Royer R-121 Studio Ribbon Microphone Reviews

This mic is now around 25 years old. Still just as amazing as the day it was released. I've gone into a deep dive with this mic in the video I've linked. How this mic can sound a 1000 different ways (and another 1000 when you turn it around to use the back). The mic like a good high impedance preamp. The cloud lifter will get you to 3K, but to get the R121 you have to push a little harder. The video goes into this phenomena as we show what lower impedances will do to the performance of the mic. Be sure to get yourself a good shock mount with it as well.
This mic can pretty much do no wrong in my eyes on electric guitar. This is an investment in sound quality you wont regret!

Fantastic sound, I wanted this for a long time and finally, it is mine. I love this mic and would recommend it for pro recordings.

This is an incredible microphone. I've been recording vintage acoustic parlor guitars and the Royer captures all of the lovely nuances and overtones perfectly. It's very sensitive and captures fading sustain like no other mic in the studio.

My son is a performing trumpet player and the Royer is outstanding for that as well

I've had one R121 for several years now. I really need a second. There simply isn't a better microphone Tara cabinets, bass cabinets, horns, strings… on and on. It's amazing. This mic really shines with the addition of a cloud lifter line boost. Not only because it boost the gain but it also creates a better impedance match with the microphone the most preamplifiers will do. Even in situations where I don't need the extra gain I will still use the cloud lifter for the impedance.

Anyway if you're even considering buying this microphone just do it. I've only grown to love it more over the years. The more other microphones I add to my collection The more this mic distinguishes itself. You'll never regret owning it, that's for sure.

Also something that is not widely advertised, the first time you actually need to have the ribbon replaced is free. It's not something you need to do very often of course, but it's good to know when you finally do.

Excellent!!! Absolutely incredible mic.

I am so very happy with this thing,,,,,I use it on guitars and on the outside of the kick drum with amazing results...Worth every penny in my opinion.

Want to convey to everyone at Sweetwater and Aric Brenner in particular what a great experience the last four or five years it"s been. Top sales and service brings me back to you guys! Looking forward to future purchases. Thanks again Aric Brenner. 32 years in customer service myself and nobody"s better than you sir.

I was reluctant to spend a good portion of my studio budget on this mic, but I am very happy I did. It has taken my guitar recordings to a whole other experience. I am using a Sennheiser 421 adn e609 up close with the Royer about 3 foot in front of the cabinet. I could never get the sound I was looking for until I began using this mic. It captures the room sound extremely well. I am using it with the Grace m101 preamp and I could not be happier. It sounds great with my Sternberg 824 preamp running at 4k but the Grace preamp on ribbon mode sends 20k to the Royer which optimizes the performance of the mic. The detail is and quality of the recordings are AMAZING!

I also have the R-122V, and my personal opinion is the R-122 gives trumpets a somewhat smoother sound. Love this mic!

I am using this mic in my small personal studio on a weekly basis. I've tracked enough songs now with this mic, on guitar amps, that I simply do not start a session without it set in dead center of the cone about 2 inches back from the grill to start. I add other mics, like a C414 or SM57, but the R121 has become the 'center image' when I mix. The other mics are added for taste. . The R121 adds a warmth and detail that other mics simply cannot touch. I've also used it for male harmony, for getting a nice room sound with drums and for drum overheads from time to time. . I cannot agree more that this mic comes the closest to ' what you hear' and it is certainly a go to mic.

wery good microphone

I have never been a believer in ribbon mics. I thought they were for indie rock guys who confuse muffled and crappy sounding with warm and vibey. I was wrong. When I compared my go to mic ( A Neuman or Lawson U47 fet ) with the 121 I was astonished. Fantastic articulation with a beautiful big open sounding mid range that remained focused in the track. I very different sound than the fet 47. After really listening to the R 121 while on the job I decided I should have one around. I use it now in my home studio.

My Sweetwater sales engineer, Mike Godlove, told me this would be the best microphone purchase of my lifetime. I think he has right. However, I must admit this mic is four times more expensive than the next most expensive mic I had previously purchased. I should have expected great results. I had always been hesitant to try a ribbon mic in the past, but all my research into the Royer ribbons kept telling me not to worry so much about the fragility of these modern day ribbons. The other thing my research kept pointing out was that these mics reproduce sound so accurate it is unreal. I think this is true. Although I have only had this mic a short time, everything I have tried it on has blown me away. Acoustic instruments absolutely shine through this mic. The female vocalist I tried it on sounded amazing. The only thing not to like about this mic is the cheap stand clamp that comes with it. Royer does make a very nice shock mount. That is the next thing on my list. I can't say enough good about it. I am so glad I finally made the move to a ribbon mic.

I hooked this up to a 4-710d with an sm81 mic'ing my fender tube tweed twin amp and it was beyond words. Don't worry about SPL - you aren't recording this behind an F-16 fighter jet besides 141 dB you'll go deaf anyway. But really this is an amazing mic. I can't really articulate accurately how much of a difference it makes but use a condenser mic with a ribbon on cab's and amps and you will be blown away. BTW - tried the R101 it is really nice as well. Royer is used exclusively in Abbey Road Studios from what a confidant told me. Anyway, I guarantee that this will rock your world. Get two of them seriously you would love these ribbon microphones. Just make sure you have at least 71 dB of gain. If you can't get more, get a cloudlifter which I believe will boost the dB by 24 or 20 I forget which. As for me it will be used on a Heritage Audio MPA73 preamp with 80 dB of gain.

This microphone will be a classic for years to come.
Such great character!
It is truly a companion, not just a microphone.

One of my top two go-to mics.
Works great on all of my sources (acoustic guitars, vocals, guitar cabs, drums, percussion).
Reacts very nicely to simple EQ curves, making it very easy to work with and achieve the sound you want within a short amount of time.

I enjoy using the R-121 for the "sides" during mid-side recording setups.

Excellent mic. No need to think twice.

This is a beautiful mic. It's incredibly natural and lovely-sounding.

I haven't had a chance to put it through it's paces yet, but I've recorded an acoustic guitar with a near-coincident R-121 aimed at the neck and a U87 aimed at the body and holy cow that's a stunning combination. I also threw it up in a grand piano lid up and did a shootout with this, a 451, and an SM81. To me, it stood out, and those other mics are not too shabby, so I was pretty impressed.

I'm still nervous about damaging the ribbon, as there are many warnings about that in the manual. And be prepared, it needs a ton of gain, and I mean a ton. But pair it with a Millennia HV-3 and wow, it's pretty otherworldly.

My only regret is I probably would've bought either the stereo version or a matched pair had I realized how much I was going to like it. I can totally see why one would want a pair, especially if you're doing any recordings of orchestras, choirs, drum overheads, etc. I'm certain I will be buying a 2nd at some point.

Great ribbon mic , we used it to mic an electric guitar amp (along with a Shure 57) & we got a great sound. Will use it on acoustic guitars as well as vocals.

IT IS HARD TO DESCRIBE THE BEAUTY OF THIS MIC. I BOUGHT A PAIR AND TRIED IN A SHOW WITH SMALL ORCHESTRA ORCHESTRA AND SOON AFTER BOUGHT ANOTHER PAIR. THEY ARE THAT GOOD. THE DETAIL YOU PIC UP WITH THESE MICS IS UNREAL. THEY PARTICULARLY EXCELL WITH AN ORCHESTRA. I HIGHLY RECOMMEND THEM

I am very critical of gear I purchase from Sweetwater, since I want good quality and the advertisements all say that every piece of gear is wonderful. However, this is one of my favorite mics I've ever used in the studio. It is now my favorite mic for tracking mandolin, even over the c414 or the Neumann U 87. I use this at the school recording studio we have but would recommend it for home/private studio use.

How many of you have spent hours tweaking your guitar tracks to get just the right sound? If you're one of many I'm sure, put the SM-57's away and pick up a Royer R-121 NOW. I've read the reviews for this thing but you just won't believe it until you've tried one yourself! We recorded an Ibanez Vai through a 60 Watt Blackstar with a bunch of effects and Holy Smokes!!! That's what has been missing all along. It sounds like Metallica or Priest sitting in my basement studio! Endless EQ.....forget it. Tweaking compressors? Why? This thing makes your guitars sit perfectly in the mix with little effort. What you put in...comes out. Highly Recommended!

Nice to have a mic that is not hyped and edgy. It represents sources very faithfully with a touch of warmth that is not stodgy or dull. As well as using it for electric guitar (which it excels at), my new favorite application is as the 'Mid' in an M/S configuration for acoustic guitar together with a Blue Kiwi in Figure 8 mode. The solidity of the Royer in the middle balances the highs of the Kiwi on the sides extremely well. I'm delighted with the Royer - a great first ribbon if you don't already one.

Every mic has a flavor or tone if you will. Some are bright, some are harsh, some are warm some are just plain dull. Point is, all mic's impart their own sound on a given sound source. One very easily recognizable instance of this is when micing a guitar cabinet. The 57 have upper mid-range sound, a 421 has a bright high and can have more lows than the 57 depending on positioning... with this thing... what you hear coming out of the speaker is what you hear on playback. Yes there are certain little things that the ribbon imparts on the sound, (the front of the mic has a different sound than the back at close proximity) but for the most part, especially with guitar recording, THIS IS IT!

This mic is the real deal. I couldn't believe my ears especially when using on electric guitar. It's very cool on drums and acoustic instruments as well. Great mic that's worth the investment.

This mic is a common sense mic. Place it where it sounds great and it will sound great. You may have to throw out your dynamic or condenser mic paradigms but you’ll soon find this an irresistible option once you’ve figure it out. It’s hard to make it sound bad. I have a unique “singer/songwriter” voice that has some harsh upper-mids that my MA-200 was picking up well (not its fault). The Royer smoothed everything out without sacrificing fast transient response, clarity, or “air” in the recorded track. Play around with it and it will not disappoint you. The more you get to know it, they more you’ll see how priceless it is to have in your mic locker.

*Do make sure you treat yourself to a mic-pre with plenty of gorgeous clean gain. I used a Daking Mic Pre One.

I have been using my R-121 in my studio for about 2 years. It has been my consistent go to mic on almost every session. It excels on horns, and is breathtaking when close recording hand percussion. I used it on my flugel horn a few years ago, and the track won me an Emmy! One of my absolute favorite mics!

The Royer R121 is the finest, smoothest mic for electric guitar. This mic is has two distinctive sounds, depending on which side you point it. It's like having two completely unique sounds that are both astounding. I own almost 30 mics, and this is the best of the bunch. I have used it for recording strings, piano, guitar, vocals, drums, accordion, wind and brass horns, and oh, my, it has sounded incredible for every last one. This mic is to die for. If it were a woman, I'd marry it, if it were an idol, I would worship it. Come to think of it, I already do.

GENIUS....Dave you're the man. I use these mics on everything....literally. This is my studio workhorse. It is so three dimensional that it really does put you in the mix. I have a femal artist that I'm producing that loves this mic for vocals. Very Very warm and vintage. If you have these mics I would also recommend getting the AEA Ribbon Pre. It's a great price and it compliments these mics perfectly. I also love the Presonus ADL 600 and the Focusrite Red Series on ribbons.Get a couple.

If you've been searching for that perfect guitar tone but you just can't quite get there, this is what you've been missing. It's not the cheapest mic out there so it wasn't my first choice but after testing this mic for five minutes I knew I found what I was looking for. This mic puts you in the room, needs little eq and sounds great through many mic pres; avalon 737, BAE neve 1272, Trident S20 just to name a few.

This is THE mic for recording electric guitars. I know it does all sorts of other things very well, but I use it on elec guitars a ton! I primarily use the R-121 on a Vox AC-30, through a UA 2610 preamp, through Apogee converters. Sometimes I'll throw an SM57 or a Sennheiser MD421 right up in the middle of the cone and stick the Royer a little off to the side and behind or on the other cone matching the distance to keep it in phase. Either way, I'm usually tracking within 5 minutes of taking the mic out of its pretty little cherry box.

In the mixing stage, the quality of this mic comes out more than you even knew it in the tracking stage. It sits in the mix better than you could ever imagine, sounds so natural, so lively, and I hardly even have to eq.

Bottom line, this mic is pure butter. It's worth every penny if you're ready to record electric guitars with very high quality.

This is truly an amazing microphone. It has the sound of a ribbon—deep, punchy lows with some good proximity effect, strong and articulate mids, slightly rolled off highs (but they definitely come out nicely with a little EQ!). It also has the added flexibility of unusually high spl handling for a ribbon. I have used it fairy close to a kick drum, a close "front of kit" mic, low center-overhead, and close miking a very loud cranked guitar amp—it handles it all. Where this mic really surprised me though, is on acoustic guitar. This mic, or the rear side of this mic to be precise, is now my #1 go to for acoustic guitars. The sound it gives cannot be matched by any condenser I've tried. Also, it's very linear figure-8 polar pattern is great for rejecting vocals on a singing guitar player.

My only two suggestions are to invest in either a Cloudlifter or dBooster, and the shock mount. I highly recommend Sweetwater's bundle with the shockmount. For a mic this good, it's worth the extra change.

If you record electric guitar, you need to have this mic. If you're used to the usual dynamic mics, you will poop yourself when you first find the sweet spot on a 121. You could be smart and get 10 sm57's or you could be really REALLY smart and get one R-121. Will "poop" get past the censors?

It's warmer than my Neumann U87 and I'm now recording vocals blending both mice together. Very rich soubd. It's great on my guitars with a.n AKG 414 and SM57. Lots of Chanel's to control but once I have the sound, I bounce them all to a single track. Fun experimenting with sounds and the Royer has added another dimension to my sound. Great addition.

This mic sounds great. It has very smooth lows, mids, and highs. Running through a 1073 with a little compression from an 1176, it sounds amazing. Unfortunately, it includes a cheap, totally inadequate mic clip, replete with a sticker saying you should buy the Royer shockmount (and it's very, very expensive). At this price point, it seems to me they should include everything required to protect your investment.