royer R-121
, Operation Instructions Manual & User Manual

Page 1: ...ROYER Labs Model R 121 Ribbon Velocity Microphone Operation Instructions Manual User Guide Made in U S A ...

Page 2: ...on Microphones page 8 Hum Noise Mic Orentation page 8 The Sweet Spot page 9 Other Types of Microphones page 10 Proximity Effect Working Distance page 11 Microphone Technique page 13 Stereophonic Microphone Technique page 17 Specialized Recording Techniques page 20 Care Maintenance page 21 Features Specifications page 22 Electrical Specifications page 23 Mechanical Specifications page 24 Polar Patt...

Page 3: ...odel R 121 went though extensive quality control checks before leaving the factory Normal care is all that is required to assure a lifetime of trouble free service Please read the manual thoroughly in order to become familiar with all of the R 121 s capabilities It will assist you in making the most of your microphone s superior acoustic properties This owner s manual is a handy reference guide an...

Page 4: ...ncy proximity effect makes it especially useful for announcers and vocalists Female vocalists often benefit from the R 121 s abil ity to capture high frequencies without distortion or edginess Orchestral instruments are captured in a natural sounding way and free from microphone induced hype The R 121 has exceptionally smooth high frequency characteristics Phase related distortion and irregular fr...

Page 5: ...ophone and its rejection in the dead areas is very strong Due to this direc tionality the R 121 should be placed at 1 3 times the distance normally used with omni directional microphones or about the same distance used for cardioid microphones This method is used to achieve the same ratio of direct to reflected sound 2 In the horizontal plane the R 121 does not discriminate against the highs off a...

Page 6: ... phantom power is enabled on any of your mic pre s as this will give the ribbon element a brief but damaging phantom power jolt 5 Never attempt to test the R 121 or any ribbon microphone with an ohmmeter A blown ribbon could result 6 Always provide adequate protection for your R 121 or any ribbon microphone If the microphone is to remain set up on a stand when not in use place a mic sock supplied ...

Page 7: ...microphone that uses a flat extremely low mass ribbon element rather than a coil diaphragm assembly For this writing any mention of dynamic microphones will relate to moving coil dynamics All condenser microphones have a built in preamplifier called a head amp and therefore put out a hefty signal Because the signal is buffered through the head amp the output impedance is rather low and less affect...

Page 8: ...p play a pivotal role in overall performance of the captured acoustic event 3 Load characteristics A suitable preamplifier should have input characteristics that impose the least amount of loading on the ribbon element In other words the input impedance should be high enough that its effect on the performance of the mic is negligible A good rule of thumb is to have a preamplifier with input impeda...

Page 9: ...microphones does allow for an enor mous amount of flexibility The reason that ribbon mics take EQ so well is their inherent low self noise less than 15dB unusually smooth response characteristics and freedom from off axis coloration Dialing in high amounts of equalization on condenser or dynamic microphones also brings up equal amounts of the microphone s distortion products and noise garbage that...

Page 10: ...h single coil pickups turn around until amplifier hum disappears The Sweet Spot Finding Working with the Sweet Spot Good engineers know the benefits of finding and working with the sweet spot of a given microphone The sweet spot will be defined as the optimum placement working distance and angu lar position of any microphone relative to the sound source Each microphone has its own sweet spot wheth...

Page 11: ... due to treble losses as a result of absorption and narrowing of the pattern at high frequen cies causing weakening of highs as the microphone is moved away from the sound source 3 Variation in ratio of direct to reverberant sound 4 Tendency of a microphone to favor the nearest sound source due to a combination of these items plus the influence of inverse square law Inverse square law states that ...

Page 12: ... intense and if desired can be corrected by equalization However for a multiple microphone setup the pronounced bass boosting due to proximity effect can be turned to an advantage If an instru ment such as a trumpet is extremely close miked and the bass is cut to restore flat response unwanted low frequency sounds are cut back by upwards of 20dB compared to an unequalized microphone with a flat re...

Page 13: ... weakened boosting them by several dB will sound natural even though the sound has been sweetened Radio and television announcers have long relied on proximity effect to produce a full rich authoritative quality in their voices By knowing how to work with the proximity effect the engineer can get several useful effects without resorting to a box Typical relationship of microphone distance to frequ...

Page 14: ...recorded with R 121s Place the microphone several feet from the instrument For larger string sections try placing the microphone slightly above the instrumentalists and angled down a distance of three or four feet will do the trick nicely Pianos sound excellent when recorded with R 121s and are free of phase related comb filtering The bass is full and rich while the top remains clean with no clatt...

Page 15: ...e right Drums and Percussion instruments sound full bodied and nat ural when recorded with a pair of R 121s For a drum set plac ing the microphone s at a distance of four to six feet above the kit works very well without the cymbals sounding splattered A kick drum should be miked at a distance of at least 18 inches and possibly used in conjunction with a blast filter to prevent excessive ribbon mo...

Page 16: ...he sound source the kick drum the guitar cab etc and see if you can feel actual air movement If you feel air movement do not put your ribbon microphone there A simple technique that can avert damage due to overstressing the ribbon is as follows After choosing the optimum placement for the microphone slightly angle the microphone in such a way that the percussive wave is not directed at the front o...

Page 17: ...Due to the microphone s pickup pattern sound will not be affected Side View of Kick Drum Miking Technique A Close miking angle mic so that pressure wave is off axis B Standard miking position Horizontal Positioning Technique Applied to kick drum similar to that utilized for other loud or percussive instruments 16 ...

Page 18: ...in the sketch see Figure 1 so that one faces left and the other right at an angle of 90º i e each displaced 45º from center Each microphone ultimately feeds one speaker in a stereo sys tem and due to the directionality of the microphones the result is a very well defined stereo effect on playback For classical music particularly the reproduction can be very satisfying Coincident pair seen from dir...

Page 19: ...nnected as shown in Figure 3 If the outputs of the two microphones are equal or made equal using gain controls the stereo pickup will be similar to that of two microphones placed as a Blumlein X Y pair delivering a wide stereo image As you reduce the level of the side microphone the width of the stereo image will narrow until with the side microphone turned all the way down you have just the mid m...

Page 20: ...nd the adjustment of the stereo separation can be done during mixdown rather than during the actual recording NOTE INVERT PHASE Mixer Channel Pan LEFT Mixer Channel Pan RIGHT Mixer Channel Pan CENTER XLR Female to mic XLR Male Right Output XLR Male Left Output phase reversed Y adapter mic splitter with phase reversal Figure 3 Typical M S connection set up 19 ...

Page 21: ...n phase and the back side is out of phase We suggest that that you reverse the phase polarity on your microphone preamplifier to achieve in phase recordings when tracking on the backside of an R 121 Normal proximity effect increase of bass which is prevalent on the R 121 and all ribbon microphones occurs normally at 4 6 inches from the microphone and increases with closeness Vocalists and voice ov...

Page 22: ...age has occurred before returning it to service Low output or a dull sound would indicate a dam aged ribbon 2 Do not expose the microphone to direct blasts of air or strong air currents Use a windscreen or suitable blast filter when close miking a vocalist or certain types of wind instru ments 3 Do not expose microphone to liquids or caustic smoke 4 Do not expose the microphone to strong alternati...

Page 23: ...Features and Specifications R 121 Features Very high overload characteristics maximum SPL greater than 135dB No internal active electronics to overload or produce distor tion up to maximum SPL rating Extremely low residual noise Ribbon element is unaffected by heat or humidity Absence of high frequency phase distortion Excellent phase linearity even off axis Equal sensitivity from front or back of...

Page 24: ...Generating Element 2 5 micron aluminum ribbon Frequency Range 30HZ 15 000HZ 3dB Sensitivity 50dBv Ref 1 v pa Output Impedance 300 Ohms nominal bal anced Rated Load Impedance 1500 Ohms Maximum SPL 135dB Output Connector Male XLR 3 pin Pin 2 Hot All Royer monaural microphones are also available in matched pairs 23 ...

Page 25: ... 6 ounces Weight with Case 21 1 ounces Dimensions 158mm x 25mm 6 13 L x 1 W Finish Dull Satin Nickel or Matte Black Chrome Accessories Protective wood case protective mic sock Optional Accessories Shock mount popscreen Warranty Lifetime to original owner repair or replace at Royer s option For up to the minute information on Royer products and their use visit our Web site at www royerlabs com 24 ...

Page 26: ...Polar Pattern Frequency Response 25 ...

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Page 33: ... the product has been damaged by accident or misuse or as a result of repair or modification by other than a Royer Labs customer service facility authorized to service this prod uct Should it ever become necessary to service your Royer Labs product please contact the factory for a return authoriza tion number and packaging instructions In our continuing effort to improve our products Royer Labs re...