Royer R121 alternatives?

niccolo gallio · Post by **niccolo gallio** » Sun Aug 02, 2009 7:52 am

Hi there,
It's been some years since I've got my R121 and I've been very happy so far.
I've been discovering a whole new "rejection" meaning since the figure 8 really nulls out on it's sides and I like very much how the mic behaves from a sonic perspective. I would like to expand my one-man ribbon army with some other ribbon mics that would not break my bank while at the same time offering advantages I found in my Royer, namely not so smoothed out highs and high spl capacity.
What is your advice in this department?

thanks

niccolo

jaguarsg · Post by **jaguarsg** » Sun Aug 02, 2009 9:44 am

how about the mic it was copied from - the B&O BM3?

losthighway · Post by **losthighway** » Sun Aug 02, 2009 9:49 am

At first guess a Beyerdynamic M160, maybe a Cascade Gomez, maybe a Shinybox. I can't claim to own all of these but I have been looking in to getting something like that soon and these are the more attainable ones that seem to speak to those uses.

digitaldrummer · Post by **digitaldrummer** » Sun Aug 02, 2009 11:00 am

I've never had the opportunity to compare to a real Royer, but I do like my N-Sonic NS1 (same as a Nady RSM3 and others that imported from the same chinese manufacturer...). this mic is somewhat of a copy of the Royer and I believe Royer even sued because some of the early ones had the offset ribbon (mine appers to have this

).

I got mine on eBay from this guy a couple years ago:

http://cgi.ebay.com/New-Ribbon-Micropho ... 286.c0.m14

I also have the NS2, but I like the NS1 a bit better- especially on guitar amps. you'd have to check with him to see if he has the NS1s. A lot cheaper than the Royer so I can feel pretty confident in saying that it would not sound exactly the same - maybe a slightly different sound is good though right?

update: I also got mine before he starting modding them - I had to tighten the ribbon myself on the NS2, so if he is now replacing them and modding the headbasket (I did that too) they are probably even better.

niccolo gallio · Post by **niccolo gallio** » Sun Aug 02, 2009 2:12 pm

Thanks,
well, I've heard that the B&O, on top of being a vintage mic (fancy and probably costly) has a very low output, even for a ribbon.
Shinybox and Cascade both look like cool mics and would love to hear from somebody that did a comparison between them.
Also the blumlein deal on the FatHeads looks cool.

Thanks and keep thosse suggestions comin'

nicco

ott0bot · Post by **ott0bot** » Mon Aug 03, 2009 5:57 pm

The Cascade mic's are pretty nice affordable ribbons, it's hard to beat them for the price.

Personally, I've always wanted an AEA r84 after using one during a session I interned at. Sounded amazing on vocals and acoustic guitar.

As far as comparisons....
There was a recent write up on Michael Joly's OktavaMod site with a modded Aphex vs a Coles mic. http://www.oktavamod.com/news.html. Having cheap ribbon's modified seems like a great way to go.

Sean Sullivan · Post by **Sean Sullivan** » Mon Aug 03, 2009 7:43 pm

I really like the R84 on acoustic guitar as well. Coles 4038 are classic overhead/room microphones for drums, and work on a variety of sources as well. I think ribbons tend to work best with a preamp that has a good high shelf, like a 1073, so you can boost between 8K-12K just a couple dB and get some extra high end but still that big ribbon sound, especially on drums.

If you want a super high end ribbon, the AEA R44C or R44CNE are classic. Huge vocal sound...really it makes everything sound huge. I actually have one of each coming my way this weekend, I'll compare the two if you'd like. I'll just sing into each through a Lynx Aurora 8 into something clean, like a GML or maybe a Martech, and post it here for comparison. I don't think either are available anymore, but I'd be interested in selling one or the other. My new room isn't treated, but I can use a sE Reflexion Filter, or just on a stand in my very bright room.

Trick Fall · Post by **Trick Fall** » Mon Aug 03, 2009 9:40 pm

Digital Drummer gave the tip on the NS-1 a while ago and I grabbed one and have been very pleased with it.

niccolo gallio · Post by **niccolo gallio** » Tue Aug 04, 2009 12:45 am

Hey, thanks
I'm looking at those cascades fatheads and boy, they are ugly.. but the blumlein package is very interesting.
Re: AEA44, they seem to be available as custom order for some 4+ grands so please, no comparisons, you'd just make me cry..
NS-1, i'll give a look at that.
The thing is that I cannot try any of these mics because I'm in italy now...
crap

capnreverb · Post by **capnreverb** » Tue Aug 04, 2009 5:55 am

You might want to look at the now defunct Crowley and Tripp mic's. Not cheap, but have the sound you describe and take a high spl.

Recycled_Brains · Post by **Recycled_Brains** » Tue Aug 04, 2009 6:26 am

Save and buy a 2nd Royer.

Then you have a pair. Way more useful, as it'll open up all kinds of stereo mic'ing possibilities that you wouldn't have with 2 different mics.

Plus, you like the Royer, and therefore you'd know what you were getting.

My opinion, anyways.

niccolo gallio · Post by **niccolo gallio** » Tue Aug 04, 2009 6:42 am

Yeah, that makes perfectly sense Ryan.
But I'd like to have three of them, so maybe it's another Royer and a cheaper one or two more, say, Fatheads.. for half the price of a R121, but ,you know, you pay for what you get..

But yeah, two R121 as overheads, that is appealing..

roygbiv · Post by **roygbiv** » Tue Aug 04, 2009 8:45 am

Somewhat on topic - any of you guys used the Cascade X-15 stereo ribbon mic?

Seems like it would be a good investment - you wouldn't always have to use it in stereo mode, but it would be there if you needed it.

I've yet to buy a ribbon, but wondered if this might be a good 1st choice.

Anyone have any experience with one using it both in mono and stereo?

Recycled_Brains · Post by **Recycled_Brains** » Tue Aug 04, 2009 8:55 am

niccolo gallio wrote:Yeah, that makes perfectly sense Ryan.
But I'd like to have three of them, so maybe it's another Royer and a cheaper one or two more, say, Fatheads.. for half the price of a R121, but ,you know, you pay for what you get..

But yeah, two R121 as overheads, that is appealing..

Another consideration, is that an R121 is more valuable, and will retain its value, much moreso than a Fathead. Chances are, you'll always find the a pair of Royers to be very useful to you, whereas you may end up with a pair of Nadys or Cascade mics collecting dust that you can't sell for beans 5 years from now.

In regards to getting something different in addition to a pair, I'd highly recommend trying out a Beyer M160. Phenomenal mic. Useful on so many things, and about half the price of a Royer. I've never liked a mic more on guitar cabs. As soon as my "budget" allows, I'll be acquiring a 2nd one.

Shinybox makes beautiful sounding ribbon mics as well.

kingtoad · Post by **kingtoad** » Tue Aug 04, 2009 9:16 am

The m160 is indeed a really cool mic, although I don't find it sounds quite as "ribbony" as you might expect. There seems to be a lot more high mids than your average ribbon, which makes them less suitable for things like fiddle. Great for distorted guitars though, and acoustics if you have a preamp with enough gain.

All IMO, of course. YMMV.

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Royer R121 alternatives?

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