Audio Engineering Associates AEA R44 Owner's Manual

Text of Audio Engineering Associates AEA R44 User Guide:

• Audio Engineering Associates AEA R44, AEA R44 and A440 Owner’s Manual one of the quietest mics on the market and the quietest ribbon microphone ever. The 7 mA version has a 9 dBA noise floor and handles 136 db SPL. The custom 9 mA version has a 6 dbA noise floor and handles 132.5 db SPL. The A440 can drive very long mic cables without signal loss. It’s Only a Microphone. Why Do I Need an Owner’s Manual? Your new ribbon microphone, like all of the equipment in your recording system, is an investment in your future. It also may be the most sensitive and delicate item in your studio. Knowing how to use it properly will enable you to maintain its performance and value for decades to come — long after most of y

• Phantom Power: Friend or Foe? The AEA R44, like most ribbon microphones, neither needs nor wants phantom power. (More about the A440 Active Studio Ribbon Microphone in the next paragraph.) What will happen if you connect this microphone to a phantom-powered input? In a perfect world, nothing will go wrong, and the mi- crophone will work just fine. However, if there is any defect in

• Audio Engineering Associates AEA R44, Getting the Most Out of the Bidirectional Pattern As described earlier, pressure-gradient microphones are inherently bidirectional, with equal sensitivity to the front and back of the diaphragm. In a well designed mic, the only difference is the absolute po- larity of the signal. (ref. Figure-1A) 1 Several paragraphs and diagrams in this manual have been adapted from: The Bidirectional Microphone: A Forgotten Patriarch – by Ron Streicher and Wes Dooley; Journal of the Audio Engineering Society, Vol. 51, No. 4, pp. 211-225, 2003 April. A complete copy can be downloaded from the AEA website: www.ribbonmics.com. Because the polar response of a pressure-grad

• Audio Engineering Associates AEA R44, Minimizing Feedback Deep nulls mean good rejection of unwanted sounds. This can be most beneficial in sound reinforce- ment situations, where feedback is always threatening. Figure-2 shows a typical concert setup, where a performer is downstage-front and a central loudspeaker cluster is directly overhead. In this situation, the loudspeaker cluster will be 90° off-axis (vertically) to the microphone. Because a cardioid microphone is only -6dB down at 90° the potential for feedback can be high. By using a bidirectional microphone, however, with the deep null plane aimed direc

• Reducing Environmental Noise Out of doors or in large interior spaces such as soundstages, factories, or warehouses, environmental or general background noise tends to approach a microphone along the plane of the horizon if its source is either reasonably distant or random in nature. Because this soundwave will, in effect, produce equal pressure on both sides of the diaphragm of a vertical

• Audio Engineering Associates AEA R44, Minimizing Pickup of Nearby Instruments A significant and ever-present problem in contemporary studio recording is minimizing leakage from nearby instruments into the various microphones. While gobos (portable isolation walls) can be ef- fective in isolating performers from each other, they often introduce their own set of problems. To be effective, gobos are usually very bulky and occupy valuable floor space. They also inhibit the ability of the musicians to hear each other, thus requiring complex and often cumbersome headphon

• ticularly with male voices to give them an almost “superhuman” richness and depth. Like most things in audio, however, the potential tradeoff is reduced articulation or clarity that can result from excessive bass response or “boominess.” Proximity effect should be treated like any other form of equalization and, as such, used with care and moderation.

• Audio Engineering Associates AEA R44, THE AEA R44 BIG RIBBON™ MICROPHONE Design Concept: The AEA R44 is an exacting reproduction of the original RCA-44B/BX velocity microphone originally produced in the mid-1930s. After producing replacement parts and repairing these venerable classics for more than a decade, AEA decided to reissue a new version of the microphone — one that would be as close as possible to the original in every respect. After consulting with many engineers, it was decided that the earlier versions, built from the late 1930s to the mid-1940s, were the ones most prized by both users and collectors alike. Under the guidance of a few of the engineers retired from

• Audio Engineering Associates AEA R44, Specifications: Operating Principle: Velocity microphone Frequency Response: 20 Hz to 20 kHz Maximum SPL: 165 + dB SPL above 1 kHz for 1% third harmonic Output Sensitivity: 2.25 mV / Pa into unloaded circuit Output Impedance: 270 Ω broadband Recommended Load: 1.2 kΩ or greater Powering: Not required or recommended Polarity: Pin 2 high for positive pressure on the front of the microphone. Connector: XLR-3M wired to a 3 meter captive cable Off Axis Response: Polar Pattern: Native bi-directional pattern Horizontal: Level changes with angle, frequency response is consistent, –90 dB null at

• THE AEA A440 ACTIVE STUDIO MICROPHONE Design Concept: The AEA A440 is based on the model R44CX Big Ribbon™ microphone, but uses a transformer with a higher turns ratio and adds an internal phantom powered JFET low noise buffer amplifier. These in- crease the output level by 20 dB and reduce the self-noise, making the A440 ideally suited for the most critical recording

• Audio Engineering Associates AEA R44, WARRANTY Audio Engineering Associates warrants the AEA R44C, R44CX, and A440 against defects in materials or workmanship for three (3) years from the date of purchase. Ribbons damaged by phantom power or excessive air turbulence are not covered by the warranty. For repairs to units exhibiting ribbon damage, abnormal physical abuse, or that are out-of-warranty, AEA will provide a repair estimate and will not proceed with service without the customer’s authorization. Shipping and insurance costs both ways are the responsibility of the customer. Please contact AE

• Appendix 1 1. THE PHYSICS OF RIBBON PRESSURE-GRADIENT MICROPHONES All microphones respond to the minute changes in air pressure as a soundwave arrives at their dia- phragm. As transducers, they convert this acoustical energy into electrical energy that can be amplified and recorded or broadcast. Some microphones respond only to variations in the absolute pressure — the comp

• Audio Engineering Associates AEA R44, The first directional microphones responded to the difference in pressure between the front and back of the diaphragm as the soundwave passed by. These were termed pressure-gradient microphones and exhibited a figure-of-eight polar pattern. The diaphragm in these early microphones was a very thin aluminum ribbon that was exposed on both sides; as the soundwave moved past it created a very slight but nonetheless distinct difference in the air pressure on either side of the ribbon. This ribbon was suspended in a magnetic field and thus generated a small electric current in direct response

• Audio Engineering Associates AEA R44, The significant operational difference between the bidirectional and omnidirectional microphone is that while the omni responds with equal sensitivity to sounds arriving from any and all directions, with a properly designed single-diaphragm bidirectional microphone, a response null of almost -90dB will oc- cur at precisely ±90° from the principal pickup axis. Figure-8 shows that this null exists both vertically and horizontally because a soundwave approaching the microphone along the plane of the diaphragm will produce equal pressure on both si

• Audio Engineering Associates AEA R44, While many other polar patterns are available from condenser microphones, and even some ribbons, it is this bidirectional pickup that brought the classic RCA-44s early fame and kept them in the forefront of the recording, broadcast, and motion picture industries from their introduction in the 1930s until today. Since the early 1980s, Audio Engineering Associates has been proud to spearhead the reintroduction of these venerable classics to the industry, and to continue their tradition with new and improved models. Visit www.ribbonmics.com for a full list of all of the models and accessories ava

• Audio Engineering Associates AEA R44, Appendix 2 Evolution of an Icon 1932 RCA-44A to the 2008 AEA A-440 The oldest piece of pro audio equipment still in regular use is the RCA 44. A revolutionary microphone design, it became the standard of reference for live sound, broadcast, film sound, and recording. It was developed when audio tests were difficult and critical listening was crucial to the process. More than 70 years later, the 44B and BXs are still first rank microphones used daily in music, voice, broadcast and cinema applications.

• Audio Engineering Associates AEA R44, With the advent of digital recording, ribbon microphones made a major comeback. Their ability to record fast transients accurately without adding upper-range resonances became a positive attribute, as high-frequency transfer loss was no longer a problem. Users have also become more familiar with the usefulness of a ribbon microphone’s native figure-eight polar pattern and proximity effect bass tip-up. With fundamental tunings as low as 16 Hz the 44 is the king of bass. The 44 is flat down to 20 Hz from a distance, and if used closer than six feet starts to have bass tip-up. No wo

• Audio Engineering Associates AEA R44, Detail changes continue to be made to the AEA 44 series as AEA gains more experience. The most dra- matic technical revision was changing the internal wiring from the top of the ribbon to the transformer input leads. Examination of the RCA 44 production from England revealed that their wiring scheme reduced hum sensitivity by 20 dB without altering the sound. This wiring was immediately adopted for all R44 microphones. More recently the yoke material casting on the R44C was changed from zinc to bronze. The ori

• Audio Engineering Associates AEA R44, Contemporary scoring engineers also consistently use the 44. Scoring engineer Shawn Murphy typi- cally records his string solos with a Blumlien pair of ribbons forward, and a pair Schoeps MK2H om- nis further back.. Itzhak Perlman’s solos in “Memoirs of a Geshia” (2005) were recorded using AEA R44Cs as the Blumlein pair. In 2005 EmmyLou Harris won a best female country vocal Grammy with “The Connection” which Nashville producer/Engineer Brian Ahern recorded using a single an ‘X’ mo- tor AEA R44. In 2008 The Turtle Island String Quartet album “A Love Supreme” won a Grammy for Best Classical Crossover album. All the closer microphones were AEA ri

• Audio Engineering Associates AEA R44, Appendix 3 Bidirectional Microphones for Stereo and Surround Sound For working in stereo, two bidirectional microphones, oriented at 90 degrees with respect to each other, create the classic crossed bidirectional pair. This also is commonly called a Blumlein pair, in recogni- tion of Alan Blumlein who first proposed this technique in his seminal patent of 1934. This technique provides what many engineers consider the most natural sounding stereophonic image of any micro- phone configuration because it provides an extrem

• Audio Engineering Associates AEA R44, There is another important stereophonic microphone configuration that Blumlein defined in his 1934 patent, the mid/side technique, and this too has the bidirectional microphone at its core. In fact, it is the bidirectional component that provides all of the directional information in this stereophonic pickup technique. The mid/side system employs two vertically coincident microphones: a forward-facing (mid) microphone and a laterally oriented bidirectional (side) microphone. By combining these component signals via a sum-and-difference matrix, the left channel traditionally is the mid + side

• Audio Engineering Associates AEA R44, By using the mid/side technique, an extremely natural and versatile stereophonic image can be pro- duced. Not only can this rival or surpass any other conventional stereo pickup, it also is the only one that is capable of providing a virtually infinite variety of stereo perspectives while remaining fully mono compatible. Carrying this principle even further, by employing bidirectional patterns oriented along the three car- dinal axes –– lateral, fore/aft, and vertical –– and then matrixing these with an omnidirectional pickup, the complete spherical sound field can be described. This is the essence of the Sound-Field microphone system, developed by M

• Audio Engineering Associates AEA R44, Other Products by Audio Engineering Associates: RPQ - Active Studio Ribbon Pre with Curve Shaping AEA/Fred Forsell collaboration preamp with no phantom power and 83dB of clean gain TRP - The Ribbon Pre AEA/Fred Forsell collaboration preamp with no phantom power and 83dB of clean gain RCA Working Reproduction Microphones and replacement parts AEA R44C and CNE Microphone - Tribute to the classic RCA 44B using NOS ribbons AEA R44CX Microphone - 6db more output for critical digital recordings RCA44 and RCA77 micr

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