0928103050 - Royer Labs

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VOL. TWENTY SIX NUMBER SEVEN APRIL 2013 USA $5.99 CANADA $5.99 ®

Transcript of 0928103050 - Royer Labs

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$5.99US $5.99CAN

VOL. TWENTY SIXNUMBER SEVEN

APRIL 2013USA $5.99 CANADA $5.99

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In a recording session when someonesays, “I’m going to go put up a Royer” or“Let’s use the Royer”, they are typicallyreferring to Royer’s R-121 passive ribbonmicrophone... and with good reason, asit happens to be one of the few univer-sally accepted modern classics! While the R-121 (which we reviewed

way back in July 1999!) does have thesmooth rolled-off richness associated witha good ribbon mic, it also features a mid-forward modern push that has made it theguitar cabinet mic, second only to the ubiq-uitous Shure SM57 dynamic mic. The R-121 and its active-electronics descendantthe R-122 (reviewed October 2002), andtheir various cousins, have also become amainstay for drum overheads, percussion,horn sections, kick drum and more.(Speaking of innovations, Royer’s phan-tom-powered active ribbons—which fea-tured built-in head amplifiers for highergain and built-in impedance matching sothe mics could be used with any preampsuitable for a condenser mic—sparked arevolution of their own!)

Almost 15 years ago it was with the R-121 that David Royer and company ignitedthe modern ribbon-mic revolution, and thispast February Royer Labs received a techni-cal Grammy® award for that accomplish-ment. Three cheers for the R-121 and toRoyer on their award... but today we aregoing to look at another side of Royer, aslightly lesser known side, one that is soni-cally more neutral and ‘hi-fi’, as we reviewthe new SF-2.

Meet the new kidThe SF-2 is the latest in Royer’s SF Series

of mics, which are based upon a com-pletely different ribbon assembly anddesign than the R-121. These mics origi-nated as a variation of and improvementupon an original ribbon element designedby Robert Speiden in 1985.Compared to the R-Series’ medium sized

2.5-micron corrugated, offset aluminum ribbon

design, the SF assembly is much small-er, using an ultra-thin 1.8-micron ribbonbetween two pole-pieces with four high-grade neodymium magnets, with inter-nal stainless-steel damping screens onboth sides of the ribbon. (For the curi-ous, Figures 1 and 2 show the innardsof an R Series mic vs. an SF Series mic,and were taken at a recent tradeshow at Royer’s booth.)The first mic of the SF Series was

the SF-12 passive stereo mic(reviewed June 2000), followed bythe passive mono SF-1 (reviewedMarch 2002) and the active stereoSF-24 (reviewed November 2004).Now we come full circle with theSF-2, an active mono ribbon basedon the “Royer/Speiden” design.

Looks and buildThe SF-2 measures 8" tall and is

1" in diameter at the top and 11/2"at its bass. Stylistically it has the“active Royer SF” look with its sig-nature built-in windscreen and the

large bulbous lower body which housesits active electronics.It has a matte black finish adorned

with the green enamel Royer badge,and ships with a felt-lined suspensionmount, an aluminum flight case, and avelvet cloth bag for protecting the micfrom dust and bursts of air when not inuse. A Deluxe package adds a customPadauk wood presentation case,Royer’s RSM-24 shockmount, and acable, in a large aluminum case.

SpecsThe SF-2 features a 30 Hz to 15

kHz (±2 dB) frequency response; ithas a smooth frequency plot with noextreme spikes, rises, or cuts. (Therewill be small peaks due to body res-onances and the like, but they’ll beslightly different from mic to mic andyou won’t see them on a general-ized frequency plot as issued byRoyer... sorry, but I had to say that toavoid getting yelled at the next timeI see Scott Dorsey at a trade show.)

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B Y P A U L V N U K J R .

Royer SF-2Active Ribbon Microphone

A lesser-known ribbon design with a sweet and clear sound

Excerpted from the April edition of REcoRding Magazine 2013©2015 Music Maker Publications, inc. Reprinted with permission.5408 idylwild Trail, Boulder, co 80301 Tel: (303) 516-9118 Fax: (303) 516-9119 For Subscription Information, call: 1-954-653-3927 or www.recordingmag.com

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because we assume ‘bright and open’means ‘clean and natural’, when in fact mostmodern large-diaphragm condensers areactually more forward and detailed thanthey are neutral and natural. As a result, theSF-2 turns out to sound most similar to agood classic pencil condenser like an origi-nal Neumann KM 84, but smoother andlarger in its sound. An unexpected result!

In usePrior to getting my hands on the SF-2, I

had a few conversations about its designand history with John Jennings of RoyerLabs, so I had an initial handle on this mic’sexpected likes and dislikes going in. This isa mic that loves acoustic instruments, espe-cially those of a classical nature.Most importantly, the SF-2’s ribbon ele-

ment wasn’t designed for the high SPL theR-121 can handle, so for this review Iavoided sticking it in the grille of ascreaming guitar amp, placing it in thesound hole of a kick drum, placing it infront of a solo trumpet, or any other loudsource that would generate forceful move-ments of air.

I was even all set to avoid vocal work,as vocals can be fraught with plosives,spits and breath blasts, when Johninformed me it was not that fragile (fartougher than a Coles 4038 or any RCA);it would be fine for vocal work as long asa good pop filter was in place and atouch of distance was part of its place-ment. All in all, that makes the SF-2 similarto most classic and fragile ribbon designsin placement, use and handling... andpoints out that many engineers have nowbeen spoiled by the R-121’s ruggedness!

Strings: I received a pair of SF-2s at the startof the holiday season; I tend to do a lot ofstring recording at this time of year, and theSF-2 excels at that. On cello the sound was fulland even and avoided the low nasal“squonk” I often have to eq out. Violins sound-ed smooth and controlled without the screechystring brightness that many modern con-densers love to accentuate. Aside from close-miking solo instruments, a pair of SF-2s in aBlumlein stereo configuration is a beautifulthing when placed in the center of a string trioor quartet. Think full, natural and un-hyped!

Piano: On a piano-and-cello duet (one SF-2 on each) in a live setting in a large churchsanctuary, I appreciated that as I brought thefaders up and down, the perceived sound ofthe instruments did not change so much assimply get louder or softer; this highlightedhow true-to-life these mics are.Later I placed both mics inside the piano

as a slightly spaced pair (for a balance oflow and high rather then left and right) andwas again pleased with the results—fulland smooth but never exaggerated,boomy, or excessively metallic.

Banjo: On a bluegrass-tinged pop ses-sion, I put up one of the SF-2s on banjo inplace of the small-diaphragm condenser wehad been using; it did a great job of cuttingdown on the bright, plastic twang that oftentakes copious amounts of eq to lessen, andplaced the banjo comfortably in the mix.

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The SF-2 does have a slight low-end risebetween 40 and 90 Hz, a mid rise from1 to 6 kHz, and then a slight carving at10 kHz that rises back up at 12 kHzbefore tapering off; each of these is nevermore than a dB or two at their mostextreme. Further specs include a –38 dBVsensitivity, 200 Ohms @ 1 kHz outputimpedance, and 130 dB max SPL level.As briefly mentioned above, the SF-2’s

internal amp uses phantom power toachieve a hotter signal level, 15 to 30 dBover that of a typical ribbon mic. The activecircuit also distributes a reproducible loadto the ribbon element, making it immune tothe impedance variations between differentmicrophone preamps that can alter thesonic consistency of passive designs. Theoutput of the SF-2 features a custom woundtoroidal transformer and an ultra-low-noiseFET circuit.

The soundSonically the SF-2 has the telltale smooth-

ness and gentle top end that ribbon micsare known for, but it’s a very high-fidelitysound; unlike many ribbon models there is

nothing dark, pillowy, muffled, or cloudyabout it.When it comes to low end, a lot of rib-

bon mics tend toward extremes—eitherdeep slopes from 80 Hz on down, or bigbooming low-end boosts. By contrast theSF-2 sits in the middle, with just enoughlow end to give it an even weight, but notenough to stand out.Compared to some of the other well-

known high-end ribbon mics, it lacks thelow-mid bump of the AEA R84, withwhich we reacquainted our readers inour August 2012 issue. It is not as overt-ly ‘luscious’ or ‘vibey’ as an RCA 44-stylemic, and as mentioned earlier it isn’t mod-ern and upper-mid-forward like Royer’sown R-121. Interestingly, I hear its tonali-ty as closest to a well-maintained Coles4038, only slightly more even. Overallthis is a mic that is true to the source, hon-est and again gentle in the top end.As such it may seem a tad dull when com-

pared to high-end modern large-diaphragmcondensers by Brauner, Blue, Neumann,and the like. But that is at least partly

Royer SF-2 Active Ribbon Microphone

Excerpted from the April edition of REcoRding Magazine 2013©2015 Music Maker Publications, inc. Reprinted with permission.5408 idylwild Trail, Boulder, co 80301 Tel: (303) 516-9118 Fax: (303) 516-9119 For Subscription Information, call: 1-954-653-3927 or www.recordingmag.com

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Drum Overheads: In a more rock/popsetting, my favorite use of the SF-2 was ondrum overheads. In live use, my resultswere similar to the piano-cello duetdescribed above. Pulling the faders up anddown while listening to the kit in the roomrevealed a sound that simply got louderand fuller without a drastic change in tone.

In the studio I again liked how real andnatural the kit sounded. This is the onlytime I would tend toward calling the SF-2’s sound a ‘vintage’ or ‘classic’ sound—not because they are vibey, dark, orimposing mics, but because they do notdeliver a crisp, bright and modern tone.

For this reason I loved them in an AndyJohns-style setup (one SF-2 overhead andthe other just off the side of the floor tomand ride cymbal, both equidistant fromthe snare). Again, ‘classic’ describes itwell, especially since the figure-8 patternadds in a nice helping of room soundand secondary reflections.

Acoustic Guitar: The SF-2 is one of themost evenly weighted and un-hypedacoustic guitar mics I have ever used. Thisof course can be good or bad, depend-ing on whether or not you want the guitarbeing recorded to have extra jangle orlow-end weight. It is easy to add low endwith a bit of eq, but if you are after jan-gle, crispness and sparkle, this mic is justa tad too smooth for that.

Vocals: Just as with a string ensemble, the SF-2 works well for choirs and group back-ing vocals to keep them controlled and naturally placed in a mix. On solo vocals this micis best suited for loud operatic-style vocalists at a healthy distance vs. an up-close, “on themic” setting for traditional rock, pop or R&B... and not just for avoiding plosives.

Overall I missed the forward punch and openness of a modern condenser on solovoice, and I also found the SF-2 lacks the bold proximity effect and smooth gooeywarmth of the vintage-type ribbons suited to crooning-style vocals. In simple terms, ifyou want natural unimposing vocals the SF-2 is great, but if you want imposing for-ward vocals that cut through a mix, look elsewhere.

I also tried the SF-2 for a voiceover spot, and while I loved the smooth top end con-trol and found I could eq in a touch of low-end chest resonance, it probably would notbe my first choice for such a use.

ConclusionBottom line, the SF-2 is a mic with a pristine smoothness that is sublime; it’s honest and

natural but never clinical or boring. I don’t consider it a ribbon mic for the vibe seeker, whichis fine because the market is overflowing with mics like that. Normally I don’t like to classi-fy mics by genre, but all in all the SF-2 is better suited to classical, jazz and folk styles andnot so much for rock’n’roll. But, hey... we already have the R-121 for that, right?

The sobering part is the SF-2’s retail price of $2495. That makes a pair of them(which is really what you’ll want) a substantial investment. But it is an investment that willpay huge dividends over the years of your recording career, and one that may be essen-tial if you want to bring your recordings of classical stringed instruments, pianos, andthe like to a whole new level.

Price: $2495; Deluxe package as described above, $3295

More from: Royer Labs, www.royerlabs.com

Paul Vnuk Jr. ([email protected]) is a recording engineer, sound designer, andrecording musician in Milwaukee. Paul would like to thank John Jennings of Royer Labs fortechnical and historical discussions, and to apologize for his joke at the NAMM Show, whenhe told John he’d been having trouble with the SF-2 ever since he used it to record an air horn.

Excerpted from the April edition of REcoRding Magazine 2013©2015 Music Maker Publications, inc. Reprinted with permission.5408 idylwild Trail, Boulder, co 80301 Tel: (303) 516-9118 Fax: (303) 516-9119 For Subscription Information, call: 1-954-653-3927 or www.recordingmag.com