Anyone tried the Cascade Fat Head ribbon mic ($160)?

  • Thread starter Thread starter kid klash
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Looks just like the Alctron HRM-15 that some of us got through the group buy last spring. Same box. Better shockmount.

I like my Alctron. Good overhead, amp mic, and decent on my voice.
 
...like Shiny Box, Cascade will be offering the Fat Head in OEM stock form and with upgraded transformers (Lundahl or Jensen, your choice for $299)...the Fat Head II with the slightly larger body gets the transformer transplant...the stock version got a nice review in this month's Tape Op Magazine...

Fat Head II: http://www.cascademicrophones.com/cascade_FAT_HEAD_II.html

...I would like to add that although the Alctron manufactured ribbon mics (like the Fat Head) are a good value, if you can swing the extra $100, the Karma K6 is a big step up...phantom-powered design lets you use any (even anemic) mic pres you already have (most ribbon mics require a good 60-65 dB of gain)...I sold all three of my Alctron ribbons (one Nady, one Apex and one Stellar) after I got the K6...it's in another class, trust me... ;)

http://karmaaudio.com/6.html
 
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kidvybes said:
...I would like to add that although the Alctron manufactured ribbon mics (like the Fat Head) are a good value, if you can swing the extra $100, the Karma K6 is a big step up...phantom-powered design lets you use any (even anemic) mic pres you already have (most ribbon mics require a good 60-65 dB of gain...I sold all three of my Alctron ribbons (one Nady, one Apex and one Stellar) after I got the K6...it's in another class, trust me... ;)

http://karmaaudio.com/6.html
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plus one on the k-6 :) -- a great mic!
 
Karma in TapeOp, too

Not a ribbon, but the Karma K35 FET got a good review, too. I'm a newbie, but picking around their website I found some sE references still in their material.

I'm getting the old "first condenser" for my recording space, and I am tempted by the Karma mics-- but the whole sE thing has me sort of skeeved. Can anyone convince me why I shouldn't worry about it?
 
Obi-Wan zenabI said:
I'm getting the old "first condenser" for my recording space, and I am tempted by the Karma mics-- but the whole sE thing has me sort of skeeved. Can anyone convince me why I shouldn't worry about it?
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Their gear is amazing for the money, which is the bottom line for me at least. They have a 7 day free trial offer if you want to make sure you like the mics, though I understand that they are running low on the stock of the K-35. I have two K-6's, a K-58 (which I retubed with a Jan GE 6072a tube on the advise of Kidvybes to very pleasing results), and some matched k-micros. The first two are my main tracking mics and I sold my Rode NTK shortly after getting the K-58.
 
Ribbons as main tracking mics, huh?

Thanks, Kojdogg.

I like the idea of figure eight mics-- I'll be recording mainly jazz, and hopefully my room will wind up with the right treatment mojo to make some of that reflected sound desireable. We'll see.

Have you recorded double bass? What has worked for you fromthose mics mentioned?
 
double bass as in upright or drums? i mostly do heavy rock to singer/songwriter fare, so i've only really used the ribbon on vocals and acoustic guitar so far. electric guitar will come soon. many ribbons work really well on acoustic piano. there was a great feature on ribbon mic techniques in em a month or two ago-- dunno if you caught it.
 
kojdogg said:
double bass as in upright or drums?
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Seen a lot of double bass drum kits in jazz, have you?

Sorry, couldn't resist. :D
 
leddy said:
Seen a lot of double bass drum kits in jazz, have you?

Sorry, couldn't resist. :D
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yeah man-- i know, i was just being sure :D
see a lot of "double bass" (of the non-metal kind and as opposed to "upright" or "acoustic") micing questions on this mb?
 
Db

That's funny. I almost wrote (as in upright bass) because there is some confusion about the name of the instrument. My favorite BBS (talkbass- I'm joejnyc) seems to prefer Double Bass to all the others, so that's the one I go with. I have always called it upright, but I think that orchestral people tend to be happier calling it "double bass." But I'm guessing.

I'll post the question in the forum...
 
Obi-Wan zenabI said:
That's funny. I almost wrote (as in upright bass) because there is some confusion about the name of the instrument. My favorite BBS (talkbass- I'm joejnyc) seems to prefer Double Bass to all the others, so that's the one I go with. I have always called it upright, but I think that orchestral people tend to be happier calling it "double bass." But I'm guessing.


I'll post the question in the forum...
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yeah i'm a little slow :D
and fwiw i have little experience micing either one :)
 
kojdogg said:
I have two K-6's, a K-58...
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Outside of polar pattern what is the difference in sound quality between the stock K6 and stock K58?
 
nuemes said:
Outside of polar pattern what is the difference in sound quality between the stock K6 and stock K58?
Click to expand...
The stock K-6 is a figure 8 ribbon and has a very smooth, vintage sound-- very nice low end and low midrange with some top end rolloff. I'm bad at describing this stuff incidentally. The K-58 is a multi-pattern tube and sounds very warm and "crisp?" Notes and words are very clearly articulated and defined. I've only used these mics for vocals and acoustic guitar so far, but have been very pleased with how they sound-- particularly when comped together, but certainly on their own as well.
 
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