greetings earthlings today i'm back with a review of another
ribbon microphone that microphone being the royer labs r10 which if i am not mistaken
is their most affordable microphone this comes in at around 500 and if you are interested in
this mic like always i'll throw some links in the description down below and for this review i have
the microphone connected directly to the focusrite 18 i 22nd gen my gain is set at 100 percent
and i will not do any kind of post processing but i may have to boost it a little bit in post
so check the doobly-doo to see what i didily did and now let's talk about what comes in the box
first off everything comes in this hard shell carrying case
you'll get this velvety microphone cover you'll of course get the microphone
a microphone mount a 5 8 to 3 8 inch microphone stand adapter a couple of catalogs
ah you get a sticker
i can't do that that's terrible for your voice then as far as the build quality it feels
absolutely outstanding i think it may be one of the better feeling microphones i've ever handled
it has an all metal body which feels very robust and has a reassuring weight to it the grille is
all metal as well and has no give to it as you move around the microphone there are no buttons or
switches on the bottom of the microphone you will find the xlr port and if it matters to you this
microphone is assembled in burbank it is not made in burbank but it is assembled in burbank which
is better than nothing then as far as the specs this microphone has a figure eight polar pattern
a frequency response of 30 hertz to 15 kilohertz a sensitivity of around negative 54 db a max spl
of 135 db and an impedance of 100 ohms now i am rotating around at the royer r10 to 90 degrees
this should be a dead area and very quiet continuing around the microphone to 180 degrees
this is the second lobe of sensitivity continuing around the microphone to the second
dead and null area and then rotating and ending at the front of the microphone
now right here i would typically include my pedantic please bring pizza pronto plosive
test but i think that would potentially damage the ribbon so i'm not going to be doing that moral of
the story is if you're using a ribbon microphone for vocals please just use a pop filter i will
put a little bit of a gust of air into this so you can hear how bad it could be though
yikes now i am right on top of the r10 so you can hear the proximity effect on this thing and it
is crazy now i'm about three inches off of the mic with a pointed at the corner of my mouth and here
is how it is sounding about one foot away from the microphone two feet away from the microphone
and about four feet away from the microphone now i am typing on a keyboard with gatoron
blue switches to see how much of my voice versus how much of the keyboard it picks up
and for the elite gaming folk now i am clickity clacking away on the sad w keys w not w
w here is how the microphone sounds in a well-treated room
and here is how the microphone sounds in a completely untreated room
next let's see how the provided mount does at isolating the microphone from bumps of the desk
and the boom arm so i'll go ahead and start by tapping on my desk
and then i'll tap on the boom arm now to be as thorough as possible i'll go ahead
and tap on the microphone's body to see if there are any kind of resonant frequencies
next we're going to be doing a quick comparison between the royer r10 and the couple other ribbon
microphones that i currently own and i will also be including the shure sm7b because it's also a
darker smoother sounding microphone has some ribbon characteristics but it's going to be a
somewhat limited comparison first we'll start on the microphone that we're reviewing this is
the royer r10 six inches off gain it 100 percent and here is how it sounds let's jump to the first
mic and hear how it compares to that first up in the comparison is the mxl r144 this is a 100
figure eight polar pattern ribbon microphone i am over here in this position to avoid phase issues
with this mic because this thing has a ton of them very difficult to use this in a less than anechoic
chamber it seems so gain at 100 6 inches off and there you go affordable ribbon 100 microphone
versus the 100 500 royal r10 let's do some more comparisons back on the royer r10 here is how
this sounds as a reminder 500 for this microphone there you go let's jump to the next one now i am
back in my normal seating position but this is the shure sm7b dynamic microphone four hundred dollars
about six inches away from the capsule in neutral mode and the gain is still at one hundred percent
and here is how this microphone sounds compared to the royer royal tur royer r10 is what i was trying
to say and failed miserably at more comparisons back on the royal r10 again so you can hear how
this sounds let's jump to the third or fourth or fifth microphone i have no idea and hear how it
compares to that now i am on an absolute stunner of a microphone this is the buyer dynamic m160
this is another ribbon microphone big surprise goes for 700. six inches off of this gain at 100
and here is how it sounds this is a hyper cardioid ribbon so it's not going to be as sensitive from
the rear of it in case that's important to you and there you go buyer dynamic m160 700
handheld ribbon microphone versus the r 10. let's do a couple more comparisons and so it's easier on
you to compare the audio from these microphones back on the r10 here's how it sounds let's jump
to the next microphone and compare it to that and now i am on another absolutely outstanding ribbon
microphone this is the aea ku5a i do not have the high pass filter engaged and i do have phantom
power engaged because this is an active ribbon my gain was decreased to about three o'clock and i
am six inches off of this thing here is how this sounds i love this microphone i love the buyer
there you go let's do one more comparison and i wasn't really planning on doing this but it's a
meme at this point so we have one more to do and everybody knows what it's going to be so
let's compare it to that and lastly we are on the neumann u87ai 6 inches off 48 volts phantom power
on gain set at 11 o'clock cardioid mode 32 to 3600 dollars and i have to include this because i can
because it's a staple because it gives context there you go which of these was your favorite
let me know in the comments down below and note next we're jumping to the music test but i did
something a little bit different for the electric guitar i imagine a lot of people would be pairing
this with the sm57 so i recorded the r10 and the 57 simultaneously and during the electric
guitar part there will be four full phrases the first will be rhythm just with the r10
then rhythm with the r10 and v57 then when the lead comes in everything will be just the r10
for the first phrase second phrase with the lead will be r10 and 57 on all the electric guitars
i've got a ribbon mic to test
and although it isn't marketed for voice let's see how it sounds i know it's not technically a
vocal microphone but i'm gonna do the exact same tests i do on every single microphone
i know people are gonna type ash not a singing microphone don't criticize it as that shut up
shut shut up there's chapter markers skip forward if you don't want it skip forward let's go to the
conclusion the royer r10 may not be a microphone that i fell in love with like i did with a couple
of other ribbon microphones but even though that's the case i still understand the appeal
of it and the utility and first up in terms of pros this microphone is incredibly smooth
that is the reason why the majority of people buy ribbon microphones after all yes they're darker
yes people might find them to sound a little bit muffled but as far as the overall character and
texture of the microphones they are much smoother and much more pleasing sounding additionally the
build quality of this microphone feels excellent even if you do run into any issues it has a five
year warranty and you all know i pay attention to this i am glad to see that they are at least
assembling this in the usa maybe in the future they will do full manufacturing in the states
but at least right now they're doing something and they are assembling in the states and then as far
as cons this should come as no surprise to anybody because it's a passive microphone but it has a
very quiet output you will need a decent preamp most interfaces are going to have plenty of gain
the focusrite has plenty of gain but you could get a cloud lifter a fet head a sciuse launcher
any of those to boost the signal a bit more and the microphone and the mounting system do not do
a great job at rejecting bumps of the mic stand or the desk so if you're using this to record i would
get a third party shock mount or just be very careful not to touch the mic stand or any of that
because it will be picked up then as far as my overall thoughts and opinions of this microphone
on the electric guitar you get a much darker you get a much more mid-forward sound and you
can get a lot closer to the speaker cone without it getting overly sizzly and terrible sounding
but where i think this microphone really shines on the electric is when you get to the upper register
of the guitar where notes might start to get a little bit piercing this just tamed all of that
piercingness all of that harshness beautifully i absolutely loved it on the upper end of the guitar
and then when you throw the sm57 in with this you can add a bit more of that sizzle a bit more of
that bite and it also benefits the 57 sound which might just be a bit biting a bit harsh bit sizzly
you can add a little bit more warmth and a little bit more of that really nice smooth midsection and
offset some of the character of the 57 and get a really nice pairing then on the acoustic guitar
i don't think anybody ought to be surprised by the fact that i say it is very round sounding it
has a lot more low mids than highs but the highs are still present and they are very smooth very
pleasing and very soft sounding and although i do find the sound on the acoustic to be pleasing
i don't think it would be my first pick for a mic because i like more realistic
a little bit more shiny top ends a little bit more lively sounding but if you're going for a darker
smoother more intimate sound i think this could work on the acoustic next up for singing i think
the microphone is tolerable for that application but i just don't think it's the best fit i played
around with a bit of eq and i found a cut around 200 hertz and then a high shelf around 5 kilohertz
really gave a lot more usable sounds i just wouldn't grab this microphone if i was buying
a ribbon microphone for voice if i bought this for other applications and i had it in my arsenal
absolutely throw it up and give it a shot but if you're looking for a microphone exclusively for
vocals in my opinion just not the best fit i'd probably go m160 ku5a i think they're a bit more
pleasing for singing and lastly for spoken word all i can say is mids mids mids mids smoothness
mids smoothness mids more mids and more mids it is a very mid forward microphone i love it
very unique sounding i just don't think it's necessarily going to be the optimal sound for
most people in regards to spoken word and to wrap up would i recommend the royer r10 yes
no and maybe first i should point out not everybody is going to like ribbons these are
loved by a lot of people but if you don't like darker and smoother sounds if you don't like mids
don't get a ribbon don't feel pressured into getting a ribbon and if you don't like the sound
of a darker more mid-forward mic don't get one but if you're running a studio or you're micking up
instruments that are a bit harsher and you want to get a microphone that takes out a bit of that bite
and you want more of a mid forward sound from your ribbon then absolutely i would recommend
it especially if you want to pair this with a 57 and offset the 57 sizzle and harshness
and you want to get a bit more mids in there a little bit of weight a little bit of smoothness
there i think it would be a great addition in that situation and then as far as voice
i do love how smooth this microphone is it is very appealing and a great character however i
personally find myself leaning towards the biodynamic m160 the aea ku5a those are the
two ribbons that i've used that i've fallen in love with or for singing and spoken word
i do think that i preferred the shure sm7b over the royal r10 so i would go with one of those
for spoken word or for singing if you're going for that darker smoother sound
unless you want all the mids all the smooth mids and i think that's going to wrap up for this video
but like always i want to pass the question off to you which of the microphones that i used in this
video did you like the best the royer r10 the buyer dynamic m160 aea ku5a mxlr 144 sure sm7b
or u87ai let me know in the comments down below if you found this video fun interesting or helpful go
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you