AEA R88A Stereo Ribbon Microphone (Active)
THE NEW STEREO R88A : MORE BANDWIDTH, LESS COLOR. The new stereo R88A active ribbon microphone with custom toroid transformers captures sound as your ears hear it with an honest, open tonality. The R88A effortlessly records the sonic intricacies of drums, strings, piano, and other instruments that produce complex transients. The extra 12dB of transformer gain is advantageous when recording quiet sources like vocals or soft acoustic guitars. The active impedance buffers help prevent noise interference on long cable runs or when operating near large lighting rigs. The R88A requires standard 48V phantom power to operate. Active microphones are the same as passive microphones with one major difference – they have electronics in them that require phantom power to operate. Yes, that’s right. These ribbon mics actually require phantom power to operate.
The R88A: An Active Version. For those without access to an ideal preamp, AEA offers the Active R88A, a premium version of the R88 complete with JFET electronics and the same custom transformer used in our active R44. It’s basically an R88 with a built-in preamp.
The active R88A mic retains the same sonic character of the R88, but with an additional 12dB of output and a stable impedance. This gives a consistent frequency response and greater flexibility with different preamps, including those found in audio interfaces for personal computers. This is great for on-the-road musicians who might have to use a different preamp each night.
The extra 12db of output is vital when recording quiet sources like vocals or soft acoustic guitars. The active circuitry also prevents noise interference on long cable runs or when operating near large lighting rigs. The R88A’s active circuitry requires standard 48-volt phantom power to operate. The premium R88A is visually distinguished by a red cable at its base.
WHICH MODEL IS RIGHT FOR ME? The R88 and R88A are almost identical in sound.The R88A is an R88, but equipped with custom-made Lehle transformer and active electronics. Though the two versions of the microphone sound very similar and both deliver the classic ribbon sound, they have different requirements. The choice between the R88 and R88A is contingent on the specific needs of an engineer and their environment.
List of Features
- Same award-winning stereo perspective as the passive R88
- Phantom powered (48V) version of AEA's classic R88 with 12dB more
- transformer gain
- Compatible with any preamp and input impedance
- Fast, accurate transient reproduction
- Stereo ribbon microphone that offers a natural sound
- Captures amazingly precise stereo imagery with a single mic
- Larger-than-normal ribbon elements handle high SPLs with ease
- Figure-8, Blumlein Configuration (90 degrees) polar pattern
- 141dB Max SPL
R88 Series ribbon mics capture sound as your ears hear it, with an honest and open tonality. The R88 and R88A effortlessly record complex sources like drums, strings, piano, and other instruments that produce intricate transients, harsher highs, and bellowing lows.
A STEREO MICROPHONE LIKE YOUR OWN EARS - The stereo R88 captures a space as it sounds live and in person, with all the present subtlety and nuance. Its expansive frequency response and balanced low end make it superbly effective when capturing the full breadth of sound from the back of a room or above a drum set. Alongside the mono AEA N8, it boasts the widest frequency range of any mic in the AEA lineup and effortlessly manages more complex source audio like drums, strings, piano, and other instruments that produce intricate transients, harsher highs, and bellowing lows. The Blumlein configuration of the ribbons allows for a sweeping range of perspective, so an entire ensemble and room can be captured by the R88 alone.
THE ENGINEER’S SECRET WEAPON - The R88 is the engineer’s secret weapon, offering a level of detail and balance in recording like no other microphone available. Packaged in a sleek, five-pound black shell designed for quick setup, it’s an excellent choice for remote recording. Particularly well suited for the rock, roots, classical, Americana and jazz genres, the R88 has such versatility that engineers like John Cuniberti use it as their one mic to capture an entire band performing live in the same room. There is a reason that legendary Blackbird Studios in Nashville owns five R88s.
“The R88 is the most realistic mic iIve ever used. I still get confused if during playback the piano is coming out of the speakers or if the pianist is still playing in the room.” - Jon Castelli (Lady Gaga, Ariana Grande, Kesha)
A Rich History - The design of the R88 borrows from serious stereo recording tradition. In 1931, EMI engineer Alan Blumlein invented stereo recording by demonstrating the natural reproduction of the soundstage in one of the Abbey Road studios in London. Today, Blumlein’s XY coincident recording technique lives on in the AEA R88, which uses two figure-of-8 ribbons for producing an authentic representation of a performance. The pair of elements are angled in perfect phase at 90 degrees and mounted in close proximity to each other along the vertical axis of the microphone. As an alternative to Blumlein’s technique, the microphone can also be used for mid-side (MS) stereo, providing excellent mono compatibility and full control over the width of the stereo image. Either way, the R88 is so easy to use that any recording novice can do it. Simply choose where to place the mic and hit record. It’s that easy.
A FAR-FIELD RIBBON FOR CREATIVE RECORDING - As a stereo far-field ribbon microphone, the R88 was designed to capture balanced sound from long distances. Sound sources should be measured in feet rather than inches away from the mic. From 16 inches to 20 feet, the mic retains its full spectrum and incredible low end. When positioned closer than 16 inches, the mic adds proximity effect. When carefully used, this proximity effect can beef up thin sounds — either voices or instruments. Don’t worry about loud sources, either. The R88 can handle 165+ dB SPL at 1 kHz allowing you to position it up-close to avoid room tone if needed. It will not be hurt by loud sources and can be positioned against a stereo guitar amp and other loud instruments.