AEA A440

The original, instantly recognisable RCA 44 ribbon mic was introduced in 1936, and has been revered ever since, along with its junior stablemates like the 77 and KU3, many of which are still in daily use in film-scoring and classical music studios around the world. Towards the end of the last century, it was becoming hard to get parts to maintain these classic mics, and that provided the impetus for AEA to re-start production to the original specs, launching these new incarnations as the R44C and R44CX models. These recreations use the same 1.8-micron aluminium ribbon design as manufactured for RCA, and many of the parts are completely interchangeable with original RCA 44B and 44BX models. However, the output sensitivity of the standard model is a lowly 2.25mV/Pa (just like the original) and that places serious demands on the preamp, particularly when the mic is being used for distant placement. Even the high-output CX model only manages a feeble 5mV/Pa. No self-respecting capacitor mic would dare be seen with less than 12mV/Pa on the spec sheet, and most are around the 20-25mV/Pa mark.

Thankfully, the advent of phantom powering and miniaturised solid-state electronics have allowed this common weakness of ribbon mics to be addressed, and there are already several ‘active ribbon’ mics on the market taking the same approach for the same reason. The AEA A440 joins the fray by harnessing the proven J-FET amplifier technology used in the company’s TRP preamps to the large-ribbon R44C mechanics. The result is a very healthy sensitivity of around 30mV/pa — higher than most capacitor mics — yet retaining a self-noise floor of just 6dBA, which equals the best of any current electrostatic design. The internal head-amp requires standard phantom power, of course, and also ensures the ribbon is fully protected from phantom power — something that’s a perennial concern for so many ribbon mic users.

I reviewed the AEA R44C in the pages of SOS back in June 2002, and comparing my notes from back then with my listening tests on the new A440, the family character remains clearly in place. As expected, the A440 exhibited the perfect figure-of-eight polar response, with identical tonality front and back. The side nulls are wonderfully deep and well defined, but across the wide frontal and rearward working angles the sound quality remains remarkably consistent. The mic has been specified with a maximum SPL of 136dB (for one percent THD), and although that is 30dB lower than the passive version it is still more than enough for most applications (presumably, the internal preamp’s dynamic range is the limiting factor here).

There can be no doubt that this is an impressive, imposing and fabulous sounding microphone, and the addition of the built-in head-amp makes it far easier to match it with a suitable preamp. But it is really only suitable for use in a large, good-sounding room, where distant placement is appropriate. And at the current price, this is one seriously expensive mic that will be the province of only the few remaining high-end professionals, or perhaps ‘resting’ city traders, indulging their musical hobbies while waiting for a stock market revival!