on it. It has the standard figure of 8 polar pattern.

Comes with a big stuffed bag for storing, really nicely made and robust.

Great cheap Rib mic. needs loads of gain - so be sure to have a preamp that has a minimum of 60db gain - the more the better. I have used mine for piano, drumoverheads and akustik guitars. The sound full, but needs some eq to bring out som clarity.

beautiful

Great sound and built quality

Use it for studio recording as drum overheads, room mics, on guitar cabinets and even vocals. Really lush sound, rich in low frequencies, round top end which can tame the too harsh cymbals. Sometimes needs HP filter to get rid of the huge bass. Handles EQ really well, better than my Large diaphragm Condensers. Build quality is not top, but for this price it's a bargain.

Surprised

I got this for my home studio and it is my first ribbon mic. I did not expect a huge difference from the the microphones I already have. It is definitely something else! I finally made some really nice recordings of acoustic guitars. Perfect for vocals. When somebody talks about warm sound in ribbons, it is true. I have several preamps but they all brought a lot of noise to the recordings since the output is poor. Luckily I have a Apogee Duet in the studio, and the noise was no longer a problem.

Ribbon for low price

I must say, I do not have any other ribbon mics. That's the one. Wanted to know what the fuzz about ribbon was and I have been using one for over 2 years, bought the second one few months ago - now I have a pair!

It needs quite a lot of gain to make it heard on quiet instruments/vocals. And do not recommend it on solo or really quiet acustic recording, because the hiss (noise) level will be too evident. (maybe special preamp for ribbon helps?) But as you use it on louder instruments and loud vocals in fuller mixes, it does the trick! It takes very high sound pressure levels, no problem with guitar cabs. This ribbon sounds woody and compressed, it has upper-mid crispyness, if i may use such pseudo-acustical phrases. But the frequency response ends at 18kHz. I've used it for recording drum room (and whole band room), works great (figure-8 is good for room on any mic), it sound compressed even before using compressor. And now I have a pair of them and use them quite often for drum overheads. But be aware of pointing them more accurately than ordinary cardioid overhead mics, figure-8 is pointy polar pattern.

Great vintage sound, low output

OK, output is low, but that's expected with a passive ribbon mic, make sure you have some good preamp, I've bought the golden age pre-73 to push this mic, but the preamps on my presonus firestudio project does the job fine as well.

Rounded warm sound.

Works great for micing vocals and guitar amps and imho acoustic guitar, that's what I used it for. Came with a cable and pouch bag for storing it hanging (ribbon mics should be stored vertically).

Great value!

Great mic but low output

Solid construction and should last without any problems once you don't drop it. Comes with a thick padded case and XLR cable.

My only issue with it is that the output is quite low. It is really only suitable for vocals, guitar amps, loud drums etc. But this is probably the same for all passive ribbon mics. Recording percussion or acoustic guitar didn't work for me as I had to bring the mic right up to the source. I would rather have gotten the active version as I believe this has more output.

vintage sound

Great warm vintage sound, beautiful top end: especially on high pitched percussion instruments. Also gives a lot of warmth to thin voices.

For the money - exceptional

Don't get me wrong its not quite a Royer, but if you want a decent, smooth ribbon sound (and you have a decent quiet pre) this is a really good mic for my money. Adds something different compared to the plethora of similar bright sounding condensers out there. Recommended.