Warm Audio WA-44 w/ Free WA-WL Warm Lifter

Please note: This limited-time-only bundle contains a Warm Audio WA-44 studio ribbon microphone and a free WA-WL inline active microphone preamp. Available only while stocks last.

WA-44: Studio Ribbon Microphone

The WA-44 is a faithful recreation of the most iconic studio ribbon microphone of all time. Just like the legendary RCA 44 ribbons of the 1930s, the WA-44 delivers warm, vintage, sultry tones and excels on loud audio sources. The tight figure-8 polar pattern removes side-address noise while its custom, vintage-matched ribbon and magnet together with a CineMag transformer deliver powerful bass with a pronounced proximity effect, lush mids, and a tamed top end, reducing excessive high end harshness. Featuring premium components and elite build quality, the WA-44 is the perfect choice for capturing lead tones on vocals, horns, acoustics, drums, piano, voice work and much more. 

FEATURES

• Timeless Ribbon Tone: Delivering the iconic tonal experience at the center of recording and broadcast history, the WA-44 faithfully recreates the warm and vintage tones of the legendary RCA 44 ribbon mic of the 1930s. 

• Rich Lows & Mids, No Harsh Highs: True to the vintage original, the WA-44 captures powerful bass & rich midrange with enhanced proximity effect. The WA-44 shows off its warm forgiving tone by taming top end harshness for smooth lead tones on vocals, horns, drums, and more. 

• Sultry On Any Source: Like its inspiration, the WA-44 excels on loud audio sources and removes side-address noise with the tight figure-8 polar pattern. A great choice for vocal recordings that benefit from a reduction in high-end frequencies, the WA-44 is also ideal for capturing haunting horn sections, resonant acoustic instruments, sultry strings, flat drum sounds, deep piano tones, and much more.

• Vintage Build, Premium Components: With a boutique-quality build design, the WA-44 is manufactured with exacting quality standards to match the most prized original RCA 44 vintage mics. The WA-44 pairs a true-to-length, custom-crafted Japanese ribbon with a heavy, true-to-size Neodymium magnet powered by a USA-Made CineMag transformer to deliver true-to-vintage tone with added durability. Weighing in at over six pounds and including a Star-Quad shielded Gotham XLR cable connector and embroidered case, all of these components come together to revive a classic mic with a premium, vintage build.  

• Hand-Tested In Austin, TX: Like all Warm Audio gear, every single WA-44 is meticulously hand-tested and inspected by trained technicians with a passion for making music in Austin, TX USA.

The Original Lead Vocal Mic
The WA-44 faithfully recreates the most iconic studio ribbon microphone of all time. Just like the legendary RCA 44BX ribbons of the 1930s loved by crooners, band leaders, drummers, upright bassists, producers and more, the WA-44 delivers powerful bass with a pronounced proximity effect, lush mids, and a tamed top end. The WA-44 excels on loud audio source and delivers the iconic warm, vintage, & sultry tones, which is what made the original the mic of choice for some of the most legendary vocalists including Elvis Presley, Ella Fitzgerald, Jeff Tweedy, Frank Sinatra, Johnny Cash and many more. With elite build quality and vintage-matched, premium components, the WA-44 faithfully captures the iconic tonal experience at the center of recording and broadcast history.

Vintage-Correct Ribbon & Custom Transformer
With a boutique-quality build and design, the WA-44 is manufactured with exacting quality standards to match the most prized original 1930s-era RCA 44BX vintage mics. The WA-44 ribbon is 99.1% aluminum, true-to-length, 2.5 microns-thick, and custom-crafted in Japan. Paired with the ribbon is a heavy, true-to-size Neodymium magnet designed to create a strong magnetic field capable of delivering nuances and detail in the midrange. The ribbon and magnet are powered by a USA-made CineMag transformer built to reproduce true-to-vintage tone with added modern reliability. Weighing in at over six pounds, the WA-44 revives this classic design with a premium build of intricate and rugged metal work that is ready for every day studio use and abuse. The WA-44 Includes an attached Star-Quad shielded Gotham XLR cable connector, embroidered protective mic sock, and molded case. Add in that all WA-44s are carefully hand-inspected & tested at Warm Audio Headquarters in Austin, Texas and what remains is truly an unprecedented value for a premium ribbon microphone.

Sultry, Rich, And Never-Harsh In The High-End
True to the vintage original, the WA-44 has an instantly recognizable sound profile, capturing powerful bass, rich midrange, and never-harsh highs with enhanced proximity effect. The WA-44 shows off its warm forgiving tone by taming top-end harshness for smooth lead tones on vocals, horns, drums, pianos, strings and more. Like its inspiration, the WA-44 excels when the goal is to capture intricate low and midrange detail on loud audio sources. The tight figure-8 polar pattern creates opportunities in the studio to capture unique tones that work perfectly in the mix by rejecting side-address noise and reproducing reflections from the back of the mic. A great choice for vocal or instrument recordings that benefit from a reduction in high-end frequencies, the WA-44 is ideal for capturing haunting horn sections, resonant acoustic instruments, sultry strings, flat drum sounds, deep piano tones, and much more.

How The Pros Use Vintage-Style Ribbons
Like all vintage 44-style passive ribbon mics, the WA-44 needs a sufficient amount of gain to bring out the full frequency spectrum of tone and sonic characteristics of the mic. While the best choice is to use a premium, discrete all-analog mic preamp like the WA-MPX, WA73 series, or WA12 series of preamps, a great alternative is using Warm Audio’s active inline preamp, the Warm Lifter, to add 26dB of clean analog gain between the mic and any XLR preamp input. Gain on audio interfaces is frequently underpowered. Even when 65+ dB of gain is advertised, the resulting tone often sounds thin and introduces unwanted noise and sonic artifacts. Warm Lifter puts a high-impedance mic pre with pure analog gain, tone filtering, and balanced JFET input at your fingertips at an incredible size and price.

Premium Components - Elite Build Quality - Superior Sound
Custom-Crafted Japanese Ribbon
The WA-44 houses a 99.1% pure aluminum ribbon, custom-made in Japan, reminiscent of vintage RCA 44 mics. Its true-to-length, nearly 60mm length and 2.5-microns thick size distinguishes it, enriching its sound compared to smaller ribbon designs. Ribbon purity is paramount for detail and frequency response; even slight impurities can dampen output and clarity, elevating the noise floor. The WA-44 is encased in an ultra-durable steel body with an intricate headbasket metalwork providing ample space around the ribbon.

Large-Core USA-Made CineMag Transformer
The WA-44 utilizes a custom, American-Made CineMag output transformer. The transformer inside the WA-44 delivers the rich depth and character of the ribbon - including the lush mids and smooth highs. The CineMag inside the WA-44 also helps the mic pair well with modern preamplifiers and studio equipment, even providing some protection against accidental use of 48v phantom power.

Robust Neodymium Magnet
The ribbon inside the WA-44 is suspended between the poles of a premium, heavy Neodymium magnet. While the vintage original RCA 44 ribbon mics used AlNiCo magnets, Neodymium magnets are significantly stronger than AlNiCo magnets, and have become the new standard in premium ribbon microphone manufacturing. This allows for a more efficient conversion of sound energy to electrical signal in the ribbon microphone. Neodymium is also much less susceptible to degradation and will last much longer in regular use.

Gotham AG Premium Cable
Often overlooked, the cable connecting a microphone to its preamp is quite a critical element of the signal chain. The WA-44 uses a Star-Quad shielded “pigtail style” XLR cable from Gotham, Switzerland. The design and build quality of this cable increases top end presence and the overall size of the recorded image in the stereo field by reducing phase shift and the parasitic effect often found in poorly built cables.

SPECIFICATIONS

Studio Ribbon Microphone
Faithful Recreation Of The Most Iconic Studio Ribbon Mic Of All Time
Custom CineMag USA Transformer 
Powerful Neodymium Magnet 
99.1% Aluminum, 2.5-Micron thick Ribbon (4.7mm x 59.7mm)
Polar Pattern: Figure-8
Frequency Response: 20 Hz-20 kHz (+/- 12db)
Max SPL: 140dB
Output Impedance: 270 ohms
Pigtail XLR Gotham Cable With Star Quad Shielding 
Dimensions: L: 12.5” | W: 4.75” D: 2.7”
Weight: 6.2 lbs
Included Accessories: 3/8" Mic Stand Adapter, Embroidered Microphone “Sock”, Embroidered Microphone Case

WA-WL Warm Lifter: Inline Active Microphone Preamp

The Warm Audio Warm Lifter is an inline active microphone preamp designed for low output dynamic and ribbon mics with premium features for live & studio use. Warm Lifter boasts 26dB of analog gain with true impedance matching, so any low output mic you plug in will be professionally powered for connecting to audio interfaces or mixers. Beyond gain, Warm Lifter also has a 100Hz high-pass filter and a 3kHz high-shelf boost to sculpt tones. Warm Lifter is built with premium components and rugged material. Warm Lifters are 100% tested and inspected by trained technicians with a passion for making music in Austin, TX. 

FEATURES

• Low-Output Mic Magic: The Warm Lifter offers 26 dB of clean gain to low-output microphones, including passive ribbons and certain dynamic models, ensuring optimal performance in both recording and live scenarios where additional gain is crucial for accurate detail and frequency response, especially when connected directly to interfaces.

• True 26dB Of Clean Gain: Warm Lifter will always deliver 26dB of clean output gain, regardless of the mic that you choose. Unlike some inline preamps, signal boosters, and lifters, the circuit design of the Warm Lifter protects your recording from signal loss or phase issues by ensuring there is no “mismatching” of impedance between your mic of choice and the Warm Lifter.

• Added Frequency Flexibility: The Warm Lifter has a selectable 100 Hz high-pass filter to remove unruly low end frequencies for added clarity and detail. Additionally, the Warm Lifter has a selectable 3 kHz high-shelf boost to emphasize the upper-mids and highs for clarity and detail boosted on darker mics. 

• Impedance Matching: The Warm Lifter input impedance is 2.4k Ohm, and will consistently act as a matchmaker between low output microphones and interfaces/mixers to solve common impedance mismatch problems like signal loss, altered frequency response, and phase issues.

• Studio Sound & Road-Ready: The Warm Lifter houses an ultra low-noise JFET input with a fully balanced (ins/outs) signal path and operates on 48v phantom power. The incredibly durable build quality adds to the total package to deliver a critical piece of audio utility gear that you will want by your side at all times.

• Hand-Tested In Austin, TX: Like all Warm Audio gear, every single Warm Lifter is meticulously hand-tested and inspected by trained technicians with a passion for making music in Austin, TX USA.

The Perfect Partner For Low-Output Mics In Studio & On Stage
The Warm Lifter is an inline active microphone preamp designed to provide powerful gain to low output dynamic and ribbon mics and comes with premium features for live & studio use. The sweet sounds of classic low-output mics that you’ve heard on countless records and live recordings have benefited from the sufficient power provided by high-quality, high-gain preamps, bringing out the full frequency spectrum of tone and sonic characteristics of the mic. Warm Lifter puts a high-impedance mic pre with pure analog gain, tone filtering, and balanced JFET input at your fingertips at an incredible size and price.

Using a low power interface in-studio or dealing with extra long cable runs in a live setting can starve the mic of adequate amplification. Warm Lifter boasts 26dB of analog gain with true impedance matching, so any low output mic you plug in will be professionally powered for connecting to audio interfaces or mixers. Adding the Warm Lifter ensures you have extra headroom necessary to bring out the rich lower-midrange detail and presence that passive ribbons and many dynamic mics are known for, without adding digital gain artifacts or losing tone from aggressively long cable runs. Beyond gain, Warm Lifter also has a 100Hz high-pass filter and a 3kHz high-shelf boost to sculpt tones.

26dB Of Clean Analog Gain
Warm Lifter’s signal path begins with a balanced, 2.4k Ohm (impedance) JFET input that delivers 26dB of pure, clean analog gain. Having 26dB on tap before hitting digital is incredibly helpful, as this should prevent any mixer or digital interface from having to go much beyond 40dB of onboard digital gain. As digital gain increases, the likelihood of artifacts and thinning of sound increases. The JFET input provides enough analog tone to keep the mic sounding “open” without adding any noise or too much color. The 2.4k Ohm impedance will deliver excellent frequency response for low-output mics that fall into typical impedance ranges.

Critical Frequency Filtering
Warm Lifter has a selectable 12dB high-pass filter and 2.5dB high-shelf boost. The 12dB high-pass filter’s corner frequency is located at 100 Hz, right in the middle of the true bass frequency range. Engaging the filter will cut all frequencies under 100 Hz, which will be perceived as removing “boominess” from the sound. The 2.5dB high-shelf boost corner frequency is located at 3 kHz, which lies squarely in the middle of the upper-midrange. This is a shelf-style boost, meaning, all frequencies above 3 kHz will be boosted at a more gentle 2.5dB in comparison to the high-pass filter. Since this is a shelf and will boost everything above 3k, the perceived change will add upper-mids, presence, as well as true high-end, otherwise known as “air” or “brilliance.” Engaging this boost will instantly add clarity to your sound.

SPECIFICATIONS

Inline Active Microphone Preamp
Ultra Low Noise JFET Input
Balanced (In/Out) Signal Path
26 dB Of True Analog Gain
Selectable 100 Hz (12 dB) High-Pass Filter | Selectable 3 kHz (2.5 dB) High-Shelf Boost
Input Impedance: 2.4k Ohm | Output Impedance: 150 Ohm
Max-Input: -6 dBu (388mV rms) | Max-Output: 20 dBu (7.75V rms)
THD+N ratio 1kHz @ 14dBu: <-107dB (0.00047%)
Output Noise: 7.75 uV (A-weighted) with 150 Ohm Input
Frequency Response: 10-200kHz  +/-0.2 dB
48v Phantom Powered With 4.7mA Current Draw