Now with phantom power, you now have a lot more flexibility in your choice of preamps because you no longer the quiet gain that passive ribbons need so much of. The A840 also shares many of the characteristics of its granddaddy, the A440, but is much more economically priced. Because the A840 shares the same Big Ribbon™ as the rest of AEA's product line you'll acheive a sound with the A840 that is smooth, natural and free of any of the uncomfortable resonances that shorter ribbons and condensers can exhibit. The result is a sound that many engineers say sounds astonishingly close to what your ear hears when you're actually standing in the studio because the R84 doesn't color the sound with a lot of its own characteristics. Because the A840 has significantly less proximity effect than the A440, the A840 makes an excellent spot mic as it is optimized to be positioned within 12" of the sound source without bass distortion.
