WA-2FT - Microphone Warm Audio - Free user manual and instructions

USER MANUAL WA-2FT Warm Audio

For the most updated manual, visit the link below for the product web manual https://warmaudio.com/fen-tone

VT +dB Fen-tone

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INTERNATIONAL DISTRIBUTION & DEALER CONTACT INFO

THANK YOU!

Thank you for purchasing the Warm Audio Fen-tone. This product offers the best sound, function, and vibe from the classic era of analog recording. We don't cut corners regarding what goes into our products, and Fen-tone is no exception.

The Fen-tone is inspired by a classic 50s ribbon mic design. Equipped with modern components to deliver iconic tones, the physical design was revived in lauded recreations of the 1990s known for their performance on instruments, especially electric guitar cabs. The Warm Audio Fen-tone is loaded with custom and premium components to deliver incredible results on instruments like electric guitar, acoustic guitar, piano, drums/OHs, horns, strings, and much more.

Bryce Young

President

Warm Audio

Austin, Texas USA

REGISTER YOUR FEN-TONE!

Before we begin, please take the time to visit www.warmaudio.com to register your product. To ensure you receive proper and uninterrupted warranty support for your product, please register your unit within 14 days from purchase.

LIMITED 5-YEAR WARRANTY STATEMENT

Warm Audio warranties this product to be free from defect in materials and workmanship for five years from the date of purchase, for the original purchaser to whom this equipment is registered. This warranty is non-transferrable.

Exemption Note: vacuum tubes are warranted for one year from purchase date.

This warranty is void in the event of damage incurred from unauthorized service to this unit, or from electrical or mechanical modification to this unit. This warranty does not cover damage resulting from abuse, accidental damage, misuse, improper electrical conditions such as mis-wiring, incorrect voltage or frequency, unstable power, disconnection from earth ground (for products requiring a 3 pin, grounded power cable), or from exposure to hostile environmental conditions such as moisture, humidity, smoke, fire, sand or other debris, and extreme temperatures.

Warm Audio will, at its sole discretion, repair or replace this product in a timely manner. This limited warranty extends only to products determined to be defective and does not cover incidental costs such as equipment rental, loss of revenue, etc. Please visit us at www.warmaudio.com for more information on your warranty, or to request warranty service.

This warranty applies to products sold globally by authorized Warm Audio retailers. Depending on the state in which you live, you may have rights in addition to those covered in this statement. Please refer to your state laws or see your local Warm Audio retailer for more information. For warranty information in countries outside the United States, please refer to your local Warm Audio distributor.

NON-WARRANTY SERVICE

If you have a defective unit that is outside of our warranty period or conditions; we are still here for you and can get your unit working again for a modest service fee. Please visit us at www.warmaudio.com to contact us about setting up a repair or for more information.

With proper care, your Warm Audio gear should last a lifetime and provide a lifetime of enjoyment. We believe the best advertisement we can have is a properly working unit being put to great use. Let's work together to make it happen.

NOW LET'S GET STARTED!

INTRODUCTION

The Fen-tone is inspired by a classic 50s ribbon mic design and equipped with modern components and features to deliver iconic tones. Just like the classic 50s design, Fen-tone is low-profile, sleek, and easy to mount or place in a tight recording or live scenario. Fen-tone captures rich mids, tight lows, and never-harsh highs on sources like electric guitar cabs, acoustic guitar, drums/OH, horns, strings, and so much more. Fen-tone recreates some of the most sought-after instrument ribbon tones by incorporating a custom corrugated Japanese ribbon made with 99.1% aluminum, a rare-earth Neodymium magnet, and a premium transformer from CineMag made in the USA. In addition to premium components, Fen-tone adds a selectable 26dB in-line preamp helping the mic pair with underpowered and inferior preamps, such as those found on recording interfaces. Featuring premium components, elite build quality, and a limited 5-year warranty, Fen-tone is the ideal choice for capturing the natural sound of recordings without compromising on quality or reliability.

TIMELESS RIBBON TONE

Fen-tone recreates some of the most sought-after instrument ribbon tones on a variety of sources like electric guitar cabs, horns, acoustic guitar, drum overheads, room mics, strings, and much more. The Fen-tone sound profile includes smooth and non-fatiguing audio with mellow highs, pleasing lows, and rich midrange.

RICH LOWS & MIDS, NO HARSH HIGHS

Fen-tone captures powerful bass & rich midrange, true to the sound profile of the most sought-after small-format ribbon microphones. In addition to the bass and midrange emphasis, Fen-tone shows off its warm "forgiving" tone by taming top-end harshness above 15 kHz for smooth tones without exaggerated sibilance or harshness.

TAILOR-MADE FOR GUITAR, & MORE

Like the most popular instrument-focused ribbon mics, Fen-tone excels on loud, midrange-heavy sources like electric guitar cabs. Fen-tone has settings for both passive and active operation, with a 26dB in-line Warm Lifter switch (48v phantom required) for an added boost that will help Fen-tone operate even when directly connected to interface preamps.

SELECTABLE 26 DB IN-LINE WARM LIFTER ACTIVE PREAMP

Most passive ribbon microphones require a well-powered professional mic preamp to work well with a modern audio interface. Fen-tone has a selectable, 26dB in-line discrete 5k Ohm high-impedance JFET Warm Lifter circuit onboard, making it easy to plug directly into audio interfaces or inferior preamps without volume, tone, and frequency loss.

FIGURE-8 POLAR PATTERN

Fen-tone has a figure-8 polar pattern which helps eliminate side-address noise when recording. That means that Fen-tone will pick up what is directly in front of it and behind it. This feature is great for recording two acoustic instrumentalists facing each other, playing into either side of the mic without picking up as much bleed as other microphone designs. When put in practice, Fen-tone is a great choice for recordings that benefit from a reduction in high-end sibilant frequencies. Think haunting horn sections, resonant acoustic instruments, sultry strings, flat drum sounds, deep piano tones, and much more.

VINTAGE DESIGN, MODERN BUILD, PREMIUM COMPONENTS

With a boutique-quality build and design, Fen-tone is manufactured with exacting standards to ensure consistent quality from mic to mic. Fen-tone pairs a custom-crafted Japanese ribbon made with 99.1% pure aluminum with a heavy, rare-earth Neodymium magnet powered by a USA-made CineMag transformer to deliver that ideal rich midrange tone with added durability. Fen-tone ships with a custom flight case, hard mount, and ribbon sock for added protection when not in use.

A LOOK INSIDE FEN-TONE

THE RIBBON

The ribbon inside Fen-tone is made of 99.1% pure aluminum and is custom-crafted in Japan. The near-perfect purity of the ribbon is critical in achieving proper detail and frequency response. Even a small reduction in purity could reduce output, remove clarity, and raise the noise floor. This is why every Fen-tone is inspected not only after the initial build but once again when it arrives at HQ in Austin, TX to ensure the quality of the ribbon meets our exacting standards.

THE MAGNET

The ribbon inside Fen-tone is suspended between the poles of a premium, heavy Neodymium magnet. While the vintage original 50s version of the inspired mic designs used AlNiCo magnets, Neodymium magnets are significantly stronger than AlNiCo, and have become the new standard in premium ribbon microphone manufacturing. The most sought-after small-format instrument ribbon mics leverage Neodymium in their design. 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.

THE TRANSFORMER

Fen-tone utilizes a premium, American-made CineMag output transformer. The transformer inside Fen-tone delivers the rich depth and character of the ribbon - including the lush mids and smooth highs. The CineMag inside Fen-tone also helps the mic pair well with modern preamplifiers and studio equipment, even providing some protection against accidental use of 48v phantom power.

THE WARM LIFTER

Fen-tone includes a selectable, 26dB in-line discrete 5k Ohm high-impedance JFET Warm Lifter circuit allowing for active use with added gain. This is especially useful when working with audio interface preamps that rely too heavily on digital gain structure and help deliver enough clean analog gain to the circuit to preserve frequency response and detail.

NOTE: "Hot Plugging" meaning, plugging Fen-tone in and out while Phantom power is running on a preamp is not advised. While the protection circuit can still save the mic, this does add undue stress to the ribbon. Before switching the mic from active to passive mode, turn off the 48v phantom power on your interface or preamp.

GETTING THE BEST RESULTS WITH RIBBONS

Every piece of professional studio equipment comes with its "need to know" information. Fen-tone and passive ribbon mics in general are no different. Here are a few tips to get started with your Fen-tone and avoid common mistakes if you're new to ribbon mics:

BE PREPARED WITH A PREAMP

The Fen-tone shines when paired with enough output to bring out the detail and unique tonal character of the ribbon. While Fen-tone does have an included lifter, helping the sound when plugging the Fen-tone directly into your interface preamp, using Fen-tone in passive mode with a preamp having at least 65dB of gain will be a game-changer for your recordings using the mic

JUST SAY "NO!" TO 48V PHANTOM POWER - IN PASSIVE MODE

In the passive setting, Fen-tone does not need phantom power to operate. Through our tests, we have found that the custom CineMag transformer and circuit design protect the ribbon inside the Fen-tone from typical, immediate ribbon damage due to induced current from added voltage. Conversely, when operating Fen-tone in active mode, 48v Phantom power is required.

NOTE: "Hot Plugging" meaning, plugging Fen-tone in and out while Phantom power is running on a preamp is not advised. While the protection circuit can still save the mic, this does add undue stress to the ribbon. Before switching the mic from active to passive mode, turn off the 48v phantom power on your interface or preamp.

BE CAREFUL OF MOVING AIR

While ribbon mics like the Fen-tone handle loud sources (high SPL) very well, they do not tolerate "gusts" of moving air hitting the ribbon itself. Because the actual material thickness is so delicate, gusts of air can damage the ribbon element. The use of pop filters while recording and the included "sock" when transporting the Fen-tone will greatly reduce the chance of damaging the ribbon. Avoiding certain applications without a windscreen or pop filter like miking the kick drum port directly, or close-distance horn miking with the ribbon can also reduce any chance of damaging the ribbon.

Having a good understanding of how to place ribbon mics like the Fen-tone can be a key "missing piece" to achieving great recordings. The first tip is to consider how distance impacts the microphone's frequency response.

PROXIMITY EFFECT - As you move closer to the source, the Fen-tone's enhanced proximity effect will begin to become noticeable. Simply put, the proximity effect means that the closer the mic is to the source, the more bass it will pick up. Sometimes, this is the exact thing the recording needs. If you find that you're picking up too much bass during sound check, back the source off slowly until you're pleased with the results.

MIND THE "BACK" OF THE MIC - Because the Fen-tone has a figure-8 pattern, the "front" and "back" of the mic are both picking up audio. If you are recording one source, and that source is in the "front" of the mic, it's important to pay attention to how close the "back" of the mic is to a reflective surface. If the back of the mic is right up against a wall with wood or metal on it, you will likely pick up some undesirable echo, noise, and even phase cancellation. The simplest way to avoid this is to record the ribbon towards the center of the room, putting a lot of distance between the back of the mic and the wall. This can also be solved by using diffusing material behind the mic to deaden the sound.

SPECIFICATIONS

• Instrument Ribbon Microphone With In-Line 26dB Preamp
• Custom CineMag USA Transformer
  • Powerful Rare-Earth Neodymium Magnet
  • 99.1% Aluminum, 1.8-Micron thick Ribbon
• Selectable 26dB In-Line Warm Lifter Preamp (Phantom Power Required)
• Polar Pattern: Figure-8
  • Frequency Response: 30 Hz-15 kHz (+/- 3db)
  • Max SPL: 148dB (1kHz≤1%T.H.D)
  • Output Impedance: 300 Ohms (Passive) 150 Ohms (Active)
  • S/N Ratio: 87dB
• Sensitivity (Passive): -47 dBv Re. 1v/pa | (Active): -21 dBv Re. 1v/pa
  • L: 6.7" | W: 1.5" | Weight: .67 lbs
• Included Accessories: Heavy-Duty Flight Case, Mic Clips, & Protective Mic Sock

SPÉCIFICATIONS (FRANÇAIS)

SAFETY WARNING FOR PRODUCTS

Please pay attention to the following safety instructions to ensure safe use of your electronic product:

1. Power Supply: Use only the recommended power supply and the correct cables to avoid overheating or short circuits.
2. Water Protection: Keep the product away from water and other liquids. Do not use it in damp environments.
3. Ventilation: Ensure that the device is adequately ventilated. Do not block ventilation openings to prevent overheating.
4. Repairs: Do not attempt to repair the product yourself. Contact an authorized service partner to avoid damage or injury.
5. Children: Keep the product out of reach of children. It contains small parts and can be dangerous if misused.
6. Visible Damage: Regularly check the product for visible damage. Do not use it if it is damaged.

Please read the user manual carefully and follow all safety instructions. Your safety is our top priority!

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Austin, Texas USA | www.warmaudio.com