Peluso R14 Review / See All ZenPro Audio Reviews Here: Review Page

The R14 is a big sounding ribbon for sure. Hand assembled in the USA, the R14 ships in a wooden box with a shock mount. It doesn’t really “look” like a ribbon mic at first glance really, more like a side address condenser appearance. Like most ribbons the R14 is a figure 8 design with equal (yet opposite polarity) response front to back, and a very strong null off axis at the sides.

On drums I was amazed at what the R14 delivered. It reaches down and grabs kick and floor toms in a very unique way, and takes them right to the surface! Boom and thwack are delivered in a big and deep way. The R14 is of the darker ribbon variety, yet it delivered a nice attack on the snare and other drums too. It takes EQ nicely like most ribbons, in a very smooth way. On electric guitar that huge low end response can maybe get you in a bit of trouble, accented the range that you normally have to hi-pass during the mix. Midrange is delivered smoothly, with decent upper mid presence as well as a punchy low mid response. Not an airy mic (most ribbons aren’t) it has a bit of a closed sound to it that is typical of classic ribbon designs. Voice is delivered big and smooth and natural, and with not too much brightness going on it does not tend to get essy.

Conclusion: This is a BIG sounding mic. For distant and drum mic’ing, the R14 is an excellent reach for sure. As a single mic on an entire drum kit, you could likely get away with an optional kick mic if you place the R14 correctly.