AEA N22

How is the N22 different from other ribbon microphones?The AEA N22 was designed with the singer-songwriter musician in mind. Hard working artists, honing their musical craft for many years, feel strongly about their personal tone, so they need a microphone that translates their signature sound in a recording. The N22 delivers on exactly those key points – providing a great ribbon tone without the need for EQ in most applications. Most importantly, the N22 was designed by listening first, and measuring only after experienced musicians told us the microphone sounded great.
Bridging the gap between vintage and modern, ribbon and condenser, studio and live, the N22 is the perfect companion for musicians and engineers alike.What is under the hood?Featuring the same Big Ribbon technology that has earned AEA its reputation, the N22 offers an incredible sound in close-mic applications like acoustic and electric guitars, piano, vocals, and drums. With phantom-powered JFET electronics and a custom German transformer the N22 achieves optimal performance with a wide range of preamps including USB or Firewire audio interfaces in home studio setups. The highly protected pure aluminum ribbon allows for using the N22 in live sound applications and vocal recording without the need for an additional pop-filter. At well under $1,000 street price it delivers a handcrafted US-made microphone built to last a lifetime.About the NUVO SeriesThe N22 is the first member of AEA´s NUVO series of microphones. Rooted in the RCA tradition just like other AEA ribbons, all NUVO microphones are designed to offer a fresh approach to the ribbon transducer and represent Wes Dooley´s take on the evolution of the ribbon microphone.

Hanan Rubinstein 
Guitar player for Alicia Keys :

Ronan Chris Murphy 
Producer/engineer for King Crimson, Terry Bozzio, Steve Stevens 
“I mix a lot of records for independent artists and singer-songwriters. I tried the AEA N22 on a wide range of sources and it always sounded good, which means that artists recording with the N22 will never deliver a bad sounding recording to me! The mic has a thickness and body that sounds very natural and that works great on instruments that can use a bit of heft and rounding off.”

Brett Chassen 
Producer/engineer/session drummer for Kulick brothers, Bret Michaels, Lynch Mob 
“I´m excited by this mic. The mids are great and well voiced for electric guitar. No congestion in the low mid area makes it easy to control. It has a great 500 Hz “bark” to it and pairs well with API or Neve preamps. It´s the brightest ribbon I have ever heard – but in a good way. This mic is taking my 100 Watt Marshall Plexi right up the gazoo ;-)”

Ben Tolliday 
Producer/engineer for Wolfmother, Alanis Morissette, Lord Huron 
“It´s a clear winner on acoustic guitar. The smooth midrange, and more open top end (compared with other ribbons) make it the perfect choice. On a male vocal, it was a really close call between the N22 and my Wagner U47. I was leaning towards the AEA N22, but the singer slightly preferred the U47 in a blind test.”