Almost 10 months ago I was on the hunt for some inexpensive OH mics for the church I'm working at. I also wanted something that would be suitable to record some guitars or vox if we did any studio stuff. I can say I had always wanted to have some ribbons, but with most of my work being done in a live environment, I needed something that could withstand a bit of abuse if it was handled by someone other than myself.
I purchased the original Cascade Fat Head stereo pair with stock trannies.
All I can say of these mics is
. The drummers we have play in the rotation both play pretty hard, and I was a bit skeptical about sticking a less expensive ribbon in front of some flying transients. These things are still alive and well and sound great. Haven't had any problems with the ribbons being damaged from high SPL. They haven't been dropped or mishandled so I can't say how rugged they are, but from a performance aspect of durability I would say they're doing quite well.
As far as sonic character...
These things have got some girth to them. Just last week I finally set up a room to serve as a multi-tracking room. My board at FOH is fed by ProCo Momentum digital snake. I also have leads that run into this multi-tracking room so the recordings are essentially a Direct Out. Only downside is it being converted once before it gets to the interface.
I had an opportunity last night to pull up the session and holy cow do these things sound good. The bottom end on them is huge. The kick had some really nice body to it. Its not tuned very well and the head on it is about 8 months old if not longer. Perhaps it would be a little too much on a punchy tuned kick. However, it sounded nice in this situation.
The top end is rolled off as is the case on any ribbon. I can say I was left wishing there was a little more information up there. Perhaps an upgraded tranny would add a bit of what I was looking for. I did track an electric guitar one evening and it sounded like butter though... so I can't complain too much.
The mid range is quite nice. It seemed to be very smooth, and rich with detail I wasn't honestly expecting. Sounded a LOT more expensive than a $400 pair of mics.
I think Cascade did a great job with this design. I know there are tranny options and and updated version of the mic, but I am extremely happy with the purchase. I haven't had an opportunity to try them out on vox or acoustic guitar, but I assume they will perform well. I can't wait to do a session and use my Peluso P12s as OH and the Cascades as room mics
Anyone had similar happy experiences with these mics?
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