Ribbon Mic Shootout

[RICKYRASPER]

After listening, I noted my impressions below.

AT 4081 = Bright.

AT 4080 = Sonorous.

Shure KSM 313 = Thin,watery,unimpressive!

Blue Woodpecker = Lacklustre.

Blue Dragonfly = As one would expect,detailed,clinical,cold.

AT 4080 has by far the most appealing tone and warmth. It's sibling the AT 4081 is a great mic for violin and classical / acoustic guitar. I have to say I was very disappointed with the other mic's in the video.

[ancientwhale]

@RICKYRASPER I thought the woodpecker was the nicest of the bunch

[GranulatedStuff]

tons more deets on the woodpecker

[morninggloryseed]

Never used AT ribbon mics, but the AT 4033 (not the 4033 CL which is different) and the AT 2020 and they are amazing for their price. With a good EQ on the chain, the AT 4033 is appropriate for any recording. it really shines on female vocals.

My next purchase is going to be an AT ribbon mic. Which one thought?

[FrequencyExchange]

AT4081 is beautiful, very warm & in my opinion comes in close second. The AT4080 probably had the most prominent low-end, but it could be an illusion do to highs appearing rolled-off in comparison. Sure KSM313 had gorgeous detail in the upper mid’s & could be thought of as the winner if you were looking for a mic with less whelming low frequency response. The WoodPecker seemed to shine the most with the most extrodinary complexity of detail out of all the mics demonstrated. Nice review! Thanks!

[jamalshookup]

I own an AT4081 -- very smooth and warm.

[JoshuaWGLloyd]

Blue woodpecker by Far!

[mixermantim]

Great video, love the blue wood mic the best

[virgogreg]

4081 then woodpecker



[TheVelazquez95]

i just Love the lowed any ribbon Mic picks up

[thatcoolG]

the at 4080 seems to capture more of the extremes of the sounds and not as much of the mids. but not gunna lie the blue wood pecker seems to pick them all up evenly...

[TheLimiter]

My favorite for this application is the Blue Woodpecker. Warmer than the others in this situation. The 4081 is good but sounds too "modern" to my ears for the cello.

I'd like to ear the 4081 on an acoustic guitar.

[timwarneka]

great video. Thanks so much for posting. Curious about the recording chain, especially the preamp used?

[rmoraespinto]

Thanks for the video. I was considering buying a AT 4801. Now I'm sure of that.

[vispakoden]

4081 or Blue Woodpecker - I can't make up my mind. Maybe I like the 4081 a bit more. Sounds most real to me.

[asuperpower]

You can never have too many microphones!

[lkjlkjlkjlkjlkjlkj6]

no comparison- the ribbons sound better

[focusongiving]

The Woodpecker wins hands down. The detail, the attack of the bow... so very rich. That is the ribbon mic for me someday, soon I hope.

[marcreevesmusic]

the at4080 sounded lovely on the cello - just enough string & bow noise, combined with a lovely, warm & rounded body. I think second to that was probably the woodpecker. I liked the shure the least, although that was only in this application.

[joellouisfire]

I like the KSM313.

[Brew805]

Looove this, thanks so much! I can't afford ribbon mics, so it's the closest thing I get to playing with them

[abosco771906]

The Woodpecker all the way for me... great balance of low endresponse and natural sound of the cello. Sure wish they had a vocal shoot out!!! I don't play cello very often...

[197022007]

Then again, this is also relative to the placement of each microphone, but overall good test.

[muchomoustache]

Thanks for this video!

[megamegamario13]

woodpecker and shure ksm-blahblahblah were awesome, and the dragonfly sounded pretty crummy compared! amazing how great ribbons sound.

[DanielDeJohnTenor]

which is the best mic for saxophone?

[rhythmkeeper009]

Honestly (though it's not one here) I think that Cascade's Fat Head mic's are the best ribbon mic in production today.

[AUdioHipster]

Wow I love ribbons altho these don't have the lowest floor noise on the market ... the Woodpecker is a true gem... Sounds Lovely... And a condenser will never have the warmth of a ribbon but a good true large transformer balanced and maybe a tube... oh yea now we are in mellow-ville. Just crack open a Abbey... yea I am in Love.

[ghaibboy]

for this case of cello.. 4080 all the way :)

[pastorkev777]

The woodpecker is nice but in 3rd place a little to much ugly high mids and high low mids. The Shure is 2nd and first is the AT 4081. -PK

[monkeyxx]

man, that shure 313 shure sounded awesome...dark and pretty

[gbboi]

best mic for singing?

[PocketDrummer]

For this, I really like the Blue Woodpecker. By comparison, on this material, the condenser sounds too thin and harsh.

[bassface84]

that woodpecker has a beautiful sound!

[imaginarytube]

ok,

i liked at4081 best for its balance across the spectrum and for its clarity.

the at4080 has a pronounce lows that jump at you.

the shure sounded too wooly and lacked definition

woodpecker had too much midrange for my taste

the dragon picked up too much room ambiance and sounded thin.

[youngsniper1]

which one is better a condenser mic or a ribbon mic?

[squier06]

@youngsniper1 For this kind of stuff , i think ribbons are the best , you can hear the difference whithin the first mics and the last one !

[1230hagen]

@youngsniper1 depends. usually, a ribbon.

[PocketDrummer]

@youngsniper1 Neither. It depends on what you're recording.

[pastorkev777]

@youngsniper1 Neither they both have their uses! -PK

[Neodustin]

@youngsniper1

Depends on the application. A run of the mill condenser mic can be utilized in thousands of ways (micing acoustic instruments, recording vocals, guitar cabinets, etc...). Ribbon mics tend to lean towards the human voice and have a natural warm texture to the sound. Ribbon mics are rather fragile, however. You wouldn't want to place one infront of a guitar cabinet, they're way too sensitive and you could do major physical damage to the mic. And god help you if you drop it!

[danielolaf87]

This is a really useful video! Thanks for uploading this. I liked the AT 4081 the most :D

[bweatherall]

@danielolaf87 Agreed. I found it a bit richer in the lower tones.

[jvonm618]

@bweatherall My sentiments exactly.