Cascade Fat Head II Ribbon Mic

"adam79" wrote...
> anyone out there have any comments on the cascade fat head II ribbon mic?
> i heard they work great on guitar amps as a stereo pair (one on top of the
> other) close mic'd. also, has anyone had the chance to compare the stock
> fat head IIs with the lundahl transformer ones? is it worth the extra
> money? here's a link to their website:
> http://cascademicrophones.com/cascade_FAT_HEAD_II.html.


Stereo pair on a guitar amplifier?
What is "stereo" about the source?

i phrased it wrong. i ment mic'ing the cab with a pair of fat head IIs side
by side.. two mono signals equal stereo.. now that my grammar has been
corrected, anyone have any comments on the mic(s)?

thanks,
-adam

"Richard Crowley" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:5vnclvF1n7ns5U1@mid.individual.net...
> "adam79" wrote...
>> anyone out there have any comments on the cascade fat head II ribbon mic?
>> i heard they work great on guitar amps as a stereo pair (one on top of
>> the other) close mic'd. also, has anyone had the chance to compare the
>> stock fat head IIs with the lundahl transformer ones? is it worth the
>> extra money? here's a link to their website:
>> http://cascademicrophones.com/cascade_FAT_HEAD_II.html.
>
>
> Stereo pair on a guitar amplifier?
> What is "stereo" about the source?
>

Hi. Does anyone have any experience using the Cascade Fat Head II Ribbon
Mic? I've heard it sounds great pair up with a SM-57 on guitar amps.
Here is the website for the mic:
http://www.cascademicrophones.com/cascade_FAT_HEAD_II.html. Any comments
on this mic would be appreciated.

Thanks alot,
-Adam
[email protected]

adam79 <[email protected]> wrote:
>Hi. Does anyone have any experience using the Cascade Fat Head II Ribbon
>Mic? I've heard it sounds great pair up with a SM-57 on guitar amps.
>Here is the website for the mic:
>http://www.cascademicrophones.com/cascade_FAT_HEAD_II.html. Any comments
>on this mic would be appreciated.

It is one of the few Chinese ribbon mikes that appears to have had some
actual engineering applied to it. It's not wonderful, and it has some
problems, but it shows evidence of someone actually knowing something about
acoustics having worked on it.
--scott

--
"C'est un Nagra. C'est suisse, et tres, tres precis."

Hi Scott,

I'm not familiar with this mic. What is it about the Fat Head II that
makes you say that it is better than the other Chinese mics?

I know very little about the technology of ribbon mics, and am hoping
to learn something here.

Thanks,

Dean


On Jul 14, 1:55 pm, [email protected] (Scott Dorsey) wrote:
> adam79  <[email protected]> wrote:
> >Hi. Does anyone have any experience using the Cascade Fat Head II Ribbon
> >Mic? I've heard it sounds great pair up with a SM-57 on guitar amps.
> >Here is the website for the mic:
> >http://www.cascademicrophones.com/cascade_FAT_HEAD_II.html. Any comments
> >on this mic would be appreciated.
>
> It is one of the few Chinese ribbon mikes that appears to have had some
> actual engineering applied to it.  It's not wonderful, and it has some
> problems, but it shows evidence of someone actually knowing something about
> acoustics having worked on it.
> --scott
>
> --
> "C'est un Nagra.  C'est suisse, et tres, tres precis."

drichard <[email protected]> wrote:
>
>I'm not familiar with this mic. What is it about the Fat Head II that
>makes you say that it is better than the other Chinese mics?

Somebody has actually tuned the ribbon assembly, and looked at what happens
when sound goes through the assembly.

Most other Chinese ribbon microphones are copies of one of two American
designs, copies made by people who made arbitrary changes to the geometry
without understanding what they were doing.

The Fat Head was actually designed by someone who either knew what altering
the geometry did, or who measured what they were doing as they altered the
geometry. Some actual effort was spent in adjusting the geometry and tension
for a midrange response that is approximately flat. The pop filter is selected
to adjust the treble response in a reasonable way, rather than just being
whatever perforated metal happened to be around. The wiring is tacked down
rather than waving around in a strong magnetic field adding parasitic
distortion.

>I know very little about the technology of ribbon mics, and am hoping
>to learn something here.

You probably know just as much about the folks in Ningbo who make most of
the Chinese ribbon microphones.

A really good introduction to ribbon mike technology is Harry Olson's book
on microphones. Some of the stuff he says about condenser mikes turns out
to be wrong, but the ribbon mike discussion is right on.
--scott


--
"C'est un Nagra. C'est suisse, et tres, tres precis."

Scott Dorsey <[email protected]> wrote:
>drichard <[email protected]> wrote:
>>I know very little about the technology of ribbon mics, and am hoping
>>to learn something here.
>
>You probably know just as much about the folks in Ningbo who make most of
>the Chinese ribbon microphones.


Err.. I mean you probably know just as much AS the folks in Ningbo...
--scott


--
"C'est un Nagra. C'est suisse, et tres, tres precis."

Scott, do you as well have an educated opinion on the Shinybox ribbon mics?

Bm

Badmuts <[email protected]> wrote:
>Scott, do you as well have an educated opinion on the Shinybox ribbon mics?

I can't talk about that yet. Maybe ask me in six months or so.
--scott

--
"C'est un Nagra. C'est suisse, et tres, tres precis."

"Scott Dorsey" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:g5i8i3$2q$1@panix2.panix.com...
> Badmuts <[email protected]> wrote:
> >Scott, do you as well have an educated opinion on the Shinybox ribbon
mics?
>
> I can't talk about that yet. Maybe ask me in six months or so.

Their delivery times are really not that long ;)

Personally, i'm happy with mine for applications that do lots of low mid:
heavy guitars, bottom rotor of a Leslie.

Bm

Scott Dorsey wrote:
> adam79 <[email protected]> wrote:
>> Hi. Does anyone have any experience using the Cascade Fat Head II Ribbon
>> Mic? ......
>
> It is one of the few Chinese ribbon mikes that appears to have had some
> actual engineering applied to it. It's not wonderful, and it has some
> problems, but it shows evidence of someone actually knowing something about
> acoustics having worked on it.
> --scott
>

Scott,

I assume that you are commenting on the sound of the Fathead with the
stock transformers. Does your opinion change with the Lundahl
transformers installed?

Any thoughts about the Cascade "Gomez" Michael Joly Edition?

I was thinking about getting a Fathead also unless you have a better
suggestion for a similar or 2X price. I will get one of the better ones
later, I spent too much money last year...

Thanks,

John Phillips
** Posted from http://www.teranews.com **

John Phillips <[email protected]> wrote:
>Scott Dorsey wrote:
>> adam79 <[email protected]> wrote:
>>> Hi. Does anyone have any experience using the Cascade Fat Head II Ribbon
>>> Mic? ......
>>
>> It is one of the few Chinese ribbon mikes that appears to have had some
>> actual engineering applied to it. It's not wonderful, and it has some
>> problems, but it shows evidence of someone actually knowing something about
>> acoustics having worked on it.
>
>I assume that you are commenting on the sound of the Fathead with the
>stock transformers. Does your opinion change with the Lundahl
>transformers installed?

The Lundahl transformers are a whole lot better than the original ones.
You'll notice the difference in the top end.

You'll note, though, that I was commenting on the engineering quality and
not the sound, though.

>Any thoughts about the Cascade "Gomez" Michael Joly Edition?

Never used one.

>I was thinking about getting a Fathead also unless you have a better
>suggestion for a similar or 2X price. I will get one of the better ones
>later, I spent too much money last year...

Have you got a Beyer M-160? Even the M260.80 is a handy thing to have.
Get them now before the Euro shoots even higher.
--scott
--
"C'est un Nagra. C'est suisse, et tres, tres precis."