Golden Age Project R1 MK2 Ribbon Microphone

I was looking for a pair of affordable ribbon mics to experiment with for piano and harpsichord recording (and also with a figure 8 pattern). These fit the bill. The tone is warm with good bass response and smooth high frequencies, but I actually found them to be less colored than I actually expected. Note that the output level is very low, and I found that I really needed to add fethead inline amps before my preamps, which didn't provide quite enough clean boost. The results are clean and warm.Remember that these mics CANNOT tolerate 48V phantom power, so you need to be very careful to make sure it is off or use a fethead or phantom power blocker to be safe!Kudos on the retro styling, which just looks right. They don't include a case, but do include a padded bag to protect the mics, which is a pretty good idea.

I have many fabulous Microphones in my collection. I chose the Golden Age Project R1 MKII based on the ardent responses it received by many other well known owners and my own listening tests. In many case this microphone was in a competitive A/B listening test with other microphones costing 2 to 3 times as much, and it still stood out. I have been recording for many years, I was looking to expand my vocal mic selection. Ribbons microphones are know for classic vocals, symphonic and even brass. The Golden Age Project R1 MKII is beautifully warm and has a smooth sonic clarity, one that is easy to listen to with out fatigue. You need to use a good preamp as passive Ribbon microphones have a low output level. GAP also make an MKIII model that is an active Ribbon. Kudos to Liquid Inc., with their free second day shipment, it came on-time. If your reading this you may want to to make your purchase now as the Golden Age Project products are flying off the shelves.

Very smooth on vocals. Will require a good preamp to let it perform at it’s best.

Great Mic for the price point, much warmer than a rode Nt1 with on board preamps. Solid construction. Need a heavy duty stand due to weight.

The mic was as advertised, no issues, works as designed, for the price I recommend it to anyone trying to capture recording techniques used in the age when great music was made.

It took me about 2 seconds to consider buying this microphone firstly because it's silly money for a mic and secondly because I'm a gear addict. Don't go reading reviews about who compares it to what or whatever just read this one and buy it. I mean It's a chinese ribbon mic for $150 c'mon! It's not going to sound like a $2K ribbon but why the hell would you want it to? It sounds how it sounds just like every other microphone, and for certain applications and in the right position its fantastic. When matched with a good preamp the R1 delivers those pleasant and forgiving 40's-50's sultry tones. That being said on certain voices it's terrible while on others it's amazing, and the same goes for instruments. Which is why this mic is always ready to go and I'm not too bothered about a singer blowing out the ribbon or a drummer knocking it over. I've recorded male and female lead vocals on this and matched it EQ wise with $1000 LDC's. Usually when singers hear the A/B comparison the agressive nasal squeek of the LDC's is all too apparent, and some prefer the smoother natural roll off of the ribbon. The GAP R1 mk2 microphone will grow on you and if it's your first ribbon mic, will certainly wet your appetite for more :-)

Has the ribbon mic sound I expected. But picks up way more 60Hz hum from the ac field in the room than my Royer. Enough to make it unusable.

The threads on mine don’t fit a standard microphone stand. Anyone else having this problem?