@superliquid: Apparently we have totally different applications in mind. I don't know about passive FETheads (do they exist?), mine is active.
Also, my Condenser mics have a low-impedance preamp stage built-in with only 200 ohms output impedance, and honestly I'd be surprised if quality phantom-powered ribbon mics were any different.
You're absolutely right about passive ribbons, but how would a passive component behind the microphone be able to keep noise down without attenuating the signal? It can't, and that's why the FETheads require phantom power for operation of their internal class-A FET stage. For a passive ribbon you'd just use the one with higher gain that does require but not pass through phantom power to the ribbon.
I'm still evaluating and I'm really curious what sonic difference the FETheads will make in combination with different mic interfaces / preamps.

 

Of course and without a doubt. I overlooked your earlier post about your 1" diaphram mics, my apologies. It is however a good primer on the application of using a phantom powered JFET amps for those unfamiliar. The active version should work like a trick for you. I need to crash, but here is a cut and paste for you to peruse...Microphone source impedance can be upwards to 600 ohms by the way, so...

To hear a mic as its designer intended, the preamp’s input impedance should be at least 1,500 ohms and consistent across the audio band. Even in the ranges above and below the 20-20 kHz audio band, the input impedance should remain high, as out-of-band load changes can affect in-band sonics. A rule of thumb is that a mic’s load impedance should be five or more times the mic’s source impedance. For a 300 ohm mic, such as the Coles 4038, this would translate to a 1,500 ohm load. For a 150 ohm source mic, such as most Neumann mics, this would mean a minimum load of 750 ohms, however, higher is even better.

To read up a little more, the wonderful folks at AEA say... http://www.fixitinthemic.com/post/141043158659/ribbon-mics-and-mic-preamps

 

Aah, now I see the problem. I already wondered how a 48V phantom feed with 2x 6800 Ohms would supply a ribbon mic like the Rode NTG-1 with a specified output impedance of 50 Ohms (!).
Attach it to a low-impedance-input mic pre and record some higher SPL and no buffer cap will be able to keep the power supply steady. Interesting aspect indeed!

 

Yeah, my recordings have definitely improved from it. Plus I can record hot enough that I don't have to use a utility plugin to boost by 5-10dB just to get my vocals up to a level where it makes sense to compress them.

In terms of sound quality, the Audient's preamp gives my ART a run for its money. Nice to have some choices I suppose. I'm also having some fun playing with the ART's tube drive and adjustable impedance for lots of tone variation. The iD4, too, has a JFET built into the DI, so if I decide to use the ART's converters and send an unbalanced signal into the iD4 DI I can get some fun distortions there as well.

One thing that surprised me a little, because it's been a while since I played with the impedance on the Voice Channel, is how much impedance affects volume. Seems I can get an extra 5-10 dB to drive into the tubes just by turning the impedance all the way up

 

@Cav Emp .. Rightious! Sounds like a fresh bloom of creativity and I'm happy that you are happy. I like Audient as a company because they totally support schools by giving them hefty educational discounts which enable many to buy their consoles, both the ASP4816 and ASP4824-HE for affordable prices. Another reason being that the preamp in your iD4 is the same as the one in the entire range, the thing that is the basis for all their audio products, the hub of it all that all who use anything Audient share.

Another cool thing about the variable impedance knob, beside the boost that you mentioned, is that it can be used as an eq of sorts. The lower the impedance the darker the signal which can come in handy on an overly bright signal.

Have a great weekend.

 

@superliquidsunshine I had a revelation!

I can monitor with FX now! I don't know why the Blackjack couldn't keep the latency manageable, as the latency settings were the same. But I don't have to use direct monitoring anymore! It really does help, more than I thought it would.

Here I was, thinking that 64 samples was audible, and even distracting. It was the stupid drivers. Or something. I can monitor at much higher latencies and not really have a problem. This is pretty revolutionary for me.

 

64 samples is babyfood when it comes to playing opposite of latency unless one is super hyper sensitive. Congratulations and welcome to Happyland where all is wonderful all the time. I guess it was the Blackjack drivers after all. But that was then, this is now...yippy ay yea!

 

Also notable, i switched to Cubase. I dont want to go all von steyr and blame S1 for everything but the timing certainly presents that possibility as well

 

Yeah, it'd be nice to be able to just monitor direct from the DAW, but I have to come into my board and add reverb to the channel there. Latency is a big issue for me in Sonar using a MOTU HD192. I know I could try CueMix, but to me that's essentially the same as using the board and reverb there as the actual reverb and effects that will get applied to the vocal track aren't what you will be hearing through CueMix anyways. So for me, it's keep it simple. I run through an ART vocal processor as well to get a little compression. Anything to help get a better performance out of the vocalist. I guess I'm lucky I've got all of this live soundgear to use in addition to the DAW and audio interface.
And after reading this, I'm thinking I need to look into a FETHead. I've got a ribbon mic and have trouble getting good clean levels from my preamps. I was thinking about using low gain settings, and chaining the 2 channels of the preamp together to get a few more clean DB's out of it. Haven't tried that yet, though.

 

@digitaldragon .. I believe that the gain applied to your ribbon microphone by the preamp directly connected to it by mic cable is the gain that directly influences the characteristics of that microphone, and that if your ribbon mic needs at least 60 dB of clean gain to sound it's best it must come from that source. The second preamp would just boost whatever signal is created by the first. Additionally you would be adding noise from two preamps as well as the noise from the microphone itself making for one noisy audio chain that wouldn't sound very good in the first place.

You didn't mention what mic pre you are using, or for that matter which ribbon mic.

About monitoring without latency, why can't you monitor your direct signal in CueMix and send the signal to an Aux channel inside Sonar so you can hear the reverb of your choice, assuming that it is a plug-in and not hardware? That is the way I do it with no latency and with whatever reverb or delay plug-in of my choosing. Of course the reverb and/or delay are 100% wet.

 

What I keep telling people. ART is good gear for the $.

 

Yep, forgot to include what it is I'm working with! Pre's are ART MPA Pro II, got 2 of them and they both are dual channel. Mic is an MXL R144-SE. I primarily got the microphone for recording electric guitars, but it seems to work pretty good for me vocally too. I suppose I'm an overly loud singer. Level-wise, it's a good setup for the guitars, and gives a fuller tone that is a nice compliment to a SM-57. Also for me vocally it isn't too bad. It's recording other quieter singers where I run into the noise issue. I suppose I've gotta be careful with the gain also since it's Figure 8.

As for monitoring, I'll have to look into that and see if I can implement that routing. I haven't really even looked into CueMix to see what it actually does. I've just been doing what I know works so far. Experimentation is in order!

 

@digitaldragon .. Have you as yet used the variable impedance knob on your MPA amps as a way to achieve varying degrees of tone with your MXL? As you increase the knob towards the 3000 ohm direction the sound will open up the highs to shine through enabling that wonderful ribbon personality, and of course the other way downward towards 150 will act as more a low pass as the upper frequencies are stiffled. Besides mic placement affecting what is captured on your hard drive, this is an area where your creativity can really flourish, making early decisions on how you envision the overall vibe of the track and committing to your decisions.

 

@superliquidsunshine, I found that running the impedance knob about 75% clockwise, which I believe leans towards the 3K Ohm direction, sounded very open and natural with my voice. I tried to run it as close to the specs for the mic, but did experiment with different settings/takes, but kept going back to the 75% setting which is close to the stated impedance in the mic's owners manual.
I should have tried backing that off when I was recording guitar amps as the SM57 was already capturing the top end, and I was more after the low end with the MXL. But what I got blended very nicely with the ribbon adding some smoothness to the grit of the SM57.