Royer Labs R-121 Large-Element Ribbon Microphone, Nickel

Quickly adopted by top producers like Bruce Swedien and Michael Wagener as their go-to mic for recording guitars and instruments, the bidirectional R-121 sounds golden on any source. Able to handle high SPLs, its response is flat and well balanced. Low end is deep and full, mids are well defined and realistic, and the high-end response is sweet and natural. You owe it to your music to try one. Lifetime warranty. The R-121 is Royer’s flagship microphone and the world’s first radically redesigned ribbon microphone. Royer did away with the large, heavy, fragile, “classic” approach to ribbon microphones and went in a completely new direction. The R-121 gives all of the warm, natural tonal response for which top engineers have always loved ribbon mics, but in a compact, lightweight, higher output, tough-as-nails package that was unheard of in a ribbon mic before the Royer R-121. Like many of the best-loved classic ribbon mics, the R-121 has a figure-8 pattern, sensitivity in the dynamic mic range, and a warm, realistic tone and flat frequency response. But that’s where the similarities end. By using advanced materials and a blend of cutting edge and old-school hand-build construction techniques, the R-121 is a far more versatile and user-friendly ribbon mic that can stand up to the most demanding tasks, including live stage use. It’s built solid enough for Royer to give it a lifetime warranty. The R-121 redefined ribbon microphones so thoroughly that Recording magazine wrote “…the Royer R-121 is destined to become one of the classic microphones of the 21st century”. Patented Offset Ribbon Technology The R-121’s proprietary offset ribbon transducer (Patent Number: 6,434,252) is the first of its kind, positioning the ribbon element closer to the front (logo) side of the microphone. This arrangement gives the ribbon more room to move within the prime magnetic field while maintaining full frequency response during high SPL recordings. It’s an integral piece of the magic…

High SPL capabilities
No internal active electronics to overload or produce distortion up to maximum SPL rating
Extremely low residual noise
Ribbon element not affected by heat or humidity
No high frequency phase distortion