Cascade FAT HEAD Ribbon Microphone

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"The Cascade FAT HEAD Ribbon microphone sounded wonderful and made me recall my dad using the classic RCA 44BXs ribbons around the time he was recording Elvis. This Cascade microphone sounds a lot like a 44 to me, smooth and clear with a warmth to the bottom end that's full and pleasing."

Nashville's David Malloy is a veteran producer, engineer and songwriter who has Forty #1 Billboard records so far. He has recorded artists ranging from Reba McEntire to the Oak Ridge Boys to Rosanne Cash and Dolly Parton and many others.

David Malloy/Producer/Engineer/Songwriter

Phil Madeira Producer/Songwriter

I am presently producing a record on a female rock singer. My partner in crime and I are both guitarists, and we take great pains to get what we want from our instruments and our amps, of which we have quite a few.

We have generally recorded with your basic SM57 on the cabinets, and have been satisfied, but still adventurous and curious. A friend told me about the Fat Head and suggested I purchase a pair. At the price, I couldn't resist, and was even willing to call it a slightly expensive "lesson" if I wasn't happy.

Yesterday, the mics arrived and we put them up immediately, and noticed a difference from the usual. The bandwidth seemed wider and the tone seemed fuller and fatter than usual. Again, let me stress that we already were getting a wonderful sound. However, for not much more money than an SM57 costs, I am getting a much more beautiful sound. I still have yet to try the pair as overheads or room mics, but I am excited to do so.

Phil Madeira is a multi-instrumentalist and producer who has spent more than 20 years contributing to the recordings of artists such as Amy Grant, Alison Krauss, Vanessa Williams, Keb' Mo', Julie Miller, Mark Heard, and Phil Keaggy, among others.

Phil Madeira
Nashville TN.

FAT HEADS used in studio sessions in Nashville

Just wanted to let you know that I've been taking one of the ribbon mics I bought from you with me to sessions and letting engineers try it out on different instruments. The response is very positive.

Gary Burnette Producer/Session Player (Wes Cunningham/Warner Bros)

Nashville TN

Cascade Ribbon technology is the best value in audio today, if you are making music you NEED these mics. Nothing surpasses the natural sound of ribbons and Cascade makes this
classic sound within the reach of virtually any studio".

Aaron Levinson/ Grammy Award Winner

Guys: YOU ARE GENIUSES!!! I am a trumpeter/small recording studio owner-engineer; I received your basic Fat Head ribbon mic last week. I have to tell you that I bought it out of sheer frustration after having returned a "famous" Coles 4038 because I hated its sound...well, I have been recording my trumpet (jazz quartet format) for the past week and WHAT A DELIGHT!!!! I LOVE YOUR MIC...it sounds the way I thought the Coles would sound!!!!

I am so delighted and grateful to you, that I want to endorse your mics on my humble "My Space" site. Check it out at MySpace The CTS Group; I don't have any recordings with your mic on my site YET, but plan on it real soon.

Sincerely,

Claude G.

Happy Customer (doesn't know if to laugh or cry)
I just wanted to say how happy I am with the Fat Head II. I had gotten a Nady RSM2 and really liked the full body sound of a ribbon. However, I was wanting a ribbon mic with more mid and mid highs for vocals and I got just that. But more than that I was really impressed with the fantastic signal to noise ratio of this mic. As compared to the Nady I can go a notch lower on the preamp with the Fat Head II and get as much signal with a lower noise floor, plus the vocals are really brought to life with the Fat Head II. Vocals with the Nady now sound weak in comparison to the Fat Head II.

The build quality of the Fat Head II is excellent.

I have a fairly large collections of microphones; Neumann U87, AKG C414, Rode NT2, etc. And the Fat Head II is my favorite for vocals especially with digital recording. When I think of how much I paid for other mics in comparison to the Fat Head II I don't know if I am laughing or crying. I just ordered another Fat Head II, I am anxious to try stereo micing on acoustic guitar.

Thank you for producing such a high quality ribbon mic. I am looking forward for more mic versions. Maybe a good quite tube/ribbon version? I read the Nady attempt of this was noisy
William C. Canal Winchester, OH

AUDIO MP3 SAMPLES

All FAT HEAD SAMPLES ARE RECORDED WITH A STOCK TRANSFORMER

The Fathead II makes this little 6-watt tube amp sound like a huge stack! A fat
sound

Guitar Sample:

SET-UP: DeArmond M75 guitar with humbuckers
Maxon OD-9 Overdrive Pedal and Boss BD-2 Blues Driver Pedal
1970 Fender Vibro Champ (Bronco) Amplifier (with the original 8" Oxford speaker)
One Cascade Fathead II Microphone less than an inch from the grill cloth

Guitar Sample:

SET-UP: DeArmond M75 guitar with humbuckers
Mesa/Boogie Mark IV Amp Top driving a Marshall 4-12 Speaker Cabinet with
Eminence Private Jack and Celestion V12-80 speakers
One Cascade Fathead II Microphone about 6 inches from the grillcloth

The Fathead II is the first microphone I have used that accurately captures the
low end resonance and top end brilliance of a Marshall cabinet. Bradley Ford

Samples: Courtesy of Bradley Ford

http://wingrec.com

AE-292: Summer Session 2007

Recording The Beatles: Whiteside-4 Project FAT HEAD on the snare Click here

Samples: Courtesy of John Marsden
http://www.lbsound.com

Horn Samples

EVERYONE raves about these mics for sax, trumpet, etc. The "sample" selections are from a live-to-air jazz concert featuring the Gregg Parnell Trio.

Horn Samples

Flugelhorn:

Trumpet:

Samples: Courtesy of Ken Wallace of ian london Studios.

http://www.ianlondon.com

Acoustic Guitar:

Violin:

Hammond B3:

Samples: Courtesy of Aaron Levinson

Hammond B3:

Acoustic Guitar:

Sample: Courtesy of Dewayne Grissom

Mandolin:

The John Orsini Swingtet
This is the John Orsini Swingtet - featuring John Orsini from the
Disney Sax Quintet. And, with the exception of the acoustic bass
(which was direct) was a totally Cascade Ribbon mic broadcast using
the DR2 on Sax, Fathead on the Guitar amp, Fathead on Trombone, and
X15 on the vibes.