Audio-Technica unveils its first-ever ribbon microphones, the AT4080 and AT4081 Bidirectional Active Ribbon Microphones, two new offerings from A-T's expanding 40 Series.

Audio-Technica's R&D team in Japan engineered and manufactured the AT4080 and AT4081 from the ground up, utilizing a hand-built, proprietary design and rugged, durable construction. Both offer smooth, warm and natural sound with precise, articulate detail to meet the critical requirements of today's recording, broadcast and sound reinforcement professionals. With 18 patents pending, Audio-Technica's innovative ribbon transducer advances the evolution of ribbon microphone technology, combining remarkable durability and high SPL capability with smooth, rich audio quality.

The AT4080, whose footprint is that of a classic "suspension cradled" side-address condenser, is recommended for vocals, horns, strings, acoustic instruments, drum overheads, orchestras, ensembles and guitar cabinets.

The AT4081, with an appearance more like that of a pencil condenser, is optimized for strings, saxophones and other horns, acoustic instruments, drum overheads, orchestras, ensembles and guitar cabinets; its low-profile stick design maximizes placement options.

While the application of phantom power was prohibited for typical ribbon microphones, the AT4080 and AT4081 in fact require 48V phantom power for operation. The phantom power, however, is used not for the microphones' dynamic ribbon transducers, but for their active electronics, which bring their output to near condenser microphone level. This high output and stable impedance make the microphones easy to integrate with microphone preamplifiers. The output of each microphone is a 3-pin XLRM-type connector. Output is low impedance (Lo-Z) balanced.

The AT4080's included AT8449/SV shock mount and the AT4081's included isolation clamp provide superior isolation and permit mounting on any microphone stand with 5/8"-27 threads. The AT4080 comes with a dust cover and a protective carrying case, while a windscreen is included with the AT4081. Both mics are fully RoHS compliant, meaning they are free from all substances specified in the EU directive on hazardous substances.

The AT4080 and AT4081 Bidirectional Active Ribbon Microphones will be available November 2009 with respective U.S. MSRP's of $1,245.00 and $895.00.

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