recordinghacks

AEA R84A

Bidirectional Ribbon Microphone

The R84A is an active ribbon microphone, formerly called the “A840.” It is AEA’s R84 ribbon, coupled to a custom Lehle step-up transformer, plus a transformerless output circuit.

The benefits of adding active electronics to a ribbon microphone, according to AEA, are:

• there is no risk of damaging the ribbon by applying momentary phantom power to the mic through a TRS cable.
• active ribbon microphones have more gain and better signal-to-noise ratios, making them easier to use
• active ribbon mics do not require a special preamp (whereas passive ribbons sound best with a preamp that provides significant amounts of very clean gain, and has high input impedance to avoid creating unwanted EQ effects

For a fuller description of the R84’s ribbon motor design and other components, see the original A840 profile (linked in the sidebar).

The R84A ships with a 3m Accusound audio cable (permanently attached to the microphone), and AEA’s “Vertical Mic Storage Case.”

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The mic was released in 2018.

Specifications

Pickup Patterns	Pads & Filters
CHART Bidirectional (6.3 mV/Pa; 20 - 5,000 Hz)

Ribbon Construction	Impedance	SPL/Noise
Length: 59.7mm Width: 4.7mm Gauge: 1.8 microns	92 Ohms (Low)	Max SPL: 141 dB Self-noise: 17.5 dB(A)

Weight	Length	Max Diameter	Interface(s)
850g (29.98oz)	295mm (11.61'')	64mm (2.52'')	3-pin XLR male (1)

Power Specifications

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