Golden Age Audio Project R1 MK2

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.

I’ve owned two of these mics for a while now, and I absolutely love using them as drum overheads or in a Blumlein setup. They sound fantastic and can easily compete with top-tier microphones.

However, I’m not a fan of their mounting brackets—they really need a shock mount. Fortunately, I found a Swedish store that sells shock mounts specifically for Golden Age Project mics. After swapping the original brackets for these shock mounts, the setup feels much better.

One thing to note is that these mics are quite gain-hungry and sensitive to phantom power. To prevent accidentally sending +48V to the sensitive ribbon and to get the extra gain needed, I purchased Cloudlifters. They protect the mics from phantom power and provide that extra boost.

All in all, after investing about two-thirds of the mic's price into upgrades, I feel like I have a very solid ribbon mic.