AEA R84A Active Ribbon Microphone

An incredibly versatile ribbon mic that sounds good on everything from drums, to horns, guitar, vocals and much, much more.

Before I bought one of these I ran into AEA founder and ribbon mic savant Wes Dooley at NAMM 2015. I already owned a ribbon mic, which I loved for recording electric guitar and my wife’s vocals, and I was in the market for adding a higher-end upgrade. We got married the week before NAMM and I was joking that I flew solo to California for my NAMMymoon. Anyways, Wes was at the AEA booth and I asked him about the difference between the flagship R44 and the R84 (passive version) and he said the R84 was “the ribbon mic for us married folks.” At less than half the price of the the R44, but using the same ribbon, I guess it’s pretty perfect unless you’re craving a historically accurate re-production for the old RCA44.

It took me a few years to become an AEA owner, and I ended up with the active version, the R84A. It’s an incredible mic and it’s extremely versatile.

The AEA R84A is in frequent use here at Sabi Sound, especially set in front of tube amps for recording electric guitars, vocals, horns, and as a room mic or overhead for drums and intimate ensembles.