Royer R-121 mic preamp question?

Submitted by anonymous on Sat, 01/15/2005 - 22:59

I have been thinking about buying a new mic lately as i haven't exactly gotten great tones from my current ones, a sm57 and an at3035. sometimes they are okay, but i keep hearing great things about the r-121. my question is, would this mic make a major difference in my sound even though i am using an mbox(which i love, but it may not necessarily have the best preamps). What's more important, the mic or the preamps? if i got the royer, would i only notice the difference if a had like a $2,000 mic preamp?
thanx for the help.

Comments

You'll notice a difference in the tone/texture of the sounds you record, a difference that may or may not be suitable for your sense of aesthetic.

While a better pre, with better resolution will also net you a large improvement I think you'll find that the tonal differences with using good microphones will be palpable... even with an M-Box.

thanks for the replies! It sounds like either a better mic, or a better preamp would net some better sounds. And i should also make sure i'm recording in a good room. it would be nice if i could try out the r-121 before i bought it to really see what it could do with my mbox, but i don't think that's possible. I will probably end up saving some money and buying it. could you guys recommend any preamps to use with it that are good, but aren't too expensive, like $300-$500? thanks again for the help.

I also have an Audio Technica 3035 and you might want to consider getting a nicer large diaphragm condenser mic. I'm actually in the same position as you. I'm caught between getting a Neumann TLM103 or a Royer R-121. I use two RNP/RNC combos for tracking that I think sound pretty good, but I'm by no means an expert. Just my two cents, and good luck with your decision.

Oh yeah, if you suddenly come up with $1300 more the VintechX73 is supposed to be nice :D

tony desilva wrote: Also bear in mind that the 121 has a figure-8 pickup pattern. It works great in larger, good sounding rooms. So if your recording space compliments the sound of whatever you're recorcding, it will sound great. If not, you'll have to close-mic the source and somehow prevent sound from entering the back of the mic.

Depends on how you're mic'ing the source sound. I use R-121's live all the time... but they're so close to the guitar amp [as in shoved in the grill] that the pickup from the back side of the mic is totally irrelevant... same goes if you're close mic'ing an amp in a room.

If you're using them for something like drum overheads then yes, the room will definitely come into play a good bit more... but for most vocal and guitar applications the figure 8 pattern rarely comes into play.