MXL R40 Ribbon Microphone

From a singer's point of view:You've been warned before even on the description here: "Ribbon mics don't produce bright sounds like condenser mics". That is, they won't produce the type of tone that is required for today's singing. This is the truth! Sure it EQ's well but your voice coming out of this mic is very different from a condenser mic. You will loose all the highs and mids and it just sort of sounds a little muddy without any presence.If you do Frank Sinatra or Bing Crosby type crooning this might be cool but if you do modern singing that requires a bright tone that cuts through this mic will actually diminish those efforts; that is, even if you sing bright it will sound dull through this.

i use this everday in my studio

4 stars means I like it. But unlike a hotel rating system, these stars do not hold a notion of quality. I bought the mic so I could check out the ribbon mic craze. I recieved the mic, opened the box and was a bit suprized about the size. It's smaller than what photo "leads" you to think. No problem... I was still excited to give it a try. I took the mic out of the package and heard a disturbing rattle. I plugged it in to see if it was working, hoping that whatever was loose would just come right out if opened the mic. But I decided not to take a chance, and instead sent it back to get a replacement. The 2nd mic came, and no rattle. I used it last night to record some vocal. I does have a nice warm sound to it. It's somewhat colored, but not in a bad way. The mic's mount was useable, and easy to get the mic in and out of. The color is a nice blue, and it seems to have a solid build. It's a defenite keeper. I also used the mic to record the resonant head of my bass drum. Though I didn't get the sound I was after, I ended up pleased over all. My biggest gripe is that I had to really crank up the gain and inputs to get the meters to move. It just doesn't have that hot of s signal coming in. Hopefully it's not a flaw.

It is not a bad ribbon mic for the money. Has a good frequency response from front to back in the figure default pattern. The R144 that replaced it has frequency issues in that the front of the figure 8 pattern is muffled. MXL claims this is normal and yet the R40 blew it away as far as performance. I used a Triton Audio Fethead to boost the signal ...

Good for the money.

I've had this in my mic arsenal for years. Have used for vocals paired with like a high-end condenser to A/B and it was fine. Though it really shines on my peavey blues classic 115. You have to keep at least 6" away from the grill cloth when miking an amp. At those distances it really shines. Great low end still gets captured while capturing more of the spectrum above the low end. Haven't tried it on my snare yet, but probably will someday just to see if I need to replace the rk47 I use in the batter side. Don't let the price fool you. It really is a good mic if you are willing to put the effort in to find its sweet spots.

This mic actually sounds better than the Golden Age Active Mk III Ribbon! It's silky smooth and takes EQ very well. As is the case with most passive ribbon mics, it needs a bit of gain...but nothing that a good preamp (especially something like the Cloudlifter or Fethead) can't handle. In fact, the R40 sounds surprisingly similar to the Blue Baby Bottle SL (in some cases, it may even be better!) . Oh, and it's fantastic for taming sibilance! The MXL R40 does not, in any stretch of the imagination, sound like a low-priced mic. It really is a great piece of equipment, especially if you're just getting into ribbon mic territory. Highly recommended (especially for the price)!

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