Audio-Technica AT4080
A large ribbon from a company that had never built one before, with a price tag that made engineers do a double-take.
Overview
Audio-Technica spent decades building its reputation on moving-coil cartridges and condensers. So when it announced its first-ever ribbon microphones, a pair called the AT4080 and the smaller AT4081, people were surprised. The AT4080 is the large one: a bidirectional, side-address, phantom-powered active ribbon, placed in the 40 Series alongside the company's condensers. List price was $1,245, which put it up against ribbons costing considerably more. Mix (September 2010, p.66) reviewed the mic and noted its extended top end for a ribbon design.
The design is unusual for a ribbon in several ways. Audio-Technica's own literature describes a dual-ribbon construction, two ribbon elements working back to back, that buys roughly 3 dB of extra sensitivity without adding noise. Mix (September 2010, p.66) confirmed that figure. The ribbons carry a proprietary "MicroLinear" imprint, which the company claims improves durability. The whole assembly sits behind an ultra-fine mesh meant to keep the ribbon safe from blasts of air.
The active electronics are what separate the AT4080 from a vintage ribbon in practical use. The mic is phantom-powered, so it presents a stable impedance and a healthy output level. A passive ribbon has punishingly low output and needs fussy preamp matching. Mix (September 2010, p.66) lists the stated frequency response at 20 to 18k Hz and the nominal open-circuit output at 11.2 mV at 1V, 1 Pascal. That is a genuinely extended top end for a ribbon, with enough level to work with ordinary preamps. The body is 16.7 ounces and seven inches long with a 2.1-inch profile, per the same review. Audio-Technica's launch materials also touted high-SPL capability, and the period press echoed that the mic would take abuse in loud applications rather than folding under it.
The reception was strong enough that the company reprinted the pull-quotes for months. The consensus at the time was that Audio-Technica had arrived in the ribbon category with something serious rather than a token entry.
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