If you were to ask most home studio owners the piece of gear that they were missing that they wished they owned, there’s a good chance that they’d say a ribbon microphone. Many studio owners are hesitant to buy a ribbon mic mostly because of the persistent myths about how fragile they are that have taken hold over the years. Royer Labs, the company that virtually brought ribbon mics back from the dead, has busted all those myths years ago with its R-121 and phantom powered R-122, which have become standards in commercial studio mic closets everywhere. Now the company has released a new more affordable version of the R-122, called the R-12.
Although ribbon mics reproduce transients well with a pleasingly smooth sound, their output has always been on low side, requiring a low noise preamp with extra gain to compensate. Royer solved this by including a proprietary onboard phantom-powered preamp with a beefed-up transformer on its R-122, and that’s what you’ll find in the R-12. Not only that, the mic’s active electronics is also designed to place a perfect load on the ribbon element at all times, so the frequency response stays constant regardless of the preamplifier it’s plugged into.
Since the mic is now capable of extra gain, a -15dB switchable pad is also included on the backside of the mic. This allows the mic to handle SPLs as high as 160 dB (at 1 kHz), which can be useful when used on loud sound source like a loud drummer or guitar cabinet. The R-12 is also outfitted with a switchable High Pass filter especially tuned to reduce low end proximity buildup.
So Much The Same
The R-12 isn’t just a cheaped-out version of the R-121. It has the same 2.5-micron direct-corrugated ribbon element that the R-121 uses. The transducer is also cradled in an intern shock-mount for protection, while also reducing handling noise. Combined with its built-in triple-layer wind screen, the microphone’s ribbon is protected against plosives and other wind-related noise, which has previously been the bane of ribbon microphones.
The Royer R-12 is due to be delivered any time now and will be available for a retail price of $899. It comes complete with a mic mount and hard-shell carrying case, and is also available in matched pairs.
You can find out more here, or watch the video below for a sample of what it sounds like.
