Coles 4038 Studio Ribbon

This no frills studio classic is more than just an old BBC broadcast mic. I use it all the time for 1) drum overheads to smoothen the top end of cymbals and fatten out the sound of the drums; 2) on guitar amps to thicken and add depth to either an SM57 or condenser mic - due to the figure of 8 pick up pattern, the mic enables you to balance room ambience with the direct signal; 3) for violins and cellos, this is my absolute go-to mic because it's silky smooth and very real sounding. Finally 4) I was also surprised how it sounded as a lead vocal on a very sparse song (acoustic guitar and vocal). It's not going to cut it in a highly produced pop / rock song, but given the space to show off it's intimate sound, the colouring is very pleasant.

There is a real classic, older sound to this microphone which brings with it a lot of reality. A refreshing alternative to the modern, heavily processed and hyped sounds we often hear on the radio today.

I still haven't found out a source that this microphone will not capture without tremendous success. Brass, saxes, congas, drums, no problems.

Much much EQ-able, and musically relevant at that, even at borderline extreme EQ settings.

There is a tendency for the sources to sound closer than where they were recorded. Someone might get the impression while listening, that the instrument would be 40 cm away from the microphone when in reality it is more like 80 cm to a meter.

Gain. I haven't had any problems so far even with inexpensive preamps, such as those in mixers from Behringer, Yamaha etc., or interfaces such as Focusrites, MOTUs and RMEs.

The weight of the microphone is a thing to consider, and I would positively recommend the 4072 shockmount, and a sturdy stand.

All in all, a wonderful microphone, which I love more and more through the years. The only thing I could do to improve this microphone is buy a second one. HA!

Smooth, detailed and possible to bring so much air with a touch of 10k...perfect for smokey jazz vocals and my goto pair for drum overheads and recording strings in a blumnlein array. it is the standard for a reason! It is a stunningly well made microphone and is incredibly heavy so I would recommend that you use a very well made stand with it - thomann sell several and I would recommend the superlux tripod style as a minimum. You have to be careful to protect it from blasts of air like any ribbon so make sure you use a pop-filter. The frequency response is very natural and it makes speech and sound reproduction sound true - but with an air of class too. highly recommended!