AEA A440 -High performance Phantom-Powered Ribbon in the 44 tradition – with X motor and full museum quality shell standard

To overcome the preamp limitations of the R44, AEA created an active version — the AEA A440 — which includes the same JFET amplifier circuitry used in our preamps, allowing the microphone to be used with any modern preamp. The A440 requires 48-volt phantom power and provides an additional 18dB more output than the passive R44C. Again, the basic microphone sounds virtually the same.  A hotrod adds an extra 6dB of output to either passive mic. This is called the ‘X’ transducer mod and it was designed for scoring and other applications demanding a wide dynamic range with the “classic 44” sound.  The A440 has 18dB more output than the original R44C and a seriously low self-noise of only 9dB. The mic has active electronics, using a custom German-made Lehle transformer.

For quiet sources such as acapella vocals and solo finger-picked acoustic guitar, many ribbon mics have too much audible self-noise. Because of its high-output, the A440 alleviates this problem and allows you to use it on almost any source without noticeable noise. This is great for distant-miking applications in sound stages where the sources are very dynamic.

The A440 represents the absolute best of everything we have learned from over 30 years experience with ribbon microphones. It was an extraordinary engineering effort to bring the latest technologies into the the old classic, while preserving its original sound and history.