sE Electronics RNR1 - Active Ribbon Microphone
Description
Designed and built by Mr. Rupert
Neve and sE Electronics
A leap in technology… The world’s first HF Ribbon mic
For many decades Ribbon mics have been used by engineers for their extremely
natural sounding reproduction of source material. The nature of their
performance differs greatly from condenser mics, which by comparison sound very
‘up front’ and lack the harmonic depth of a good ribbon.
Even at the high end of the market, the customary roll-off of almost all the
top end frequencies has always been a major drawback. The frustration with all
ribbons is – depending on the model – little or no performance past
7-10KHz, which is why condenser mics dominate the recording market.
The traditional appeal of the condenser then has been the assumption of
consistent frequency response from 20Hz to 20KHz. The pay-off of course is that
these mics require a certain degree of circuit board magic to achieve this,
since the taughtness of the diaphragm – compared with relatively slack ribbon
membranes – means condensers tend to be more ‘coloured’ in their sound.
Traditionally
engineers using ribbons, however expensive, have had to accept their
significant limitations or have had to augment the recording with a condenser
mic to capture the high frequency absent from the ribbon output.
Such compromises have meant that ribbons have never been very widely accepted
or used as a first choice for recording.
Not any more!
Rupert Neve’s new custom circuit design now allows high frequencies to be
captured and output from the capsule for the first time ever in pristine
detail. Standard performance of the RNR1 is an unprecedented 20Hz to 25KHz –
three times the frequency range of even the best available competitor ribbon
mics on the market today!
More than this, Mr Neve’s hand-wound custom input and output transformers
create huge amounts of headroom and effectively lower the noise levels by using
gain stages to amplify the signal. The slight dip in the frequency response
from 16-25KHz in the RNR1 can therefore be effectively flattened if required,
producing an almost perfectly flat response, way beyond what human ears can
perceive. This is crucial in making the RNR1 by far the best performing ribbon
mic in the world today.
The RNR1’s faithful reproduction of fine harmonic material across the frequency
spectrum results in the unparalleled capturing of real sound. Indeed its
ability to capture modulation from infinite harmonic frequencies normally
masked on any recording assures its revolutionary status and exemplary
reputation.
The future…
Following hot on the heels of the sE Rupert Neve Signature Series Active Ribbon
RNR1 will be a large diaphragm tube mic, and a solid-state condenser.
The mics look beautiful, the packaging is second to none, and their performance
will set new standards in the high-end microphone market.
Design comments
Rupert Neve: ‘Recent developments in the way that humans perceive sound are
demanding significant advances both in performance and the philosophy of audio
processing. That which was “good enough” for light-hearted amusement fails to
satisfy the thoughtful listener – in fact deficient sound quality has been
shown to result in frustration, even anger. The experienced listener is aware
of incredibly small sound pressure levels that in many cases are beyond the
conventional range of hearing.'
'I have worked for some time on the designs for a new range of microphones –
the concepts of which are actually already being implemented in our own Rupert
Neve Designs 5088 Console – namely utilizing Discrete Single-Sided Circuits and
my custom designed transformers.'
'This new approach to analogue sound processing needs extreme care in its
manufacture, as well as meticulous alignment of the embedded discrete op-amps
and the delicate microphone elements. The association with Siwei Zou and sE
will provide an ideal partnership in terms of their masterly and enthusiastic
commitment to innovation and quality that have also been my own hallmarks for
more than 50 years.’
Siwei Zou: ‘I have, for many years, admired the work of Mr. Neve, and now that we
have a chance to work together I am able to realise a quality level in
microphone technology that no other manufacturer has managed to achieve. The
excellence we have worked so hard to achieve in production, design and capsule
technology at sE, coupled with the best transformers this product area has ever
seen, plus new cutting edge circuit board design – which surpass anything I
have ever heard before – means we are now able to produce high end mics, at a
fraction of the cost of some other high end brand models, but which have a
sound and performance quality the likes of which this market has never seen
before. This is a truly exciting time for sE and me personally.’