{{inline, date=May 2018 Royer Labs is an American

microphone A microphone, colloquially called a mic or mike (), is a transducer that converts sound into an electrical signal. Microphones are used in many applications such as telephones, hearing aids, public address systems for concert halls and pub ...

company that some consider to be one of the foremost manufacturers of

ribbon microphone A ribbon microphone, also known as a ribbon velocity microphone, is a type of microphone that uses a thin aluminum, duraluminum or nanofilm of electrically conductive ribbon placed between the poles of a magnet to produce a voltage by electrom ...

s. The reasons most often cited for this opinion is that Royer has combined the traditional warmth of vintage ribbon microphones with modern output levels. While older ribbon microphones had a great sound, the ribbons were weak and would break easily. Royer microphones, however, are still strong enough to be placed in front of electric guitar amps, a placement that certain older ribbons could not have weathered. David Royer designed his first ribbon microphone in 1997 and started the company that bears his name one year later. When that first microphone, the R-121, was released, it received positive reviews from all the major recording magazines. The R-121 Ribbon microphone contained two innovations that delivered the performance levels necessary for professional studio use. Neodymium (rare-earth) magnets produce a much stronger magnetic field than the AlNiCo magnets used by vintage designs, raising the microphone's sensitivity. High-grade output transformers raise the microphone's signal-to-noise ratio. The R-121 is also known for its use of Royer's patented "offset ribbon" design, in which the placement of the aluminum ribbon allows it to withstand louder sources from the front of the microphone, as well as giving the microphone a slightly different voicing from front to back. The company has continued to innovate, and was the first to develop a

phantom power Phantom power, in the context of professional audio equipment, is DC electric power transmitted through microphone cables to operate microphones that contain active electronic circuitry. It is best known as a convenient power source for con ...

ed ribbon microphone, and a tube-ribbon microphone.

In Use

Royer microphones have been used on many instruments. Sound engineers have had good results when recording classical guitars,

drum kit A drum kit (also called a drum set, trap set, or simply drums) is a collection of drums, cymbals, and other auxiliary percussion instruments set up to be played by one person. The player (drummer) typically holds a pair of matching drumsticks ...

piano The piano is a stringed keyboard instrument in which the strings are struck by wooden hammers that are coated with a softer material (modern hammers are covered with dense wool felt; some early pianos used leather). It is played using a musica ...

woodwind Woodwind instruments are a family of musical instruments within the greater category of wind instruments. Common examples include flute, clarinet, oboe, bassoon, and saxophone. There are two main types of woodwind instruments: flutes and ...

s, and

electric guitar An electric guitar is a guitar that requires external amplification in order to be heard at typical performance volumes, unlike a standard acoustic guitar (however combinations of the two - a semi-acoustic guitar and an electric acoustic gu ...

s. Users of Royer microphones include

Carlos Santana Carlos Humberto Santana Barragán (; born July 20, 1947) is an American guitarist who rose to fame in the late 1960s and early 1970s with his band Santana, which pioneered a fusion of Rock and roll and Latin American jazz. Its sound feature ...

Herb Alpert Herb Alpert (born March 31, 1935) is an American trumpeter who led the band Herb Alpert & the Tijuana Brass in the 1960s. During the same decade, he co-founded A&M Records with Jerry Moss. Alpert has recorded 28 albums that have landed on the ...

Steve Albini Steve Albini (pronounced ; born July 22, 1962) is an American musician, record producer, audio engineer and music journalist. He was a member of Big Black, Rapeman and Flour, and is a member of Shellac. He is the founder, owner and principal en ...

, Ross Hogarth, and Ed Cherney.

External links

*http://emusician.com/tutorials/emusic_ribbon_mic_summit/index2.html, Gino Robair, "Ribbon Mic Summit," ''Electronic Musician'', August 2006 *http://mixonline.com/mag/audio_royer_labs_ribbonvelocity/index.html, Barry Rudolph, "Royer Labs R-121: RIBBON-VELOCITY STUDIO MICROPHONE," ''Mix'', April 1999 *http://www.soundonsound.com/sos/apr00/articles/royerr121.htm, ''Sound on Sound'', "Funky Ribbon," April 2000 *http://recordinghacks.com/2012/06/11/david-royer-interview/, ''Interview with David Royer'', June 2012 *http://www.royerlabs.com/quotes.html Microphone manufacturers Audio equipment manufacturers of the United States American brands