One of my favorite things about doing this work are the relationships we establish. I first met Charlene Gibbs, Sammy Rothman, and Nathan Bowers in 2014, while taking a tour of AEA microphones. I knew Wes Dooley [Tape Op #97] already, and had a great relationship with AEA, but after meeting these "kids" and seeing their work, I saw a sea change coming for the brand and was super impressed with the results – a slew of modern mics that heralded a new era for the brand and for ribbon microphones in general. These mics became daily tools for me, changing how I (and many others) think about and use ribbons. The four of us kept in touch over the years as they left AEA and moved on.
As fucked up as the recording side of the music business is, the retail side can be worse. After some bouncing around and maybe a year of silence, I was stoked to hear this group had started their own microphone company, Ohma World. When Sammy called me to tell me all about it (with “Char” ad-libbing from across the room), his excitement and trepidation were palpable. As he described their company’s ethos, I had this same suspicion that I was witnessing innovation firsthand as I did back in 2014. From making capsules in-house (their actual house, at first) to hand painting every mic in custom colors, I couldn't wait to hear the fruits of all this labor.
Ohma World mics all feature the same 7.5-inch by 2-inch rounded rectangle-ish form factor, and come with either ribbon or condenser elements. The ribbon is figure 8 with a custom German output transformer. The condenser is cardioid and features a vintage NOS (new old stock) Cinemag transformer. A slew of swappable physical screens can be chosen or purchased separately (Motif, Stripes, Windows, Holes, Scales) and these actually change the sound of the mics, though I didn't dive into examining this aspect. Most of the testing below was using the Motif screens.