Phil O'Keefe Posted August 12, 2011 Share Posted August 12, 2011 You guys who use Fatheads and speak highly of them weren't lying. I got a stereo pair in the mail for review yesterday and I have been messing around with them a wee bit - acoustic guitars and guitar amps mostly so far, although I'll definitely try them on some other stuff, such as drum overheads, sax and room mikes as part of the review process. I had the choice to go with whatever colors and transformers I wanted to try, but for the sake of getting a baseline (I assume the nicer transformer equipped models will sound better, and have better bass and treble extension) and testing the model that is probably the most popular, I went with the stock transformers... and I've got to say, my initial impression is very positive. A $200 ribbon mic (or a $400 stereo pair) shouldn't sound this nice. These do. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil O'Keefe Posted August 12, 2011 Author Share Posted August 12, 2011 PS In other news, I was cranking my Princeton Reverb II, which I hadn't used for a while. Such a cool amp. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members SnorkelMonkey Posted August 12, 2011 Members Share Posted August 12, 2011 Hey Phil, have you checked out those Little Blondie's? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Kerouac Posted August 12, 2011 Members Share Posted August 12, 2011 Good to hear! I really want to snag a pair myself, especially if you're digging them on acoustic. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Tron Murphy Posted August 12, 2011 Members Share Posted August 12, 2011 The {censored} is a fathead? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members V Posted August 12, 2011 Members Share Posted August 12, 2011 Been seriously considering a fathead cause I don't have a ribbon mic. This may sway me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Kerouac Posted August 12, 2011 Members Share Posted August 12, 2011 Been seriously considering a fathead cause I don't have a ribbon mic. This may sway me. I have one but it's just... not... enough! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members big69 Posted August 12, 2011 Members Share Posted August 12, 2011 The {censored} is a fathead? http://lmgtfy.com/?q=fathead+microphone Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Tron Murphy Posted August 12, 2011 Members Share Posted August 12, 2011 http://lmgtfy.com/?q=fathead+microphone OMG I've never seen that before. GENIUS! You sir, are on the cutting edge. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members big69 Posted August 12, 2011 Members Share Posted August 12, 2011 I love you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members MrNixon Posted August 12, 2011 Members Share Posted August 12, 2011 these ribbons can handle guitar amps? think they'd sound good in a live setting? or is it studio only Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil O'Keefe Posted August 12, 2011 Author Share Posted August 12, 2011 This is exactly what the mikes I was sent look like: these ribbons can handle guitar amps? think they'd sound good in a live setting? or is it studio only Yes, they can handle guitar amps - most ribbons can. These do have some pretty hefty proximity effect happening (most ribbon mikes / bi-directional mikes do), so you will probably want to use the mic preamp's High Pass Filter, or engage one in your DAW software to tame the low end. But in general, I use ribbon mikes (my go-to is the Beyer M160) on guitar amps more often than I use anything else - moving coil dynamics, condensers, etc. As far as using them live, it's not something I'd generally recommend. Yes, you can, but like many ribbon mikes, these require some pretty juicy mic preamps to provide enough gain, and not all live consoles will have enough clean gain on tap to properly amplify the signal. The even larger concern is the relative fragility of ribbon mikes. Most can take some pretty hefty SPL's, but a small blast / puff of wind can shred the ribbon. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members V Posted August 12, 2011 Members Share Posted August 12, 2011 So, phil, would you reccomend getting one with the upgraded transformer vs a stereo pair of the baseline model? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Jakkeh Posted August 12, 2011 Members Share Posted August 12, 2011 I like mine enough Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Stevenglass Posted August 12, 2011 Members Share Posted August 12, 2011 http://lmgtfy.com/?q=fathead+microphone That let me google it for you would have been funny if he didn't know it was a microphone. If he already knew it then it would be funny. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil O'Keefe Posted August 12, 2011 Author Share Posted August 12, 2011 So, phil, would you reccomend getting one with the upgraded transformer vs a stereo pair of the baseline model? Tough / good question! What will you be doing with it / using it for? If you wanted to use it for something where extended frequency response would be beneficial (vocals - not that these would be my first choice for most vocalists), then maybe a single would be a better idea. If you want to use them on drum overheads, a pair would be better... a pair with upgraded transformers may be better still... I have not tried them on drum overheads yet, but I suspect they'll work fine for that - IF you goose the highs a bit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members big69 Posted August 12, 2011 Members Share Posted August 12, 2011 it's pretty easy to tell by the first post that it's a microphone Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Stevenglass Posted August 12, 2011 Members Share Posted August 12, 2011 Ah. I didn't read the second paragraph. I thought they were headphones. You win big69 . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members SnorkelMonkey Posted August 12, 2011 Members Share Posted August 12, 2011 Hey Phil, have you checked out those Little Blondie's? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members 9520575 Posted August 12, 2011 Members Share Posted August 12, 2011 http://lmgtfy.com/?q=fathead+microphone I love that! ahahahaha Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members V Posted August 12, 2011 Members Share Posted August 12, 2011 Tough / good question!What will you be doing with it / using it for? If you wanted to use it for something where extended frequency response would be beneficial (vocals - not that these would be my first choice for most vocalists), then maybe a single would be a better idea. If you want to use them on drum overheads, a pair would be better... a pair with upgraded transformers may be better still... I have not tried them on drum overheads yet, but I suspect they'll work fine for that - IF you goose the highs a bit. I'd mainly be using it/them to mic guitar cabs, but I'd also try it on vocals and maybe some acoustic stringed instruments. Drums, not so much. I can't play drums. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil O'Keefe Posted August 12, 2011 Author Share Posted August 12, 2011 The stock version is fine for guitar amps IMO. They roll off more of the highs, but you can add a bit of that back with some high frequency shelving EQ if you want. You may not need to - they stay pretty flat up to 6kHz or so, which is where most guitar amp speakers crap out. The fact that the stock Fathead II rolls off the lows below about 100Hz is actually beneficial in terms of recording guitar amps... remember - the proximity boost is significant, so if you close mic, you'll get a big boost in the lows, which the rolled off bottom actually helps with - although you still may want to use a HPF. Again, vocals wouldn't be my first choice application for these mikes, but if you're after "vintage" (think crooner / big band jazz era sounds), you might like them in that application. As far as "other string instruments", I do generally like ribbons on things like mandolin, fiddles and banjo... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Ryan. Posted August 12, 2011 Members Share Posted August 12, 2011 Hey Phil, have you checked out those Little Blondie's? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Ryan. Posted August 12, 2011 Members Share Posted August 12, 2011 Hey Phil, have you checked out those Little Blondie's? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil O'Keefe Posted August 12, 2011 Author Share Posted August 12, 2011 Hey Phil, have you checked out those Little Blondie's? You mean those really small condensers that sahiaman over on Gearslutz makes? http://littleblondie.com/ No, I have not tried them. I would be interested in hearing them though... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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