It works fantastic as a drum overhead - just warm, woody, and natural sounding. The sE Electronics X1R is suited to a variety of recording applications including guitar cabs, overhead drums, brass, woodwind, strings, commercial broadcast and voice-over. SE Electronics X1 Series Ribbon Microphone and Clip The X1 R is a rugged ribbon for any purpose. 5. sE Electronics X1R. PRESS RELEASE: The sE X1R ribbon microphone is the new high performance passive ribbon from sE Electronics. This microphone has solved so many issues for me. sE Electronics X1R is versatile and deliver high-quality clean sound. This thing isn't fragile. If you want a ribbon microphone also combine the high-end extension of condenser microphones just like sE Electronics VR1, here is a cheaper alternative. The sE Electronics X1 R Ribbon Microphone is a vintage-modern hybrid that provides all the inherent smoothness of a hand-crafted ribbon mic, but with more versatility, durability, and ease of use. It all started with the standard X1 cardioid condenser, and has been expanded to include a USB variant, the X1 Tube condenser, a titanium-sputtered X1D condenser and now the X1R ribbon. I'm glad I did! sE X1R. Ribbon microphones in general don't actually tend to be as fragile as people make them out to be. With state of the art ribbon element enclosed by top-grade neodymium magnets and high SPL handling, the X1 R is a rugged ribbon for any purpose. It has the same basic body shape as the original X1, and is a pretty standard ribbon mic. I've never worked with one before and so I thought for this price (and SE's warranty that is valid for 20 years) you can't go wrong. SE Electronics recently lowered the price of their new X1R microphone and I thought it was a good occasion to get a ribbon microphone. The sE Electronics X1 R's state-of-the-art ribbon element is enclosed by top-grade Neodymium magnets and features some sE's latest ribbon microphone technologies. It's fine. I watched a video of a guy with a different $100 ribbon mic, and he was tossing it out on his driveway, and the ribbon mic only broke after he tossed it like 30 feet into the air, as most mics would. The sE X1R is an extension of the budget-friendly X1 mic family. I've always wanted to try a ribbon mic, and decided after watching a video review of the X1R to finally go for it. Drawing on some of the technologies in our VR1 & VR2 ribbon mics, the X1 R is a vintage-modern hybrid that provides all the inherent smoothness of a hand-crafted ribbon mic, but with more versatility, durability, and ease of use than the delicate ribbons of yesteryear. sE Electronics have taken the tough steel grill and non-slip finished chassis from the existing X1 condenser mic, and fitted it with a ribbon to produce the sE X1R.It may seem strange to completely redesign the mechanics and electronics of a microphone and then house it in an old body, but there is a good reason for that.