Lets Talk Ribbons; Pulled the trigger on the Royer 121 and AEA 84

I find the idea of having a "powered" ribbon mic repulsive.
 
I have never seen a need for one, and since I have never seen a need for having on board power on a ribbon mic I find the idea of having the first "active" gain stage in the signal chain provided by a marginally powered amplifier circuit to seem like an inherently bad idea that has resonated insidiously among people whom do not seem to own, or more specifically use well made ribbon mics. They seem to have theorized that they must have some sort of mediocre solution for problem that doesn't exist accept in cut rate budget microphones. The better manufacturers seem to be willing to make the designs available because people are asking for the option, but it seems obvious that the interest has come from the bottom up as the first "active" ribbon designs were introduced by manufacturers who have solid reputations for providing mics with bad sounding transformers and badly tensioned ribbons. 
 
The fact that you own several top grade preamps should leave you at liberty to select a traditional transformer coupled ribbon mic for it's inherent sonic qualities.
 
I own 2 AEA R-84s and 2 R-121s and two of the preamps you mentioned.
 
I still want a pair of Coles 4038s.
 
I'd hesitate to recommend one over the other for you. I sure like the R-84s and I use the 121s as often too. I think If I was starting over from scratch I might start with 1 R84 and 1 4038. The thinking being that the 121 is somewhere in between.
 
Good luck.
 
best regards,
mike
 
 

I think they started making self-powered ribbons because of the gain necessary to drive ribbons.  If you have a home studio sans a good preamp, recording a vocal, etc might be problematic unless you want the singer swallowing your $1000+ ribbon (and I wouldn't).  That being said, I'd love to try Neve's take for SE on self-powered ribbons.  But I'd stick w/ the traditional ribbon in your case - the GR should work fine.  Here at home I love my cheap MXL mic on guitar cabinet, and drive it w/ a Neve or Warm preamp.
 
@

I almost always agree with Mike, but I'm going to disagree ever so slightly this time<G>...
 
placing the preamplifier stage close to the ribbon has advantages, I wouldn't rule them out. There are subtle differences between passive and active versions of the same microphone, but I THINK they are due entirely to the difference between preamplifiers... after all they didn't stick a Great River or UA in that microphone case!
 
However, if you already have preamplifiers that are up to the task then I don't think I'd spend the extra $ for a built in preamplifier.
 
Now returning to the original question...
 
I like AEA, Royer, Coles, Shure, and Cloud ribbon microphones. I wish I could afford a couple of each!!!
 
Of the bunch the AEA and Cloud probably sound closest to each other. The Shure (formerly Crowely and Tripp), Coles and Royer microphones definitely have their own unique sounds. If I was just getting started with ribbon microphones I'd probably start with the Royer 121... they won't sound like an RCA, but they do sound great, and with the asymmetrical placement of the ribbon they are very flexible. One of the Shure models shares this feature.
 
The Royer SF-12 is another candidate as a good starter - it sounds a lot more like an RCA than it does a Royer, and having the ribbons precisely placed makes stereo recording a breeze.
 
The AEA ribbons will take you back to the days of RCA, and sometimes that is exactly what you want. The Cloud microphones can do the same trick. I'd love to spend a little quality time with both brands, at the moment it may well come down to price because my limited exposure to them suggests that the differences are subtle.
 
And in the oddball category - I have a printed ribbon microphone from Fostex that sounds nothing like any of them, but still somehow sounds like a ribbon. It is fantastic for brass, and I've recorded some great vocals with it too. I do not like it on acoustic guitar, sadly. And I much prefer the R-121 on a guitar cabinet, but I could press the Fostex into service there.
 
So many cool microphones... so little money!!

I was once on a ribbon kick, and even though I didn't get one I had made a point of trying a whole bunch of them out. The main reason I didn't buy is that the one I really, really, really wanted was way beyond my means. It was the AEA RCA-44 clone (with the AEA preamp). Wow. You croak into it and out comes Frank frickin' Sinatra. About 5 grand for the passive + preamp, or 5 grand for the active version. But what a mic!

bitflipper
You croak into it and out comes Frank frickin' Sinatra. About 5 grand for the passive + preamp, or 5 grand for the active version. But what a mic!

That may be the funniest - and most accurate description of the 44 I've ever read. Well done!!
 

misery (and being broke) loves company!

The AEA active mics (as well as their preamps) have circuitry designed by Fred Forssell.  He is widely respected in the high end recording market as one of the finest mic preamp and converter designers.  You will likely find the internal circuitry sounds cleaner and more dynamic than many high quality preamps.  
 
I only heard the extremely expensive A440 once a few years back at the NAMM show.  I immediately left the show because I knew there was nothing else on the floor that could wow me that much.  
 
The new AEA N22 is also worth looking in to.  

Sounds very natural.  I think at least one of these are going on my 2014 GAS list.

So here's a follow up on the AEA RPQ500.
The R121 is hard left thru the GR pre.
The R84 hard right thru the RPQ, LF filter at about 85hz and the "CurveShaper" "dimed" up pretty good.
We set the mics up in a "Blumlein" configuration.
Full Moon Takes, this is exactly what went into Sonar from the pres.
Full Moon Mix, FabFilter eq's on both, HP about 60hz, I put a high shelf on the R121 to brighten it up more like the 84 thru the RPQ.
Lexicon "Small Hall" on the verb buss.
FabFilter light compression and gentle limiting on the Master buss.
Hope you enjoy...
T

I take that as high praise, thank you!
And a BIG Thank You for turning me onto the ribbons.
T