Cascade X-15 Review
Stereo Figure 8 Ribbon Microphone
Highlighted Customer Reviews
Showing 1 to 5 of 5 Reviews
A Great Add to the Mic Locker!
Cascade Microphones X-15 Stereo Ribbon Microphone (Lundahl LL2912 Transformers)
Reviewed by Alpine Red Studio on B&H Photo Video
As a home studio owner I have to find products that add quality to my recordings without letting the price get too high. While a stereo ribbon mic from Royer would be wonderful to own, this mic sounds great and is very affordable. Even more affordable on B&H. I was holding out until the right time to buy it, but when I noticed it was $100 cheaper on here, I had to have it. This mic will live in my full time drum set up. Since I record a lot of music by myself (playing all of the instruments with no engineer), I need to get a great sound fast, so I leave everything setup. I have 2 coles 4038's as my main drum overheads and bought this mic to have as a stereo room mic. It instantly helped my drum sound. This allowed me another mic option for treating my drums while leaving my OH's clean. What I've actually settled on is putting it in-between my Coles to get a close, and clean, capture of the drums and then adding the UAD Ocean Way plugin to just the Cascade. Voila! My drums sounds more like they are in a real studio, but I still have my usual drum mic system setup to treat things how I like. Then I'll mix that in to taste. I am more of a musician than an engineer, but I do here that it is different than my Coles. The Coles have a lot more bottom and low mid range which is great for my drums. The Cascade seems to have slightly more top end, and picks up more of the space around the microphone. When I had the Cascade directly in between the Coles, the sound was more open and brighter. I heard more sound from the room itself in the Cascade. So they DO sound different, but I really love having both of these in my setup. The only potential Con is just that of any ribbon mic. You'll need a lot of gain to use this on quieter sources. I tried it on Violin the other day with my Lindell mic pres (Important to note, my Chandler TG2, or API's would have been a much better choice but they were in use at the time), and I had to switch to a different mic. I just couldn't get it loud enough. I highly recommend the X-15 for anyone looking for a great sounding, and affordable stereo ribbon microphone. ... More
Great mic for the money
Cascade Microphones X-15 Stereo Ribbon Microphone (Lundahl LL2912 Transformers)
Reviewed by Pearlsmx on B&H Photo Video
I've been using this mic for drum overheads for about a month, including two live shows. I've had at least 4 people comment on how impressive and professional the mic looks. And I like the simplicity of the stereo Blumlein pattern in one mic. Easy setup for gigs. I'm running it straight into a Mackie mixing board but find that the gain needs turned up to about 50-60% in order to get a useful level. Around 60-70% gain and noise starts getting introduced. I imagine that a higher quality mic preamp would really help bring down the noise and improve the sound quality. But until then I am happy with this mic. It picks up the cymbals natural sound (not a harsh condenser sound) and has plenty of bottom end to capture all the rack toms, and even the floor tom. Cannot comment on the sound difference between the standard and lundahl transformer. But some of the reviews I found were that the lundahl was worth the money. I am happy I went with it. ... More
Sounds great, didn't break the bank!
Cascade X-15 Stereo Ribbon Mic
Reviewed by Cameron C. on Reverb
Before purchasing this mic I found there weren't very many reviews on it. I'm very pleased with the sound and function of it, it's easy to place above a drum kit for instantly blumlein overhead goodness. It has a smooth, natural and warm sound as you'd expect from a ribbon. It will pickup the entire kit with plenty of low-end punch, even if you're only using a 1-mic setup. I especially enjoy using a Pultec style EQ for a boost at 12kh or 16kh and adjusting it to taste in the mixing stage. Keep in mind a good preamp will make a big difference! I fell in love with the stereo ribbon overhead sound but didn't want to go all-in on an AEA R88mkII (just yet...) but this mic certainly scratches the itch and will live above my drum kit for a long time! ... More
Drum over heads=absolutely!
Cascade X-15 Stereo Ribbon Mic
Reviewed by Randy R. on Reverb
I have 4 other Cascade fatheads, so I’m obviously a fan. Being able to throw this up over drums, and have a perfect XY pattern with no phase issue in one easy to position mic is a wonderful experience. Excellent build quality and very easy on the eyes.
Cascade X-15 Stereo Ribbon Mic
Reviewed by Paul L. on Reverb
Sounds great as Room mics.
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