Royer's Ribbon Mics???

Posted: Thu Jan 08, 2004 4:27 pm

I have been hearing and reading ALOT about these Royer R121 and R122 being used to get some awesome guitar tones. I haven't had the opportunity to use or hear one that I would know of. I'm really just wanting to get some feedback on these mics and hear what everyone has to say about them. Like, what u have used it on and what this mic has done for u. Also what style of music you were using them on, mic configuration, guitar cabinet, and so on.

Thanks,
Shaun
Transcontinental Studios
Orlando, Fl

Posted: Thu Jan 08, 2004 5:58 pm

I'm a huge ribbon convert. Right now I have a royer SF-1 and an AEA84. I love these mics. I've only had the AEA84 for 3 weeks so it hasn't seen as much tracking as the royer. It sounded amazing on my classical guitar less boomy then the royer. I find their a little to dark for most vocals but to me they outshine LD mics on most everything else. I love them on accoustic instruments. From strings to horns. Great on guitar cabs. Their quiet mics though good clean pre will be a must.

Posted: Fri Jan 09, 2004 9:55 am

Hi

I haven't tried the Royer, but I have tried the Beyer and the Coles ribbons. The Coles is just plain stunning, specially on horns and piano, with a FAT sound but still the presence you'd expect from a 600£ (UK£) ribbon. They're handmade in the same fashion as they used to make them for the BBC. If you're buying a ribbon you need to check this out!

Also; if your dealers got them you definetly need to give the Beyer ribbon mic a try. It sounds natural and very wide and has more of a sparkly high end than the Coles. I think the Coles roll off gently above 12k, but they are also shipping a new ribbon now I think with an extended freq. response.

If you're splashing out all that money for a Royer, you should definetly try these first!
You won't be disapointed.

Stian Westerhus

Posted: Fri Jan 09, 2004 10:24 am

FWIW,

I haven't heard the R84 yet, but I've used R-121, SF-1, Coles 4038, Beyer M160's (stock and Sank DX mod): all have their merits, but if guitar cab is the MO, I would suggest either the R121, or R122. They will handle the SPL's a bit better, and have lots of meat in the midrange. If you're not at earth-shattering levels, then anything can work, but for loud guitars, the royer's rock Very Happy

IME, a nice thing about ribbon mic's is their ability to take EQ well - you can get much more aggressive without penalty - very different than tizzy sounding condensers...

YMMV,

N. Jay Burr
PlugHead Productions

Posted: Fri Jan 09, 2004 12:46 pm

I used to assist for this guy who had a set of coles, man o man, those were some great mics on drums and the xylophone!!! captured a nice sustained 'ping' on every hit of that xylophone. I have seen that AEA has a 44 replica, I would like to hear one of those because I really enjoy what the original 44s do for overheads or on a marshall.

Posted: Fri Jan 09, 2004 1:51 pm

Quote:

Originally posted by Do Makes:
I'm a huge ribbon convert. Right now I have a royer SF-1 and an AEA84. I love these mics. I've only had the AEA84 for 3 weeks so it hasn't seen as much tracking as the royer. It sounded amazing on my classical guitar less boomy then the royer. I find their a little to dark for most vocals but to me they outshine LD mics on most everything else. I love them on accoustic instruments. From strings to horns. Great on guitar cabs. Their quiet mics though good clean pre will be a must.

Are you saying that the AEA sounds great on guitar cabs, or the Royer?

Posted: Fri Jan 09, 2004 8:58 pm

The Royer. I haven't tried the AEA on cabs yet.

Posted: Sat Jan 10, 2004 7:14 am

The R84 sounds/works great on guitar cabs..As does the R121..

Posted: Sat Jan 10, 2004 9:05 am

Anyone had a chance to compare the R84 to an original RCA77dx yet? I know that since those mics are old the sonica characteristics can be varied, but for my jazz work on horns and vocalists that and the RCA44 are 'da bomb.

So I'm wondering about Do Makes comment about the 84 being to dark for vocals, whether this even applies to me. I LOVE the RCA77dx and the AEA44c for vocals. Gives me that smoothness I need. I have a 84 on order, but I haven't heard one yet.

Posted: Sat Jan 10, 2004 9:53 am

Hey henry. I was thinking of them more in a rock/pop setting where vocals are up against things like louder more agrresive guitars. Also, I haven't tried the AEA on many vocalists at all, it's a fairly new mic for me. I did find the Royer inappropriate most of the times I tried it on vocals. There have been a few times it was right. For the style of music your talking about, I'm sure you'd get a lot more milage as a vocal mic. Looks like you'd be in the best postion to let us know soon enough. I'd like to hear your thoughts on how the AEA stacks up against the originals.

Posted: Sat Jan 10, 2004 11:23 am

No, I totally understand. That's why I was enquiring. I haven't really used the Royer on vocals. The one time didn't count. I have on tenor sax though and it worked well. Definitely I can see where on edgy rock or hip hop/rapish vocals a classic ribbon wouldn't be the first thing you'd go for (or the second or 3rd).

Posted: Sat Jan 10, 2004 4:25 pm

Royer 121 on guitar cabs :tu:

Posted: Sun Jan 11, 2004 1:22 pm

try using the backside of the r-121 for vocals, its brighter but can't handle as much SPL's though.

Posted: Wed Jan 14, 2004 9:13 pm

Here is this man's take. The Royer is fantastic on guitar amps. It's so realistic. I've had good results with it an acoustic instruments as well. If you are looking for an all around ribbon though. Consider the Coles. It's not as sexy on guitar amps, but it's just heaven on vocals, some brass, acoustic and overheads (jazzier material). I had an AEA R84 and overall I gave it a thumbs down. Sounded great on a 50's J-185 though. Horrible on most of the amps I threw at it. Maybe it was messed up, but I preferred my cheapo Oktava ML-52 to it. Which brings me to my last ribbon. The ML-52 can be a great mic. The main problem is the huge amount of variation from one to the next. I bought one and it was ok sounding (great for 200 bucks). It came with response curve. I went back for another one and picked one with a totally different curve. Sounds pretty good. But for 200 you can't go wrong. I love the Bk5's too.

Posted: Tue Jun 07, 2005 7:14 pm

I would appreciate hearing from anyone who has had a chance to a/b the Royer R121 vs. AEA R84; especially on acoustic string instruments, such as guitar and dobro...

I am leaning towards the R84, based on what I have heard so far...

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