sE Electronics - VR1 Passive Ribbon Microphone

I don’t know if I think of them as especially cheap, but the VR1 and pair of SE4400as I have are certainly cheaper than I’d expect for the sound and quality. Great mics

Anyone else into poverty ribbon mics??? :-) T.bone rb500 MXL R40 SE VR1 Cascade X-15 I feel like budget gear gets a bad rap bcs people associate a high price tag with good sound quality. I will admit all of the mics above besides the SE have flaws (usually either poor build quality or poor noise performance), but in terms of sound quality, I have found them all to be very useful!!! I use a pair of the T.bones and faux-Coles 4038 for drum overheads, I use the MXL R40 as a nice dark guitar cabinet mic, and the Cascade X-15 is the very very best option for anyone interested in getting into stereo mic-ing for the drums on a budget!

I recently got an SE VR1, it is somehow simultaneously my best mic and worst mic depending on how it's used.

I use one live for guitar amps and it rips. I got the VR2 (active) for recording since I don’t have a high gain preamp but since I’ve ended up using it for loud amps I could have gotten away with the VR1 (passive) and saved a little money.