Crowley And Tripp Naked Eye

This is a ribbon mic that is primarily meant for recording purposes. I was considering this standard Naked Eye versus the one with Roswellite. The Roswellite is said to be able to withstand blasts of volume that would typically destroy ribbon microphones- which would serve well if one were on the road performing live . On the advice of the sales person, I was told the standard Naked Eye would be sufficient for home based recording. This advice was spot on as the mic has served me well for years.

OVERALL OPINION

This mic sounds great on everything! My top application is mic'ing up a loud hi gain guitar cab; this mic can go right up on the grille if need be- don't try that with your vintage ribbons! I did extensive A/Bing with a Royer 121 and decided to choose the Naked Eye. They both sound fantastic, but the Naked Eye presents a more natural picture of the tone while the Royer has a bit of a mid scoop to the tone. Not a huge difference, and the Royer is the go to for most modern pro studios capturing guitar cabs, but I felt the Naked Eye could easily attain the same sounds with a gentle eq adjustment.

The Naked Eye front side works great on guitar cabs; flip it around to the back side and BAM- you have a kick ass vocal mic that presents beautiful tone! I This back side works exceptionally well on acoustic guitars, presenting a great image of the guitar coupled with the natural ambience of the room. Need a drum room mic? Here it is, I put it a few feet in front of the kit to capture the center of the drum sound. I like to multi mic a kit, but this one mic could easily provide a great mono drum sound. Ribbons are very popular for spot mic'ing a hi hat or snare, so it can work there too- but I love the room sound this provides.

Ridiculous- I have a lot of mics available to me, but this mic is by far my #1 for guitar/bass cabs, acoustic guitars,vocals, drums ...this is a true desert island beast.
I've gone through quite a large number of mics- ribbons include a Royer, a royer copy, & a CAD. Condensers include a vast array from Oktava, MJoly Oktavamod, Audio Technica, AKG, Avantone, and so on. Suffice to say, I have lots of choices and this one is truly a great piece. Easily a perfect rating!

Note: Crowley tripp has been since bought out by Shure- check out their ribbon offerings as I believe they are built off the same designs