Yes, there’s a lot of fuss over Jim Lill’s new video, and rightly so. The entire consumer culture of mic preamps has been called into question, and many are now questioning their own gear purchases. I’d like to weigh in on the matter from an acoustical standpoint. If you haven’t, I encourage you to watch Jim‘s video all the way through: https://youtu.be/K-vIeA7yy6Q?si=FCMLEyjcyPXYJ1Ju I’ve been testing the frequency response of my gear for years, and under normal operating c

There seems to be an ongoing debate as to what impedance will get the best performance out of your ribbon mic. Some argue that low impedance gives the flattest response. Others advocate for high impedance to mimic the tube preamps of the ribbon mic golden age. Some even say you must match your preamp’s impedance to your microphone’s to maximize gain. Contradictory claims like these have been made by ribbon mic users and microphone manufacturers alike, making impedance a confu

Over the years, I’ve often received one question from DIYers and major microphone manufacturers alike: “how do you tune your ribbons?”...

This is another way of saying that the frequency response doesn’t extend high enough (to the right). But this is not necessarily true!