Royer R-122 MkII (Burnished Satin Nickel)

The Royer R-122 MkII (Burnished Satin Nickel) is a phantom-powered Ribbon Microphone for studio and live applications. The R-122 MkII sounds warm and transparent, round in the treble and not obtrusive. The output level is approximately 16dB higher than passive Microphones.

Conventional Ribbon Microphones are, on average, 15-20dB less sensitive than Condenser mics, necessitating the use of high-quality, High-Gain mic pre-amplifiers for recording softer sound sources such as Acoustic Instruments, Vocals and room ambience. The Active Series Ribbon mics, starting with the R-122, contain fully balanced, discrete head amplifier systems utilizing ultra-low noise FETs. This system, designed by David Royer and Rick Perrotta, is extremely quiet, can handle 135dB SPL and allows Royer Active Series Ribbons to deliver a sensitivity of 38dB.

The electronics in the Active Series Ribbons provide a perfect load on the element at all times, meaning that R-122s are able to deliver 100% of their full sonic potential regardless of the input characteristics of the following mic-pre. Due to the low-impedance output, Active Series mics can also be used with extremely long cable runs with minimal signal loss. A good impedance match is critical with Ribbon Microphones because impedance mismatching loads a Ribbon improperly, resulting in loss of low end, diminished body, lowered sensitivity and overall compromised performance. With the Active Series ribbons, the Ribbon element lives in a perfect world; it sees an optimum impedance match at all times regardless of the following equipment, so its performance will never be compromised by the effects of improper loading. Finally Active Series Ribbon Microphones are more resistant to damage from phantom power, electrical glitches or faulty wiring.