Ribbon microphones have been around longer than most of us in the world of pro audio have been alive and until a few years ago, I considered ribbon microphones to be too expensive and specialized to add to my mic collection. And then came the flood of low quality but inexpensive Chinese imports and those of us without an AEA/Royer budget were off to the races. Even though these cheap ribbon mic’s were dark, murky sounding, and had very little gain, they were the training wheels many of us needed to get our feet wet in ribbon land. And wet we got. Then along came the Fat Head. Not only was the Cascade Microphones Fat Head (versions 1 and 2) affordable, the Fat Head II won Pro Audio Review's 2007 Par Excellence Award at the Fall 2007 AES Convention in New York. It sounds great and it’s cost effective. So you’re probably wondering, where exactly does the X-15 fit into this story?

While wandering the floor at Winter NAMM Show, I ran into Michael Chiriac (President & CEO) of Cascade Microphones. The last time I’d actually seen Michael in person was around 1975 when he was playing bass in a local Pacific Northwest band. Talk about a long time gone. As we got to talking about the Cascade Microphones product line, Michael convinced me that the Cascade X-15 stereo ribbon microphone (rather than the Fat Head) was just what I needed to capture the sound and soul of my great sounding, but difficult to record grand piano. With a price of $399.00 and a 30-day, money back guarantee how could I say no?

Initially I lusted after the upscale version of the X-15 (the X-15L), which is fitted with a pair of Lundahl LL2912 transformers. But after Michael assured me that I could always send my stock X-15 to the Cascade Microphones Lab for the Lundahl upgrade, I pulled the trigger and placed my order for an off-the-shelf X-15.

First Impression
As I opened the aluminum flight case, I was greeted by a solid, good looking, well built microphone. It appeared to me that the X-15 had the touch, feel, and finish of a considerably more expensive microphone. Included was a very useable shockmount, a windscreen, a five-pin stereo microphone cable and splitter box. The ribbons in the X-15 are positioned one on top of the other and offset 90 degrees making the X-15 ready to record as a Blumlein Pair. According to Cascade, the ribbon motors in the X-15 are symmetrical in design and each ribbon performs in a true figure eight pattern. To sweeten an already sweet deal, Cascade throws in a set of Sennheiser HD280 Pro headphones with every X-15.

New Mac & Logic Pro 8
While I’ve been using Pro Tools in my project studio off and on since 1995, my main DAW software for the last six years has been Logic. In Q1 of 2008 I upgraded my studio rig to a dual Quad Core Mac Pro and Logic 8 Studio and I’m totally in love with this hardware/software combination. With eight processor cores giving me tons of DSP, the days of choking my studio computer to a complete stop are pretty much over. For my example sessions I used a True Systems P2 stereo mic preamp running into a MOTU 896HD clocked with an Apogee Big Ben. As I was forced by circumstance to use myself as the talent, I used a Frontier Designs Tranzport to control Logic from the piano and vocal booth. Another great feature of my 2008 Mac Pro is quiet fans. The fans in my previous studio Mac (Quicksilver 2002) were so freaking loud I had to purchase an ISO box. The fan noise with my new Mac Pro is quieter than the fan on the ISO box. Thank you Apple for listening.

Leopard was supposed to eliminate crashes and the infamous Mac spinning wheel of death, however there are exceptions to that rule. My virtual bass plug-in Trilogy (from Spectrasonics) is still in beta when used with an Intel Mac and Leopard. In my work, Trilogy has caused Logic to crash as often as two or three times a session. Spectrasonics has a great sounding product but in my opinion, they have really screwed the pooch in regard to keeping their products up to date. That said, the other plug-ins I use everyday (Waves, Altiverb 6, Antares Auto-tune, BFD, etc.) have been functioning almost flawlessly with Leopard. And now back to my X-15 demo sessions

Getting Started
For the purpose of checking out the sonic signature of the X-15 on my piano I tracked three quick demo sessions in Logic Pro 8. As my writing/reviewing style takes more of a layman’s approach you will need to listen to each of the MP3 demo files while reading the review to get my personal view of the big picture. I have chosen to present the results of my three experiments in a final mix rather than as soloed dry audio files.

My piano room has a number of issues acoustically and microphone placement has always been a challenge. As is the case for many project studio owners, my room was intended to be a daylight basement and the transition to studio has been sonically painful in spite of the installation of outstanding products from Auralex, Acoustic Sciences, Real Traps, and Modular Acoustics. That said…

Piano Trio & Voice
The purpose of this first track is to get a sense of how the piano sits in a mix when tracked with the X-15. In the spirit of keeping things simple I used a Latin percussion loop (from Apple Loops) and played a sampled upright bass using Spectrasonics Trilogy plug-in. Additional tracks were the piano, a Petrof III concert grand piano (6’ 4”), with male voice on the melody. The microphone position on the piano is the X-15 being recorded as a Blumlein Pair. The piano was open to full stick and the microphone is about 24 inches from the piano hammers (see figure X-15c).

Listen: Click the link PianoVox.mp3 to hear this first audio example.

Now for my observations: To date, this is the closest I’ve gotten to the piano sound I’ve been looking for during the past five years. I like how the piano sits in the mix and this is just how I have been imagining my piano would sound when I got it right. I was shooting for warmth, clarity, and presence, while trying to avoid a piano sound that was overbearing or too bright. There are a couple of positive characteristics that the X-15 has brought to the table in capturing what I feel is the true sound of my piano. The piano is smooth yet not too bright and you can hear the full range of it clearly even when the vocal is the dominant factor in the mix. When recording the piano in stereo with my Rode NT4 or my Schoeps CMC64’s, I would often encounter a sonic hole in the midrange of the piano. Not so with the X-15 as I feel that I was able to capture a consistent and even sonic snapshot across the full range of the piano. Once again the piano sound on this recording is what I’ve chasing for years and as I learn the subtle nuances of the X-15 I believe the piano sound will only get better.

Piano & Instruments
The instrumentation recorded for this example was drums via BFD 1.5, upright bass via Spectrasonics Trilogy, Hammond B3 via Native Instruments B4 II, and of course the Petrof III piano via X-15. The reference track is a short excerpt from the solo section of a C minor blues. The mic position is about the same as in the previous track although the X-15 was moved out another two inches from the piano.

Listen: Click the link C-minor.mp3 to hear this second audio example.

In comparison to the first example track there is not much difference in this example. Once again you can hear what I feel is a good representation of what the piano sounds like in my project studio. The piano sound on this track is a little different from the previous example, as I had moved the microphone about two inches back from its original position. Next…

Solo Piano
I’ve always enjoyed playing a grand piano in a large, bright sounding room but as my piano lives in a small, flat sounding room with a low ceiling this can be a problem. In the past, my go-to piano microphones were an expensive, matched set of small diaphragm cardioid condenser microphones that capture every source with incredible clarity and detail. In a large, great sounding, and acoustically perfect environment, these microphones are stunning in performance. Unfortunately, in my small not so great sounding piano room these microphones also manage to capture every acoustic flaw the room has to offer and with great detail no less. So will the X-15 with its dual ribbons allow me to take the microphone slightly outside of the piano and still be able capture the detailed sound of the piano while adding a little warmth and space to the recording? Take a listen and see what you think.

Listen: Click the link SoloPiano.mp3 to hear this second audio example.

Now that you’ve taken a listen to this example track, lets get into the details and once again I’ll give you a few of my observations and opinions. Because of the smooth top end sound of the X-15, I was able to bring a small amount of my room sound into the recording and add a sense of space to the dry recording without being overwhelmed by the unflattering sonic details of the room. The large space you hear (reverb if you will) is brought to you via Altiverb 6 and is an IR (Impulse Response) of the Cathedral at Notre Dame (France). I love the high ceilings and reflective stone that this Altiverb IR inserts into the mix. Again the smooth but not too bright top end of the X-15 did the trick for me.
Dances With Ribbons

For the record, the X-15 is now my first call piano microphone. Setup was quick and easy and in about 10 minutes I was tracking in Logic 8 and getting a piano sound that put a smile on my face. As a rule most ribbon microphones suffer from a lack of oomph (and yes, oomph a word) and require a specialized high gain microphone preamp but this was not an issue for me when I paired the X-15 with the True Systems P2 microphone preamp. I was able to dial in a really great stereo field on the piano with a separation that was very real to my ears. As I continue to learn the nuances of this great little microphone and correct the acoustic imperfections of my room, I believe that the piano sound I’m getting with the X-15 will only get better. Please note that the example tracks were recorded during my first session using the X-15.

Okay, now it is true confessions time. I was very nervous about putting an inexpensive ribbon microphone up against my handmade matched set of Schoeps CMC64’s. How was a $399 microphone going to sound up against a bad ass pair of world class microphones that have a street price of $3600? I don’t know if I should be relieved or kicking myself in the ass, but for my piano, in my room, the X-15 is the better sounding microphone for the job. That said, I’m keeping the CMC64’s as they are great for other uses and someday my piano may live in a large Schoeps friendly room…

I will admit that part of what attracted me to the X-15 was the price ($399.00). Still, if this wasn’t a great sounding microphone, there was no way I was going to keep it. If I didn’t already know what the X-15 cost and it was offered to me for a $1,000.00, I would grab it without a second thought and feel like I got the better end of the deal. That is how much I like this microphone. For the record, not only am I hanging onto the X-15, I plan on sending it to the Cascade Microphones Lab for the Lundahl upgrade. From a price performance standpoint the X-15 is another homerun for Cascade Microphones and for anyone needing a great sounding stereo ribbon microphone.

Ron Simpson is a freelance writer, author, and musician currently residing in the Snoqualmie Valley, 35 minutes East of Seattle. To hear full length audio files of the examples posted in this review, point your browser toward Ron’s web site at www.45rpm.biz.

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