VT 2 Tutorial Part 2

[@yyparis]

Thank you for this wealth of information Mr. Fern. This helped me conceptualize reasons to prefer tube or solid state preamps. As a means to help me recorded music with more intention.

[@DWFearnHazelriggIndustries]

I am glad you found it useful!

[@sansocie]

Great video. I'm hooked.

[@astralboy]

thanks very informative abt tapes, tubes and digital (in the later half)

[@tmtstudiobg]

Thanks for the interesting information! I am owner of a VT-2 and I intend to buy my first passive ribbon microphone AEA R44, but I have doubts whether the low input impedance of the VT-2 - 1.5k ohms will be enough to guarantee a consistent and full-range ribbon sound. And one more thing. Preamp gain for the R44 should be at least +60dB, will the VT-2 be able to provide it? What is your opinion?

[@DWFearnHazelriggIndustries]

Interesting questions! My sessions use almost entirely ribbon microphones, and I use my VT-2 mic preamps for them (they are the only preamps I have, not surprisingly). The gain of the VT-2 is around 55dB, which is sometimes not quite enough with ribbon mics in some situations. My favorite mic is the AEA R44CXE, which has more powerful magnets than the straight R44, and that increases the output by about 6dB. That is enough level with the VT-2 for 90% of situations, in my experience. I also use other ribbon mics, like Royer R121, Coles 4038, BeyerDynamic M160, and other AES mics like the KU4, KU5, and R92. I rarely need more gain for any of those. In fact, with some vocalists on the R44CXE I am running the VT-2 gain just barely open. It is on the verge of needed to use the 20dB pad on the VT-2. And that's with the mic about 3 feet from a powerful singer. The lack of gain is only a problem when I am recording a very quiet instrument, like a nylon string guitar. At one point, I designed a mic preamp specifically for ribbon mics. It was called the VT-12, and we only made about 25 of them. It had a 10k input impedance and 70dB of gain. I still have one in my control room. But I rarely use it. A VT-2 sounds great with ribbon mics. I was surprised that the 10k input impedance didn't make any significant difference in the sound of the ribbon mics. I would suggest getting the higher-output R44CXE. I think that should work fine. But it all depends on what you are recording and how far away the mic is. And you can always use a level-booster in line with the ribbon mic (I never do that since I want to avoid the solid-state electronics, but it is a good solution for some people.)

[@tmtstudiobg]

@@DWFearnHazelriggIndustries Thank you very much Mr. Fearn for your answer!!! This helped me clarify a lot of things! I will definitely take your advice and R44CXE will be my choice.

[@DWFearnHazelriggIndustries]

@@tmtstudiobg Best of luck with your recording projects!

[@250f5.6]

Does the phase inverter switch provide the equivalent function of an XLR inversion cable; swapping the hot pin 2 to pin 3?

[@DWFearnHazelriggIndustries]

Yes, it does. That is essentially how all phase invert/reverse switches work. Most mic preamps for recording music have this function.