AEA AEA N22 User manual

ACTIVE NEAR-FIELD RIBBON MIC
AEA N22
OWNER’S MANUAL

WELCOME
Congratulations on your purchase of the AEA N22 phantom-powered
ribbon microphone and welcome to the AEA family. 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. Whether you are a musician, home
studio owner, or experienced producer/engineer, you will nd that
the N22 provides a great ribbon tone without the need for EQ in most
applications. Most importantly, the N22 was designed by listening
rst, and measuring only after experienced musicians told us the
microphone sounded great. Bridging the gap between vintage
and modern, studio and live, the N22 is the perfect companion for
musicians and engineers alike.
Your N22 microphone is 100% handcrafted in Pasadena, CA. AEA is a
family owned company with a small crew of skilled technicians – most
of them being musicians themselves. Proudly independent, we still
manufacture all our ribbon microphones and preamps by hand from
locally sourced parts.
We hope that the N22 will help you capture many magical
performances that touch the heart. Read this manual thoroughly to
make sure that you get the best sound and longevity from your new
microphone. Please don’t be a stranger and become part of the AEA
community by sharing your experiences with the N22 via e-mail, phone
or our social media channels.
Wes Dooley
Founder of AEA
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CONTENTS
WELCOME
INTRODUCTION
SUPPORT
GENERAL GUIDELINES
APPLICATION ADVICE
SPECIFICATIONS
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4
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5
7
11
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INTRODUCTION
The N22 is a side-address, phantom-powered ribbon microphone
with a bidirectional (or figure-of-8) pickup pattern. Optimally
designed for close-up miking applications like acoustic and
electric guitars, vocals, drums, or piano, the N22 can also be used
a few feet away from the source thanks to its healthy output level.
With phantom-powered JFET electronics and a custom German
transformer the N22 achieves optimal performance with a wide
range of preamps ranging from vintage high-end models to USB
audio interfaces in home studio setups. With a highly-protected
pure aluminum ribbon, the N22 shines in both live sound
applications and vocal recording, often without the need for an
additional pop-filter. 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 our take on the
evolution of the ribbon microphone.
WARRANTY
Your N22 comes with a one-year
limited warranty on parts and
labor*. Registering your product
within 90 days will extend the
warranty to three (3) years.
Scan the QR code or visit our website
to register.
*AEA is not responsible for shipping costs
SUPPORT
If you should encounter any problems with your N22 microphone
or have questions regarding specific applications, please contact
our customer support team at [e-mail] for the
quickest response.
To contact us by phone, please call [phone] from 9:00
a.m.- 5:00 p.m. PST Monday-Friday. AEA's repair center is located
at1029 N. Allen Ave, Pasadena, CA 91104, U.S.A.
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GENERAL GUIDELINES
Your microphone is a valuable and important investment. Like any
piece of recording equipment or musical instrument, it requires
common sense and good basic care to keep it working properly.
Given simple, basic care, your new microphone will perform
admirably for decades.
PHANTOM POWER
The N22 needs a standard 48V phantom-power source to operate,
but ensure that phantom power is disengaged before plugging and
unplugging the microphone. The loud pops that occur when the
microphone is plugged in with phantom power engaged can
damage speakers, headphones, and ears.
The phantom current draw for active AEA ribbon mics is 7 milliamps.
IEC specifies P48 power should be able to deliver 10 milliamps per
input. Some USB and battery-powered audio interfaces won’t
deliver this. Please check the current values available on your unit to
ensure the best performance.
MICROPHONE STORAGE
Keep the microphone covered when it is not in use. This will
reduce the damage that may result from a sudden gust of air.
Place the supplied protective bag over the microphone when it is
not in use. For long term storage, place the microphone in its
protective case. An unprotected ribbon microphone can attract
minute iron particles, sometimes known as “tramp iron”. If
allowed, tramp iron can penetrate the screen of a ribbon mic,
sufficiently build up in the magnetic gap and rub against the
ribbon, causing distortion, electrical shorts or tearing of the
ribbon.

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AIR TURBULENCE
Never expose the microphone to strong air turbulence. Ribbon
microphones can withstand very high SPL (Sound Pressure Level),
but can be damaged by a strong gust of air or high levels of very
low frequency sound waves (from a kick drum or bass cabinet). This
can stretch the ribbon, reducing overall output, especially at high
frequencies. Sources that may produce strong blast of air,such as
the bass port on an electric guitar or bass amp, an instrument being
plugged (or unplugged) while the amp level is turned fully up, or
an on-axis kick-drum hole arepotentially damaging.
To avoid possible damage, follow "The Hand Test": put the back of
your hand where the mic will be; if you can feel the motion of air on
your hand, place a pop-filter between the microphone and the
source or simply pull the mic further back. When recording kick
drums or bass guitar cabinets, angle the microphone tomake sure
that no wind blasts hit the microphone directly on-axis.
Never blow directly into any microphone to test it. Not only can
this force moisture and dirt into the microphone, but strong air
movement can stretch the ribbon degrade the microphone’s
performance. The N22 has specially engineered multilayer
protection to provide superior plosives protection, but take care
to avoid high-wind outdoor environments.
If you plan to use your N22 in an outdoor or high-wind
environment, we recommend using the AEA NUVO windscreen.
Designed specifically to the contours of both the N22 and the N8,
the NUVO windscreen provides excellent protection from wind
blasts, breath noise reduction on close-up vocals, and extra
protection when using your NUVOs outdoors. To order the NUVO
windscreen and/or other accessories, please visit our online store:
https://www.aearibbonmics.com/type/accessories/

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We actively encourage users to visit AEAribbonmics.com to
access our comprehensive collection of in-depth articles and
tutorials featuring the N22 microphone, along with a library of
audio and video demonstrations of the N22 in action.
STRAY MAGNETIC FIELDS
Ribbon microphones are fundamentally prone to picking up strong
external magnetic fields caused by light dimmers or nearby power
transformers. Guitar players will know this phenomenon from
single-coil pickups. Though AEA designers pay attention to
suppressing such sensitivity, it is still possible to encounter this
problem. If you experience hum, try rotating or moving the
microphone to find a spot where the hum disappears, and try
eliminating potential sources of stray magnetic fields.
MICROPHONE POSITIONING
The shock-mounted microphone clip supplied with the N22 helps
isolate the ribbon transducer from structure-borne noise. To avoid
additional vibration entering the mic through an XLR cable it is
important to provide a slack loop by tying the microphone cable
tightly to the microphone stand with a cable tie, shoelace, or
string. The N22 works well with all standard microphone stands, a
high-quality boom stand will still make your life a little bit easier.
Mounting the microphone on a strong, sturdy microphone stand
with a heavy base (or tripod) is essential. If you are using a boom,
make sure that it is properly balanced and make sure the tripod
legs are positioned appropriately to prevent tipping.
APPLICATIONS ADVICE

AFIGURE-OF-8 MICROPHONE
Figure-of-8 microphones are constructed with positive polarity on
the front and negative polarity on the back. Positive pressure on the
front side of the ribbon produces a positive voltage on (Pin-2).
When using the rear lobe,
remember to invert the
polarity on your preamp
or DAW. This ensures that
the signal from the back
lobe will be in-phase with
other microphones.
HOW TO MINIMIZE LEAKAGE
A significant and ever-present challenge in contemporary studio
recording is minimizing leakage from nearby instruments into the
various microphones. While gobos can be effective in isolating
performers from each other, they introduce their own set of
problems, they usually are bulky, and they inhibit the ability of the
musicians to hear and see each other easily.
Since the N22 is bidirectional, it exhibits nulls at right angles to the
principal axis. These nulls produce a “plane of rejection” around the
sides, top and bottom of the mic that can be used effectively to
reduce leakage. Simply arrange the musicians so that nearby
instruments are placed in the null of their neighbor’s microphone,
and vice versa. Although this does not entirely eliminate the need
for gobos, it can significantly reduce how many you may need to
use. These nulls can also be beneficial in sound reinforcement
situations where feedback is always a threat.
Keep in mind that a certain degree of leakage is not necessarily
bad. For some styles and genres, it can, in fact, be beneficial to
embrace a little bit of leakage in order to create cohesive and
natural sounding recordings. You will generally find that well-
designed ribbon microphones like the N22 capture a natural off-
axis sound, which means that leakage from other instruments can
contribute to the overall sound in a pleasing way.
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PROXIMITY EFFECT
(graph is a visualization, not an exact measurement)
Proximity effect is a characteristic of all directional microphones; it
is a rise in low-frequency response that increases at closer working
distances. While this can be used to good effect, particularly with
certain voices to give them an enhanced richness and depth, the
potential trade-off is reduced articulation or clarity that can result
from the masking effect on the treble due to “excessive” bass
boost.
The N22's internal design creates a balanced treble and bass ratio
at a close distance to the source. The near-field N22 contains a
built-in acoustic high-pass filter that allows users to place the mic
right up against an instrument. This is all done without an EQ
circuit. It naturally reduces proximity effect while also avoiding the
room tone that can cause problems in smaller spaces or iso booths.
A NEAR-FIELD RIBBON
The N22 is a near-field ribbon mic and is best used up-close to the
source. Its optimal distance for miking is between one and 18
inches (2 cm – 0.5 meters) and is perfect for electric guitar and bass
cabs, kick drum, acoustic guitar, and vocals. Because the midrange
and top-end are not obscured by proximity effect, it also alleviates
the need to blend an additional dynamic mic to add more bite.
Because it has less proximity effect, it allows you to get right up
against the source while still retaining a balanced sound.

SPECIFICATIONS
Operating Principle:
Directional Pattern:
Frequency Range:
Maximum SPL:
Sensitivity:
Output Impedance:
Rec Load Impedance: Phantom
Power:
Polarity:
Off-Axis Response
Horizontal:
Vertical:
Transducer Element
Material:
Thickness:
Width:
Length:
Microphone Dimensions
Height:
Width:
Depth:
Weight:
Shipping Weight:
Connector:
Accesssories included
Pressure gradient transducer
Bidirectional
<20 Hz to >20 kHz
141 dB SPL (1% third harmonic > 1 kHz)
6.2mV/Pa (-44.1dBV) into unloaded circuit
92 Ω broadband
1.0 kΩ or greater
P48 phantom power, 7 mA
Pin 2 high for positive pressure at the
front of the microphone.
Up to 90 dB rejection at right angles to the
front/back axis.
Level changes with angle of incidence, but
frequency response is consistent.
Pure aluminum corrugated ribbon
1.8 µm
0.185 in (4.7 mm)
2.35 in (59.7 mm)
8.83 in (22.5 cm)
1.62 in (11.7 cm)
1.62 in (9.5 cm)
12 oz (335 g)
1 lb 13 oz (810 g)
XLR-3M
Storage/shipping case, mic stand clip,
soft cloth bag, user manual
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In compliance with the following requirements:
RoHS2 Directive: 2011/65/EU

0
-6
-12
-18
-24
-30
dB 30°
60°
90°
120°
150°
180°
-150°
-120°
-90°
-60°
-30°
10000Hz
4000Hz
2000Hz
1000Hz
500Hz
200Hz
Directivity
1.38”
8.83”
1.62”
FREQUENCY RESPONSE
• Data below 200 Hz omitted due to measuring room restrictions
• 0 dBr is equivalent to 6.2mV/Pa (-44.1dBV)
• Normalized to 0 dB at 1kHz. 1/3 octave smoothing
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DIMENSIONS & POLAR PATTERN

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