Cascade Fat Head? Anybody have one?

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sbrennt

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Hey everyone! new to this forum btw. I have been gleening from all of your recording knowledge for sometime, but I finally decided to cave and join the forum. :thumbs up:

So anyway, I have been looking for some budget condensers for a while. I've listened to samples of everything. Audio-Technicas lower budget models (at2020, pro 37, etc.), AKGs, shures, cads, blues, MXLs, Little Blondies, everything. I finally figured out that the sound I wanted couldn't be had from a condensor under $150...

That is until I stumbled upon the Cascade Fat head. I thought to myself, "a ribbon? what the heck is a ribbon mic?" I did my research and listened to the samples, and from what I have heard they are great, and seem to fit the sound I am looking for, and the new 'bare essentials model is only going for $130 now, very affordable in my opinion.

So has anybody used these? what do you think of them? I heard ribbons are fragile, so how to I take care of it properly? What do they sound good on? How do they sound as a pair?

I am a drummer, pianist, and I love to sample random noises. Also might record friends who play singer song writer stuff. (acoustic guitar + vocals)
 
Yeah, this has to be one of the best sites on the net!!!

Ribbons are not to be held while running through the studio! :D
Fragile - yes - but I've used them as overheads on drums, vocals, guitar amps.

They capture true to what you aim them at.
 
O thats great to hear! I almost have enough money to get some, and I am becoming more and more confident in my choice. Anyone else used the Fat head specifically though? how does it compare to other ribbons in the price range?
 
Are you to get the tranny upgrade? If not they are all about the same.
 
No, as I am VERY low on cash, and income for things like this grows slowly. :(

so no transformer upgrade. but for my purposes I think I'll be happy with a stock mic.
 
Am sure you will be. They are great stock.
Next ..... you'll need hefty preamps for ribbon microphones - whatcha got?
 
Focusrite Voicemaster Pro Platinum. My Buddy gave it to me when his band broke up, and all I have used it for thus far is for beefing up my thin sounding digital synths. Its a little noisey, but honestly, I like a little noise, as i don't totally dig the perfect clean sound. call me a weirdo but i thinks it adds a little character. but then again I think a completely detuned piano sounds heavenly, so maybe my ears are just broken haha
 
That's a nice unit.
I have the Mixmaster platinum pro that am fond of.
 
I have a pair of Fat Heads and also a C77.
I've had the Fat Heads for a few years now, and ave used them on a lot of guitar tracks mostly...and maybe a couple of other things. The C77 I only picked up like a year ago, and I've used it also on guitar tracks...and maybe one or two other things. It's a little more articulate than the Fat Heads which I got with their stock trannies, while the C77 has the Lundahl tranny.

Just this past weekend I tracked lead guitar with the Fat Head, but this time I tried something new...and instead of just using one FH, I decided to try them out in a Blumlein stereo pair, using the stereo bar I got with them.
Stuck the rig about 18" out in front of a 212 cab...dead center.
I'm really liking how it came out. I ran them into a preamp with M/S encoder and ended up with a stereo lead guitar...which ate up a pair of tracks on my 2" tape deck instead of a single track like I normally would do...but it was worth it.

At that distance, it still sounds very much like single mic recording...but the Side mic picks up just enough of the room flavor, and since the 212 has two different speakers, you also get them coming in with each speaker sounding just a little different at the L/R spread. It's subtle when you just hear the stereo lead, but when you sum them to mono, you can really see that they do sound noticeably different. I just left the guitar lead panned dead center like I would normally for a single guitar lead track...but with the M/S stereo tracks, I can still mess with the L/R width (or collapse to mono) and there's no phasing or comb filtering.
Anyway...it was just a fun thing I was messing with, but it worked out well...and now I may do more lead tracks that way.
It took a few tries to find the right distance. Too far back, and the mics were getting too much room, making the lead too diffused and not enough punch up front. By the time I got them to about 3' feet...it was getting better...then at 2'...and finally I settled on 18". At that distance, even a milimeter or two twist to the Side mic, and you can alter the L/R balance, so you have to really position them perfectly so that you have that dead center lead, but with some L/R spread too.
It's going on a new song for my next CD...so it will be awhile before I get it all finished for posting.

Oh....with a little care, the ribbon mics last as long as any other mic. Just watch the phantom power, and don't let some idiot blow into the mic to test it.
 
I have the Fat Heads from this guy, the stock ones which I suspect are from the same factory as Cascade, I did the mod where you remove the fine mesh and only leave the outer mesh.

I love them on guitar amps often with a LDC, SM57 or 421 (or all of them LOL) and have even used them on acoustic guitars, especially when the player is singing at the same time. I will say this about ribbon mics, they take a bit of getting used to, but when you do they are great to use.

Alan.
 
I actually prefer them with the extra mesh, since I think they still pick up a lot of the high-end, which is what I try to soften when tracking guitars.
When I picked up the C77...I called them to ask if the had the original version, which was the all silver/chrome model, with dual mesh...and luckily they had one on the shelf that was left over, so I got it for a really good price with full warranty.

Not saying the ones without the second mesh are bad....I just didn't want any more top-end. :)
 
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