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MarkVan · 19th July 2008

I have a bit of experience with the Naked Eye Roswellite. Fairly new to the boards, but here goes my take on them. Hope somebody finds it useful.

Every Thursday night I mic up the guitars, drums, and vocals, and the guys come over for our weekly jam. Been doing this for 20 years--started with a basic pa with sm58's for vocals. Had typical problems with feedback, bleed, and balance. So we evolved to the point where I chucked the PA and mic almost everything. Now we wear headphones--with individual (more-me) mixes. People are generally amazed at how good it sounds. I started using vintage ribbon mics on guitar cabs before the Chinese ribbons started coming through a few years back. Tried a Nady....nope. Tried a Trion 7000...better but still not great. I preferred some of my vintage ribbons, (Amperite, Universal, EV, Shure, and Film Industries), mics that sound better to me than the Nady and Trion.

My interest was piqued when Crowley and Tripp introduced the Diablo--It just seemed a little too expensive for me. But when they introduced the Naked Eye Roswellite, I had to bite. It sounded so good on my Deluxe Reverb that my other guitar player wanted it on his amp. The only solution was to buy another. I'm finally done experimenting with electric guitar mics. I've gotten good tones with SM57's, M88's, MD409's and 421's. Used all my condensers from time to time as well, but the NER's take the cake.

I tried the NER on kick, both inside and out, and it just doesn't do much for me there. I still prefer an M88 on kick...works best for my setup.

I don't pretend to have words to describe the NER sound. What comes through in the mix sounds just the way the amp sounds in open air--but now I can get that sound into the headphones.

One point I don't see mentioned around here too often: the null spots on ribbon mics are very useful at eliminating bleed if you can set them up with that in mind. I have the room laid out so the drums and other loud sources sit in the null spots of each ribbon mic. It cuts the bleed like nothing else.

I haven't tried the original version of the Naked Eye. I'm sure it sounds great, but I like the idea of an indestructible ribbon. As I mentioned, I like vintage ribbon mics and have quite a few...several of which never get used because they need re-ribboning. So they just sit there looking pretty on my display shelf. (Problem solved with a lifetime warranty on the Roswellite ribbon.)

Mark Van Buskirk

19th July 2008	#23
MarkVan Gear interested Joined: Sep 2007 Posts: 15	I have a bit of experience with the Naked Eye Roswellite. Fairly new to the boards, but here goes my take on them. Hope somebody finds it useful. Every Thursday night I mic up the guitars, drums, and vocals, and the guys come over for our weekly jam. Been doing this for 20 years--started with a basic pa with sm58's for vocals. Had typical problems with feedback, bleed, and balance. So we evolved to the point where I chucked the PA and mic almost everything. Now we wear headphones--with individual (more-me) mixes. People are generally amazed at how good it sounds. I started using vintage ribbon mics on guitar cabs before the Chinese ribbons started coming through a few years back. Tried a Nady....nope. Tried a Trion 7000...better but still not great. I preferred some of my vintage ribbons, (Amperite, Universal, EV, Shure, and Film Industries), mics that sound better to me than the Nady and Trion. My interest was piqued when Crowley and Tripp introduced the Diablo--It just seemed a little too expensive for me. But when they introduced the Naked Eye Roswellite, I had to bite. It sounded so good on my Deluxe Reverb that my other guitar player wanted it on his amp. The only solution was to buy another. I'm finally done experimenting with electric guitar mics. I've gotten good tones with SM57's, M88's, MD409's and 421's. Used all my condensers from time to time as well, but the NER's take the cake. I tried the NER on kick, both inside and out, and it just doesn't do much for me there. I still prefer an M88 on kick...works best for my setup. I don't pretend to have words to describe the NER sound. What comes through in the mix sounds just the way the amp sounds in open air--but now I can get that sound into the headphones. One point I don't see mentioned around here too often: the null spots on ribbon mics are very useful at eliminating bleed if you can set them up with that in mind. I have the room laid out so the drums and other loud sources sit in the null spots of each ribbon mic. It cuts the bleed like nothing else. I haven't tried the original version of the Naked Eye. I'm sure it sounds great, but I like the idea of an indestructible ribbon. As I mentioned, I like vintage ribbon mics and have quite a few...several of which never get used because they need re-ribboning. So they just sit there looking pretty on my display shelf. (Problem solved with a lifetime warranty on the Roswellite ribbon.) Mark Van Buskirk