Cascade Microphones

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FAT HEAD Ribbon Microphone

Tape Op magazine Sept-Oct 2006

Like many Tape Op readers, when I receive the magazine, I thoroughly take in every page. One of the items I came across recently was a very small ad for Cascade Microphones. I have been in the market for a ribbon mic for a while now, to fill the need for getting some different sounds other than what my small collection of studio condensers and dynamics can provide. With this in mind, I thought I'd check out Cascade's website. What I found was almost too good to be true! There were several mics with bargain price tags, one of
which being their Fat Head ribbon microphone! At $159 street, I couldn't pass this opportunity up!

They offer a 1-year warranty, so I figured I had little to lose. After ordering, I e-mailed the company to see if I could get a PDF copy of the Fat Head owner's manual. A representative from the company informed me that they were in the process of creating owners manuals, and all they currently had available was the same frequency response spec sheet PDF available on the site. The PDF does include some basic notes, but the info is minimal. The
rep from Cascade informed me that I could e-mail him with any questions or concerns that I had before or after I received it, which was nice. Customer service seems to be lacking these days when it comes to a lot of pro gear manufacturers and distributors, so the extra mile is always appreciated.

I received the mic a week or so later. The Mic comes with a wooden box, a velvet mic pouch, a cleaning cloth, and a shockmount made especially for the Fat Head. Upon inspection, I felt that the mic and shockmount were of decent build quality. The shockmount was sturdy, and the mic fit into it snugly and stayed put. Again, I was very impressed that this mic and all its accessories were only $159. The head of the mic is fairly large at 3'' in diameter, hence the name, and the body is fairly small and thin. It is truly
a unique mic with a classic look.

You may be thinking, "How did it sound & perform?" Well, I ran the mic through a small tube mic preamp and boosted the gain so it would really open up. The sound of the mic was open, yet warm and definitely natural. I used the Fat Head close-up on acoustic guitar as well as on a small Vox tube amp with an electric guitar, as an overhead for hand percussion, and as a straight-up vocal mic. I was impressed by the variety of sounds I was able to get with this microphone. On close mic'ing, it was very responsive and clear; on overhead applications it picked up the sound of the room beautifully, although it would've been best using a pair of Fat Heads. Vocals were warm and full. Overall, it made my digital tracks sound not so sterile. For me, I liked the Fat Head best on vocals and acoustic guitars.

Bottom line, the Fat Head is a very versatile microphone that anyone could easily integrate into his or her recording sessions. For those of us who haven't yet entered the world of ribbon mics or just don't have the dough for R84s and the like, the Fat Head is a perfect choice. I might even purchase another one!
$159 street

-John Huebner Reviewer for Tape Op

Cascade FAT HEAD Ribbon Microphone Pro Audio Review - Oct. 2007   by Russ Long, 9.15.2007 Russ Long, a Nashville-based producer/engineer, owns The Carport recording studio. He is a regular contributor to Pro Audio Review.   Largely encouraged by the developments of Royer Microphones, ribbon transducers have experienced somewhat of an industry-wide rebirth over the last decade. You’d be hard pressed to find a pro facility without a Coles 4038 pair, Royer R-121s, AEA R84s or, at least, a classic RCA 77-DX or Beyer M 160. Boasting a street price in the $190 neighborhood, the Nady RSM-2 (reviewed by PAR in June 2005) was the first truly affordable ribbon that I encountered. Unfortunately, its performance did not transcend what you’d expect from a sub-$200 ribbon. Upon hearing about the Cascade FAT HEAD ribbon, which is sold directly from the manufacturer for $159, I expected similar limitations. How surprised I was to find that the mic functions amazingly well. Features The FAT HEAD incorporates a hand-tuned ribbon element based on the classic symmetrical ribbon design, which offers a true figure-eight polar pattern. The corrugated aluminum membrane itself is positioned in the center from front to back, thus producing a balanced audio input signal to both sides of the ribbon assembly. This design is very useful when implementing a mid/side or Blumlein recording configuration. Optionally, the FAT HEAD can be purchased with either a Lundahl or a Cinemag transformer for $300 (or $600 for a matched pair). The heart of the FAT HEAD is a 99-percent pure aluminum, 2.5 micron-thick, 1 3/4- x 3/16-inch ribbon. The mic has a sensitivity of -56 db +/- 2 dB (0 dB=1V/Pa) and a frequency response of 30 Hz - 18 kHz (+/- 3dB). The mic’s output impedance is </=200 Ohms and the recommended load impedance is>1000 Ohms. Maximum SPL (1 percent THD @1000 Hz) is 165 dB. The mic’s packaging is equally impressive as its performance and price. Included with each mic is a suspension shock mount (seemingly an homage to the Audio-Technica AT8410a, which sells for $77/pop), a classy wood box, an aluminum case and a micro-fiber cleaning cloth. The mic’s warranty includes three years on the transformer and one year on the ribbon element. In Use My first opportunity to use the FAT HEAD was on a guitar amp during a tracking session. I was immediately impressed with its smooth response and tight bottom end. I later had the opportunity to put the mic to work on a wide variety of guitar textures — from sparkling clean to massively distorted — and in every instance I had good results. I used the mic on tambourine and shaker and again had nice results. I only had one FAT HEAD for review, so I wasn’t able to test its performance on drum overheads. But, based on its performance on percussion and other acoustic instruments, I’d expect that it would work wonderfully in this application. As a mono source, the mic worked well on Leslie and piano, so I’m sure a stereo pair would really shine. The mic coupled with a Hardy M-1 mic pre and an Empirical Labs Distressor worked wonders on a mono drum room. Overall, I wasn’t as happy with the sound of the FAT HEAD on vocals as I’ve been with other ribbon mics. The mic seems to be even more susceptible to pops than other ribbons (ribbons are naturally more susceptible to pops than condensers or dynamics), but it does have a nice top end that admittedly worked well in some situations. I also had nice results using the FAT HEAD to mic the body of a Taylor 514-CE acoustic guitar while miking the neck with a Sony C-800G, effectively creating a $159/$7,800 dual-mic configuration. Wow! Summary While I don’t consider the FAT HEAD to be in the same league as the Royer line of ribbons, I still think it is a fabulous mic and an amazing bargain. It sounds wonderful, is tremendously flexible and at only $159 is a must-have for any studio.

Electronic Musician CASCADE MICROPHONES CASCADE MICROPHONES Fat Head II Dec 1, 2007 12:00 PM, By Rudy Trubitt

Largely encouraged by the developments of Royer Microphones, ribbon transducers have experienced somewhat of an industry-wide rebirth over the last decade. You’d be hard pressed to find a pro facility without a Coles 4038 pair, Royer R-121s, AEA R84s or, at least, a classic RCA 77-DX or Beyer M 160. Boasting a street price in the $190 neighborhood, the Nady RSM-2 (reviewed by PAR in June 2005) was the first truly affordable ribbon that I encountered. Unfortunately, its performance did not transcend what you’d expect from a sub-$200 ribbon. Upon hearing about the Cascade FAT HEAD ribbon, which is sold directly from the manufacturer for $159, I expected similar limitations. How surprised I was to find that the mic functions amazingly well. Features The FAT HEAD incorporates a hand-tuned ribbon element based on the classic symmetrical ribbon design, which offers a true figure-eight polar pattern. The corrugated aluminum membrane itself is positioned in the center from front to back, thus producing a balanced audio input signal to both sides of the ribbon assembly. This design is very useful when implementing a mid/side or Blumlein recording configuration. Optionally, the FAT HEAD can be purchased with either a Lundahl or a Cinemag transformer for $300 (or $600 for a matched pair). The heart of the FAT HEAD is a 99-percent pure aluminum, 2.5 micron-thick, 1 3/4- x 3/16-inch ribbon. The mic has a sensitivity of -56 db +/- 2 dB (0 dB=1V/Pa) and a frequency response of 30 Hz - 18 kHz (+/- 3dB). The mic’s output impedance is </=200 Ohms and the recommended load impedance is>1000 Ohms. Maximum SPL (1 percent THD @1000 Hz) is 165 dB. The mic’s packaging is equally impressive as its performance and price. Included with each mic is a suspension shock mount (seemingly an homage to the Audio-Technica AT8410a, which sells for $77/pop), a classy wood box, an aluminum case and a micro-fiber cleaning cloth. The mic’s warranty includes three years on the transformer and one year on the ribbon element. In Use My first opportunity to use the FAT HEAD was on a guitar amp during a tracking session. I was immediately impressed with its smooth response and tight bottom end. I later had the opportunity to put the mic to work on a wide variety of guitar textures — from sparkling clean to massively distorted — and in every instance I had good results. I used the mic on tambourine and shaker and again had nice results. I only had one FAT HEAD for review, so I wasn’t able to test its performance on drum overheads. But, based on its performance on percussion and other acoustic instruments, I’d expect that it would work wonderfully in this application. As a mono source, the mic worked well on Leslie and piano, so I’m sure a stereo pair would really shine. The mic coupled with a Hardy M-1 mic pre and an Empirical Labs Distressor worked wonders on a mono drum room. Overall, I wasn’t as happy with the sound of the FAT HEAD on vocals as I’ve been with other ribbon mics. The mic seems to be even more susceptible to pops than other ribbons (ribbons are naturally more susceptible to pops than condensers or dynamics), but it does have a nice top end that admittedly worked well in some situations. I also had nice results using the FAT HEAD to mic the body of a Taylor 514-CE acoustic guitar while miking the neck with a Sony C-800G, effectively creating a $159/$7,800 dual-mic configuration. Wow! Summary While I don’t consider the FAT HEAD to be in the same league as the Royer line of ribbons, I still think it is a fabulous mic and an amazing bargain. It sounds wonderful, is tremendously flexible and at only $159 is a must-have for any studio. Cascade Microphones first came to my attention last year through an email newsletter ad that offered a Fat Head II ribbon mic at a price so low, I ordered two. However, when I was assigned this review, Cascade sent a brand-new pair, because some of the manufacturing details had changed since I ordered my first set. The Fat Head II ($199) is bigger than it looks in the photo. The barrel (available in your choice of silver or black) is about one inch in diameter, and the lollipop screened capsule is about two inches around. Considering the price, Cascade doesn't skimp on the packaging. The mics arrived in individual foam-lined briefcases, with a wooden box inside and a large shockmount mic clip. This is a step up from the original models, which came without the wooden box and included a slightly less-sturdy clip. But there's a more important difference between the two versions that goes beyond the box: the earlier Fat Head IIs used an offset ribbon design that yielded a slightly different tone front to back. Some people appreciate this 2-tone option, but I prefer the current model, which provides a true symmetrical figure-8 response, making it better suited to stereo recording applications. Out and About The Fat Head II is appropriately named: it provides a warm, plump sound, with a smooth rolloff starting around 8 kHz that finishes around 15 kHz. In addition, the mic seems to thicken the upper bass frequencies, a coloration I often found myself EQ'ing out after the fact. Typically, ribbon mics sound great on horns and guitar amps, and that's certainly true for the Fat Head II. A colleague and I tried the mics on sax, bass clarinet, acoustic guitar, an electric guitar amp, vocals, and drums. I also did some side-by-side simultaneous recordings comparing a Fat Head II and a new Shure SM57, because most EM readers would find an SM57 a familiar point of reference (see Web Clips 1 through 3). For example, on a distorted electric guitar amp, with the mics on-axis at the center of the cone, the Fat Head II offered a thick, smooth sound that was less present and edgy than the SM57's. On a steel-string guitar where the SM57 highlighted my fingernail attack, the Fat Head II pleasingly smoothed the transients. On some sources, such as acoustic and electric guitar, as well as my singing voice, I typically followed up a Fat Head II track with a good dose of EQ, a mild dip around 200 Hz and a somewhat stronger boost at 8 to 12 kHz. The Fat Head II recordings responded well to EQ: boosting the upper frequencies added detail without getting edgy or sibilant. An important point to remember about directional mics (and those with a figure-8 pattern in particular) is that they are prone to the proximity effect, which increases bass response as the mic moves closer to the source. The combination of the Fat Head II's dark tonality and strong proximity effect can be a double whammy. Unless you're looking for a superfat sound, I'd avoid using a Fat Head II for extreme close-miking applications. We also did a number of stereo recordings using a pair of Fat Head IIs in a Blumlein configuration. This cross-pair, coincident stereo technique requires the capsules to nearly touch but to be rotated 90 degrees from each other. (Cascade offers an optional stereo bar to simplify this setup.) We placed our crossed pair at the center of the bass clarinet quartet Edmund Wells, who set up in a squared circle. Supplemented with an assortment of condenser room mics, the Fat Head IIs provided a present, detailed recording without a hyped sound quality. You can also take advantage of the mic's figure-8 null points. I set up a 90-degree crossed pair of Fat Head IIs in the horizontal axis to simultaneously record my vocal and a 12-string Guild acoustic. The two tracks had quite good isolation. What leakage remained was phase coherent between channels, as the capsules were physically aligned. That meant I could pan the guitar and vocal tracks to center without any undesirable coloration, but then process them individually, almost as if they had been tracked individually. This is a great way to cut a live guitar/vocal performance but still retain good flexibility during mixdown. Dynamic Duo The Fat Head II has a distinctive tonal character that is readily amenable to EQ, although its output is not particularly hot. However, I found myself using it on loud instruments — drum overheads, horns, guitar amps — and I didn't find its output level to be much of an issue. Overall, the Fat Head II is a good value and well worth considering if you're in the market for an inexpensive, all-around ribbon mic FAT HEAD II audio samples - Electronic Musician Web clips. Cascade Microphones Fat Head II Web Clip 1: A distorted guitar recorded using a Fat Head II with no EQ.   Web Clip 2: The same distorted guitar recorded using a Shure SM57 with no EQ.   Web Clip 3: The guitar amp recording processed with EQ. Cascade X-15 Stereo Ribbon Microphone by John Gatski- Pro Audio Review Ribbon element microphones are all the rage — these days with a range of products from companies, such as the Royer to AEA to the more moderately priced models from SE and Cascade Microphones brands. Case in point is the Cascade X-15 stereo ribbon, sells for $399! Features The stereo ribbon X-15 contains separate factory-matched 2.5 micron ribbon elements, offset at 90 degrees in Blumlein arrangement. Typical of ribbons, its coverage comes via a Figure 8 pattern. According to Cascade, the ribbon’s aluminum membranes produces a "balanced" sound from from sources on either side of the ribbon. The X-15 comes with a nice shock mount, a splitter box with two separate XLR outputs, a 12 ft. connector cable and an aluminum case. The microphone also is available with a Lundahl transformer that is installed in their shop in Olympia WA. for an additional $300. The factory specs claim a 30 Hz to 18 kHz, plus. minus 3 dB, with just a hint of rise from 2 kHz to about 10 kHz. (The provided measurement plot shows a roll-off after 10 kHz). The maximum SPL is rated at 165 dB maximum SPL at 1% distortion, and self noise is said to 17 dB. Stereo microphones are suited for many applications including acoustic guitar, electric guitar amps, drum overheads, brass, piano — and adding ambiance I used it on a variety of acoustic and electric guitars/amps from dark -sounding dreadnoughts to small body finger pickers to Telecaster and Gibson hollow body jazz guitar. I first mounted the X-15 on an adjustable arm stand and recorded a Guild D-55 dreadnaught. I had to play around with the positioning to find the sweet spot, finally settling on about a foot from the guitar and positioning it so the upper element paralleled the upper frets and the other paralleled the body. I recorded the audio 24-bit 96 kHz via a TASCAM HD-P2, connected to a Benchmark ADC1. The sound of the Guild is big with a lot of midrange/low treble and a tight bass for a dreadnaught. Ribbon microphones lack the upper treble of my stereo pair high-end condensers , but I liked the sound because it was pretty smooth in the critically sensitive high-mid/low treble hearing frequencies — without that hyped stridency you can get from a condenser with the broader treble rise. But sometimes you get an acoustic "sheen" from that treble tilt that many condensers impart. If you want that sheen with the Cascade, you may want to tweak the EQ — especially with a really dark instrument. With the separate elements, proper mic placement and a good-sounding room, the stereo spread was excellent — as was the mic’s ability to pick up the room sound. I tried the X-15 with my custom Martin 00-28 with silk/steel strings and really sounds good with a tight bass and warm midrange. The resulting recording really filled out the width and depth of stereo recording. With most of the stringed instruments that I used the sound was pretty consistent. With its mostly flat response to 10 kHz the mic just does not have any hyped character. The Figure 8 pattern allows you to experiment to find the optimum position for getting the best stereo image, plus picking up a bit more of the room. Although I did not test it on drum overheads, I would expect its smooth character and two-in-to-one placement to work well in such an application. I did not have another ribbon for direct comparison, but X-15 has the essence of a ribbon with a smooth warm response. I also recorded a hard-to-record Guild and it sounded quite good as did the Gibson hollowbody and Fender Twin Reverb amp. Summary The Cascade X-15 stereo ribbon is very good sounding stereo microphone, with a smooth character that can work on a lot of different instruments and applications. And it is quite a deal at $399 retail. The fit and finish, the cable, carrying cae — it is quite a nice package. Did I mention it is under $400.00