MXL R144 ribbon microphone review, unboxing & recording examples

[thecusinsgodinez]

Can I please Have that microphone? :D

[marcreevesmusic]

@ShivMishraMusic no mic stands generally are a separate purchase with most microphones unfortunately. You can get basic stands for around £15 though, which if you're just recording at home will do you fine.

[lonewolf975]

i have a reasonably low voice and was wondering if this would be a good mic for me? or if i should stick to my samson dynamic mic instead?

[marcreevesmusic]

@lonewolf975 ribbons tend to have a big proximity effect and are also quite dark sounding, so this wouldn't be very suited to a deep voice. Your best bet would be a large diaphragm condenser. The Audio Technica At2020 that I use is a pretty decent budget condenser, it's around £80 I believe.

[lonewolf975]

@marcreevesmusic thank you very much!

[marcreevesmusic]

@lonewolf975 no worries! :)

[Edonatar]

what mic are you using for the video mate, great information btw :) ?

[marcreevesmusic]

@Edonatar Thanks! Glad you found it useful :) The mic I'm using in the video is an Audio Technica AT2020 - a great budget large diaphragm condenser!

[BigRodasMusicStudio]

is Tobey Maguire ur brother?

[marcreevesmusic]

@BigRodasMusicStudio haha no, why??

[LilXxJokerx]

the one in best buy also comes with a pop filter

[ajatco]

Great video and well explained. Nice voice to. Have you considered removing the extra padding inside the headmount and around the ribbon. This will help remove the bump in the 400 range and smooth out the upper mids. Really steps up the quality of the mic. Google MXL R144 headbasket resonance and you can find a few DIY forums (tape op message board). There is a pay site for the Mod but you can do it yourself and avoid paying. Just thought I'd pass the info along. Enjoy

[marcreevesmusic]

@ajatco Hey, only just noticed your comment! Glad you enjoyed the video :) I wasn't aware of the headbasket resonance mod - checking it out now. Don't know whether I would attempt it myself, but I'll definitely look into it! Thanks for sharing :)

[AlaskaBandUK]

awesome :) i got a AKG P220 for £130 a couple of months ago, not a bad mic just wanted something decent to record with haha

[marcreevesmusic]

@AlaskaBandUK not heard of that one - AKG do some decent stuff! Got to try out a pair of pencil mics by them recently, sounded lovely. A large diaphragm condenser like that is exactly what you want for a main mic to record with - ribbons are definitely less versatile and so are really only worth it when you have several other mics to complement them with. I wanna get a pair of these when I have some money: 12gaugemicrophones.c om/index.html

[AlaskaBandUK]

Good review!

sounds like a great mic for the price :)

[marcreevesmusic]

@AlaskaBandUK Yeah it is - it's definitely a colourful mic & due to that is not particularly versatile, but it's great for a few things. I think that's better anyway - I'm trying to build up a collection of mics that are really good for different purposes - so a good vocal mic, good guitar mic, good acoustic guitar mic etc.

This mic really does sound great on electric guitar, and seems to suit my voice, so that's more than I could have asked for for the price :)