AUDIO ENGINEERING ASSOCIATES R84

Oct 1, 2003 12:00 PM, By Myles Boisen

The AES R84 ribbon microphone offers punchy lows, detailed mids, and exceptional high-end response.

Sometimes the audio industry resembles a time machine gone haywire. One technological innovation promises to rocket us toward the future, while another seeks to re-create the overheated allure of a 40-year-old tube compressor right down to the virtual-Bakelite knobs. Nowhere is this time schism more apparent than in the microphone sector, where “back to the future” has been a guiding principle for the past few years.

The resurgence of interest in ribbon microphones has certainly been a surprising development, made possible largely by advances in engineering and recording technology. But a few intrepid souls — such as Wes Dooley of Audio Engineering Associates — have championed ribbon mics all along. Dooley's commitment to the cause drove him to re-create the classic RCA 44 a few years ago. Enthusiastic reviews of that product no doubt inspired another time-traveling trip to the drawing board. But this time, AEA has set the controls for the future of recording with the innovative and affordable AEA R84.

SPEC IT UP

Although it relies heavily on the vintage appointments of a classic RCA ribbon mic — right down to the yokemount, hard-wired cable, and rounded red logo set in a chrome band — the R84 is not a replica mic like the AEA R44C. Cosmetically it does recall the rounded contours of the venerable RCA 77, and the chrome yokemount is similar to the one used on that model.

FIG. 1: This shows the frequency response curves for the R84. The upper curve is the front (0 degrees) and the lower curve is the rear (180 degrees).

It should also be noted that the R84 uses the same long low-tension ribbon as the AEA R44C, measuring 0.185 by 2.35 inches, with a thickness of 1.8 microns. However, with the exception of the new old stock RCA ribbon material, this is actually a completely redesigned ribbon microphone. AEA's new transducer is primarily intended for use as a close mic for solo and spot mic duties, and to that end the R84's specs boast virtually flat response up to 20 kHz (see Fig. 1).

PRODUCT SUMMARY AEA R84 ribbon microphone $1,000
AUDIO QUALITY	5.0
VALUE	5.0
RATING PRODUCTS FROM 1 TO 5
PROS: Big, gorgeous tone. Superior treble response for a ribbon transducer. Comparable output to similar ribbon designs. Lightweight. Affordable. Padded carrying bag.
CONS: Short cable. Easily audible variation in response between two units.
Manufacturer Audio Engineering Associates tel. (626) 798-9128 e-mail stereoms@aol.com Web www.wesdooley.com

The first clue that this is not your grandparent's RCA mic is the weight — just 1.75 pounds, compared to over 7 pounds for a 44! Obviously, the development of lighter magnetic materials has a lot to do with this rather spectacular weight loss and contributes to the mic's slim and trim profile. The R84's body is mostly taken up by a sturdy wire-mesh grille, with rounded black caps at both ends. At the top of the mic is a silver graphic that indicates the on-axis and off-axis sides of the mic's figure-8 pattern.

The 6-foot fixed cable (which AEA informed us at press time has been increased to 10 feet), attached with an oh-so-old-school spring strain relief, is anchored to the black plastic socket at the bottom of the yokemount. This socket also contains a rubber shockmount system to shield the microphone from vibrations conducted through the mic stand. The R84 can be rotated from side to side or swiveled up and down over a wide angle around the axis of the set screws at the top of the yokemount.

Instead of a hard case, the R84 comes in a utilitarian padded bag. The drawstring, snaps, pockets, and straps give the impression that this mic is ready to go on a camping trip, and the enclosure does seem rugged and thick enough to deal with any wildlife your studio might offer!

GETTING ON TRACKS

In a variety of session duties around my Guerrilla Recording studio, the R84 impressed me with its ability to convey forceful lows, richly detailed mids, and unusually crisp and open highs. Ribbon mics are always my first choice for electric-guitar recording, and the R84 was definitely a strong competitor in this category.

On a punky “noise-guitar” track, the R84 worked its magic to smooth the brittle high end of a Telecaster guitar being played through a clean, solid-state amp. Rotating the mic about 45-degrees off axis and positioning it midway between the cone and edge of the speaker emphasized a fundamental lower-midrange tone that pleased the band once they heard it on tape, even though this richness was not audible in the room.

The R84 also extracted a gorgeous tone with palpable low-end air movement from a Parker Fly — Vox amp rig in another session. The resolution, low-level detail, and frequency balance on this experimental guitar track was nothing short of amazing. On both of these guitar tracks, the Universal Audio 2-610 tube mic preamp was an asset as well.

As a room mic, AEA's lightweight creation managed to impart that big, thumpy RCA 44 sound to the diminutive sopranino saxophone. For this instrument, the R84 (paired with a Focusrite Red 6 solid-state preamp) definitely saved the day, rendering a naturalness and tone that I couldn't have captured on the close mic alone (a Lawson L47MP). In keeping with the big-eared signature of vintage RCA ribbons, the R84 delivered a superbly warm low end and a focused, realistic timbre at a distance of four feet.

During the same date, as a room mic on a bass clarinet, the R84's merits were less dramatically apparent, but the microphone was a useful addition to the mix nonetheless. Adding a portion of this distant mic to the mix rounded out the instrument's tone and added a convincing heft to the low end. For a ribbon mic, the R84 sounded very open and clear, and also provided good 90-degree, off-axis rejection when that was needed to cancel out a drum kit in the room.

On a trumpeter who moved around quite a bit and employed a variety of mutes and unusual techniques, the tight pattern of the R84 was sometimes a disadvantage. When the horn — or its shifting, highly directional expressions — approached the side of the R84's figure-8 pickup pattern, the sound quickly became murky in the high end and attenuated dynamically. But when the trumpeter stayed on axis, the sound was accurate and always natural. At times, the ribbon transducer and its smooth high-end contour also served to soften the trumpeter's buzzy high end.

Although I was did not have the opportunity to test it on any singers, my studio partner Bart Thurber reported good results using the R84 on female rock vocals. Unlike most condenser mics, ribbons generally have no presence boost to aid vocal intelligibility and exhibit a fairly flat or attenuated high end response above 10 kHz. However, the R84's extra sizzle made it a contender in the vocal booth. As expected, Thurber still had to use some high-end shelf boosting to get the vocal track to cut through, but he was quite impressed with the mic's ample tone and its superlative treble response.

TESTING, ONE, TWO

To get additional perspective on the qualities of the R84, I put it side-by-side with a selection of ribbon mics from the Guerrilla Recording vault. I played full-frequency mixes through a small combo P.A. cabinet and auditioned the mic pair, placed about four feet away from the cabinet, on studio monitors in the control room. I used Grace 101 preamps to amplify the test mics, and matched levels carefully by ear and with meters.

Compared with a Royer SF1, the tone of the R84 was definitely brighter and more present in the 4 to 6 kHz range, with more low-end thump on kick drum, and a rounder representation of bass guitar. Up against this Royer, which I think of as a very flat ribbon, the R84 had a more forward and lively sound. Output levels were very closely matched with this pairing.

Next to a Royer R-121, I noted that the R84 had a less aggressive midrange, but again more substantial lows, and it generally had a clearer and more natural-sounding treble response. The R84's output was about 2 or 3 dB hotter in this test.

The R84 had a much bigger sound than a Coles 4038, with easily perceived low- and high-end extension. In particular, the highs on the AEA mic were much more open and crisp; the Coles sounded distant and muffled by comparison. In this case, output from the R84 was about 2 dB lower.

A vintage RCA 77DX was the only ribbon I tested that had a low-end punch equivalent to that offered by the R84. This mic's output was also about 5 dB hotter. But like the SF1 and the Coles, the RCA mic didn't have the high-end clarity that I was now hearing as a trademark of the AEA R84.

I also tested the R84 against a second R84 that I had received from AEA. In a stereo matching test, these mics showed less of a discrepancy than the mics in the aforementioned test pairs. But there were still noticeable differences between the two mics. The first R84 — the one used in the previous tests — did prove to be the brighter of the two, with more sizzle around 6 to 7 kHz. The two R84s also exhibited different levels of midrange response around 800 Hz, and a more subtle response difference in the lower octaves (below 80 Hz). Because the delicate ribbon elements in these mics have to be tuned and adjusted by hand, such discrepancies are understandable. Additionally, this mic pair was not offered as a matched stereo set, and based on my tests I wouldn't use it as such.

TIE A RIBBON

With its vintage good looks, light weight, affordable price, and gorgeous tone, what's not to like about the AEA R84? I am particularly enthusiastic about the superior high-end clarity of this new ribbon design, and its incisive detail has been a real ear opener for me. My only quibble is with the relatively short cable. But overall, this redesigned “back to the future” ribbon mic is a winner in every way and gets my highest recommendation.

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Guitarist, producer, and composer Myles Boisen is head engineer and instructor at Guerrilla Recording and The Headless Buddha Mastering Lab in Oakland, California. You can reach him by e-mail at mylesaudio@aol.com.

R84 Specifications
Element	1.8 µm aluminum ribbon
Polar Pattern	figure-8
Frequency Response	20 Hz-20 kHz
Output Impedance	270ž
Recommended Load Impedance	>1 kž
Sensitivity	-52 dBV/94 dB SPL (2.5 mV/Pa)
Maximum Sound Pressure Level	168 dB SPL >1 kHz
Power	self-powered
Dimensions	12.0" (H) × 4.0" (max. W) × 2.5" (diameter)
Weight	1.75 lb.