I have owned the Sigma for the last 2 months and for anyone who has questioned Whether the mic is for you, i can guarantee to you that the highend roll-off is NOT an issue whatsoever, the Microphone has a beautiful tambre and a warm Natural tone, to my suprise you can even get a very modern tone Out of it that still has the Charakter and warmth of a ribbon mic , with a Highpass and a some compression you can get ALOT Out of this puppy. in this comparison AS all of the Signals are dry you might get the Impression IT IS muffled, what is Not the Case , IT for sure has some Natural presence in the mids but there is a very beautiful, fragile sounding shiene to the higher frequencies with a supprisingly high Resolution. Its a great mic, If you are willing to work with it.

Hey guys, beautiful demonstration. I loved the way you did the ribbon comparison and hope you do more vocal videos. Both of you are very laid back and that is such a welcome from all the drum/guitar songs most channels review. Thanks for all the videos!

Jack!!!! Never heard you sing before... Your voice is dope!!!!

I so needed to hear this! I also might want to get a GA R1 now!

You both have a great voice! The lady's voice makes my heart melt! The next mic I buy will be a ribbon mic. Wow the lows/low mids sound so present and the highs are not harsh at all!

@officialWWM

3 жыл бұрын

Jay H that is the beauty of a ribbon mic. A lovely warm sound.

Excellent singing and wonderful comparison video. Thank you!

Great comparison video. Both of you have nice voices.

I love the honesty

A fine review thanks, with no waffle. They all sounded good, with only personal preference rather than faults really. Just shows that price isn't everything. It would be interesting to hear an SE VR1 against the Golden Age mic.

Thanks much for putting this one together! I would have love to heard this comp without the baffle, I think the hard backing caused some unusual sound pressure interactions with the ribbons and added a lower mid-range bump that's a bit boxy sounding, since it was on all the mics that points to the baffle as well. Perhaps move the mics farther out from the baffles if they're needed that much. Also, the brightness of the guitar track can ten to slightly mask the delicate high-end of the ribbons. When doing ribbon sessions we need to not mix in condenser mics unless we try to match the natural highs of the ribbons compared to condensers' very unnatural highs.

An interesting aspect of mic 'shoot-outs' is the performers' perception of the sound in the headphones! This truly will influence the way they produce tone, emotion, etc., and quite importantly as well how they use proximity effect (especially with ribbons). So the best way to take this into account is probably to set all the mics up pointing to the voice, find the one the singer likes the most and have only that one in the headphones. Then on playback we can hear them all 'treated' the same way by the singer. It still won't show exactly how they'd be influenced by each mic but that's a whole other kind of comparison project that bears looking into and 'designing'. Keep up the great work!

great test, thanks

I thought this review was excellent! because you showed how the mic's would sound on both male and female vocals which gives you a better perception of what it sounds like. I know it also depends on the timbre of the vocalist but I was really surprised how differently it handle's the frequencies. I own the VR2 active ribbon and the one thing I notice all these ribbons have in common (that were featured in the review and my own) although they definitely sound good out of the box the low mids around 300hz to 400hz are too present in my opinion and create a lot of mud or horn like frequencies just blehhh and ick. The reason I think Meg preferred the VR2 is because it has the high end detail that a lot ribbons lose in the air frequencies 18K - 20K (at least according to SE) and the compression effect Meg said she thought she was experiencing from the Golden Age R1 I think based on what I heard is just the high end roll off you get from a ribbon mic but perhaps maybe it's not as aggressive on the R1. Thanks for the awesome review!

I love videos where people have to guess the perceived value blindly like that, it's so much more honest. I loved the sound of the r1, and was shocked to see how aesthetically pleasing it is compared to the product photography.

I can't help thinking that large baffle thing behind the mic is somehow negatively impacting the sound! .........

@alanshewitt

4 ай бұрын

Quite possibly, however bear in mind ribbon mics are by their very design figure-of-8 pickup pattern. So perhaps it was necessary to control interference from the back

She liked the top end on the cheapiest one. For sure. But yeah... The Sontronics is very accurate and full. (i'm curious to hear it with some nice EQ adding some "air") Thanks

Hi, thanks for your time in making the video. I'm interested in hearing the VR2 on vocals and acoustic against other 'industry standard' ribbons as I'm trying to determine whether to upgrade from my VR2 or try something different. You both looked a bit closer to the Sigma than on the VR2, did you find that had a significant impact on the sound, or you did the take after finding the sweet spot for each mic?

Yah, def a shootout between the 2nd and 3rd. Here because I'm trying to decide whether to get an R1 mkIII (active) or a mkII (passive) w/ Cloudlifter. Were you to make that comparison, you'd be the first on the net, it seems...

Seriously good performances. Both vocal-wise and mic-wise. I liked the Sigma least. The other two were super nice in each their own respect. The GA has lots of "body" - and the VR great clarity.

@ozannidayi

2 жыл бұрын

well said!

Meg is lovely! The difference she was hearing was between a powered and unpowered mic.

Great comparison. Not sure the cool looking curved baffle is such a good idea for Ribbons as they have no front or back. Pure figure of 8. Both sides are equally sensitive to all frequencies. Any sound frequency that isn't totally absorbed by the baffle is capable of being sensed by the 'rear' side of the ribbon. The shape of the baffle is also somewhat parabolic.... with a 'focus point' pretty close to THE MIC. The reflected sound may be reduced in 'pressure' but it IS out of phase and CLOSE enough in space/time to cause frequency cancellations. I have several Golden Age ribbons. Ribbons for anything ......do not allow any close proximity Surface to reflect your 'desired' sound back into the opposite side of the ribbon. Absolutely let the rear side pick up the room or another singer/instrument, if desired. The ribbon mic is a proper weapon. It has the smallest waistline....8....(the null point) . Sound entering the side, pressurises the ribbon EQUALLY on BOTH sides. Hence the ribbon cannot vibrate. Think about it. 😊♥️😊

@freethinksman4393

Жыл бұрын

Those baffles are *way* more useful on a figure 8 mic than a cardioid, especially in a room with walls close to the rear or extraneous noises. The material is designed as an absorber., not a reflector. Low frequencies would pass right through it, but mid and high frequencies are absorbed. That's precisely *why* they are using it. I'm honestly not exactly sure what you are trying to argue. You seem to grasp how a bidirectional ribbon mic picks up sound, but it doesn't seem like you understand how sound itself works.

Lovely voice!

Bro what you talking about your voice is lovely

what was the signal chain?

Great comparison! Rarely see ribbon mics on comparison videos.

Im shocked at how much I liked the Golden Age mic. Shocked! I'd read that it was a sleeper before but I doubted it. It was my favourite of the 3. However, it was less articulate in a way that I think is really flattering for vocals, but I suspect would be less flattering for other sources. But I certainly may pick one of these up now.

@joshcatstream

5 жыл бұрын

my favorite of the 3 as well, felt like it had a depth to it that the others didn't, sE was the one I'd like to work with the least, sigma was nothing I'd want either.

@fraktalfabrik

3 жыл бұрын

Same. Ordering one right now. :)

@michaeljensen1625

3 жыл бұрын

@@fraktalfabrik i actually ended up buying an AEA N22 and I like it more

Lovely song. And singing.

That is the coolest and best microphone isolation foam I have seen. Looks like it would work exceptionally well for ribbon mics. Where can I get one of these?

@viktorbarnabas

Ай бұрын

Sounded absolutely awful. All takes are boxy af

GA-R1... easily. (IMHO , of course!). Running mics dry, people tend to prefer ones with more compression (thus, sustain). This doesn’t necessarily mean that is the best mic... just the best mic in that setup. I dunno, just my personal thoughts. Great job guys!

Wow that ga r1 was warm and sounded very full

Voodoo on voice - more highs, less lows, especially if you're going to be up close. Great all these mics are still available on the store two years later.

VR2 has some top end that the other 2 don't have... But not harsh...

Damn, the GAP R1 was soooo good. The Sigma just lost sooo much of that crispiness in the highs.

Male voices and Ribbon mics not a great combo in my opinion. Sounds Muddy (150-320 Hz) Especially if there’s too much proximity effect. The girl however WOW @GA R1 Under consideration. What preamp did you use ?

@playonkorg

Жыл бұрын

From the Focusrite audio converter

That's some good vocalling, guys.

You sing much too close to the ribbons. You would need at least 30-50 centimetres distance for a natural sound. The mic reflection filter also affects the sound, not for the better in my experience.

GA R1 is the best here.

The VR2 sounded best to me.

i like the sigma most

Till me something girl*

I though the SE was best

I liked the GA R1

the intro music is 20db+ and ur voice is - 10db ....wtf

Ribbon mics are so dark for vocals

@Tazmanian_Ninja

4 жыл бұрын

EQ is your friend! And because their top-end is inherently smoother, you can boost the highs without the piercing highs of many condensers. IMO it's a nuisance to EQ mics that have "presence boosted" bumps in their frequency response. It's difficult to correct with EQ.

@BrazosP

3 жыл бұрын

I like the darkness and muted quality. Tired of every single vocal being an in your face condenser type approach....

Sigma 2 can't keep up with the other two.

Is it me or did that guy sing better than the woman?

@aaronready1

4 жыл бұрын

Its just you bro....

@iEngineerAudio

4 жыл бұрын

@@aaronready1 Yea you big cappin.