Just saw you on Ricks Chanel doing the Royer - 57 thing. I've been using the R 10- 57 for a while now, my question is,,,1. in 7 months since you've posted on this, as far as I can tell, you haven't yet bought it. GET ON IT DUDE!! 2. You really hear that much diff? Cause I don't, at-least nothing I can't eq out. So is it just for the sake of saying you have the "better one" or do you REALLY hear THAT much difference?
The only discernible difference I can hear over TH-cam is an EQ factor. The R-10 seems a bit brighter and the R-121 has a bit more lower mid. The 121 sounds warmer to my ears. So for about the 3rd of the cost and an EQ adj on the front end, home studio guys like me, it's a no brainer. Both capture all the detail of the signal. To my ears that is, what's left of my hearing :P
To TH-cam land, remember to set to HD and wear headphones to hear any difference. Hey Shawn, I was recently at Royer Labs. What a cool little operation it is. When I say little I mean it is not a big factory. Both the R121 and the R10 are hand assembled and tested there. The quality you are getting in the R10 is impressive. On the road I don't think the difference Is discernable in a live situation except the R10 will stand up to the rigors of the road much better. Likewise in the small studio where conditions could cancel out the tiny differences in tone. I REALLY want an R10!
I would agree with others here that the r-10 has a nice upper mid air thing to it that is really nice. The 121/57 combo covers this too, but it seems the r-10 is pretty good all on its own. Cool comparo video man!
I'm a very old man with ears my age and listening on my laptop speakers so I am amazed to be able to say a difference was audible. High gain the 10 sounded darker. The cleanest sounds were very similar but if I can put it in an artsy fartsy way rather than technically, the quality of the product was equally good but the 10 delivered in a better quality box or maybe even just slightly nicer wrapping paper. the best thing here was, as always, your playing.
Great comparison! I also loved what you played in the first sample. It somehow captured exactly the way today feels: cloudy, cold and longing for the pre-covid days. Also, I still prefer the R121 in general, but the R10 def gives it a run for its money, maybe I even prefer it on clean guitar.
I have the R-10 and LOVE it. I usually use the R-10 and an SM-57 along with running a line out from my Torpedo Captor to my interface and then using a Celestion IR. Three guitar tracks for each part. Love the tone.
Very interesting. They certainly sound different. I would say the R121 has a bit more "bite" to it, and a more clear dynamic response - the reverb continues being audible while you play the next parts. What was interesting to me was the more distorted part. There is significantly more low end to the R121. The "bite" I mentioned is also interesting, because it seems they have a different high-frequency boost.
For cleans I think the R121 is nicer. Like everything for that little difference you have to pay a lot more so it is great to have R10 as an option if one cant afford the R121 or 122. Amazing playing as always!
In the clean track I noticed the 121 presented subtle nuances in the tail of sounds that I did not hear in the 10. In the dirty tones nor so much. I would be happy with either...
I think you are describing exactly why the 121 is the very clear winner to me. These subtle nuances are what I perceive as more magical sounding. And magic is what I'm looking for!
First, awesome playing and tones! Both mics sound really great and you did a great job comping to showcase the mics. I am hearing something completely different from all these comments though so I had to look up the frequency responses of both mics to make sure I wasn't crazy lol. The R-10 actually has a substantial DIP in the upper mids at around 2.5/3k and a smaller dip around 5.5/6k. The R-121 has a small boost around 1.5k and 3k and a dip in the mids around 600/700hz. There's also a significant cut and rolloff in the R-10 starting at what looks to be around 13k or so. I definitely preferred the R-121 for cleans hands down but was really torn for the higher gain settings. The R-10 is darker for sure but sometimes the R-121 was too bright for me. I guess mic placement could change the R-121 but this is the brightest the R-10 will get. I think if you can afford it, it would probably be better to save for the R-121 to get a fuller frequency spectrum. Unless you prefer the R-10 response! Very helpful video, thanks!
On the clean tone, I liked the R-10 more, it seemed to have a warmer/more harmonic sound. On the dirtier tones, I honestly thought the sound was pretty close. Thank you for utilizing the method of not stopping the sound between mic switches. The brain only takes milliseconds to forget what it was hearing. On a side note, you might want to rerun the test and switch the orientation of each mic to see if being inverted has any impact on the sound. I don't think it does, but a ribbon mic is unique in how it utilizes an air suspended element. On subsequent reviews you might want to label them as mic a/mic b because I see a lot of reviews stating that the 121 was better and I think that has to do with people automatically expecting a more expensive mic to always sound better. Great playing BTW.
Thanks so much Dan. The Royers are designed with an offset ribbon element and you can definitely turn them around. Both microphones will present a bit brighter with less low end. I've used them that way when recording AC gtrs.
Good comparison Shawn. Listened on hphones & monitors & surprised how well the r10 stood up to r121. r121 still king for clean sound handled low end better so great warm sound, but the r10 bc it lacked bit of low end was great with the driven sounds - just my 2 cents :) Overall tho the r10 is very good & especially when you look at the price comparison !
The R10 is brighter in the top end and upper mid range (which I like actually), the r-121 is smoother sounding and warmer compared to the R-10. Price wise, the R-10 seems like a great value.
I feel like the 121 is fuller in the lows, and low mids. The 10 sounds really great though. That’s cool Royer came out with it. Love your videos Shawn!
For obvious price reasons looking at getting two R-10s. Cool to see they hold up pretty well for distorted sounds, sometimes sound quite a bit beefier even.
Great comparison video! I could hear more hiss from the R-10 and the R-121 was warmer but the center tone was the same. In the studio R-121 but live I would definitely go with the R-10 because it's close enough in tone but the following construction deference's make it a no brainer: The R-10’s built-in windscreen which protects it from air blasts outdoors. The R-10’s internally shock mounted ribbon transducer isolates the ribbon element from shocks and vibrations, increasing the ribbon element’s durability.
Less highs on the 121 maybe. I think I actually like the R-10 a little more. Thanks for comparing them dude. I'm looking for a new microphone for recording
I’m in the market for my first Ribbon mic pair with my SM57 on Fender and Marshall amp recordings. But of course I want a mic that could work exceptionally well for acoustic guitar, piano, drum overheads, etc…. It seams like the R10 can do everything. I saw a video of Trevor Thornton record a song with just 2 R10’s, micing acoustic, vocals, piano, drums and a little synthesizer. Exceptionally done and what I like about the R10 is I can get two for less then the price of an R121 and do stereo micing such as Blumeline or spaced. As much as I want a 121, I want versatility as well…. Getting two mics (R10’s) might be the way I go. Thanks for your video because I’m doing the best I can through TH-cam demos to pick the right thing for me.
Obviously, the differences are very small!! It is impossible to put two microphones in the same exact spot, but side-by-side they still are about an inch apart relative the speaker cone. A couple of possible alternatives might be 1) place one above the other top to top of mic, as if you were doing a Blumlein pair but face them forward toward the cone 2) Loop or re-amp the guitar part and replace the first mic with the second, lining of the ribbon to be in the same spot. Since they use the same ribbon, they can be an almost exactly the same spot, but just not at the same time. Excellent comparison - thank you Thanks
I use an r10 on my ac15 and a 57 on my fender I have a wet dry live rig and it works great The RoyerR10 warms up the vox while the 57 picks up the “wet” fender amp. Thanks for the video great demo great playing too😎🎸
Great demo. I've been waiting for this. The 121 definitely has more detail but the R-10 sounded good and if you weren't comparing them in a real time environment the R-10 would be fine. Unrelated is the fact that I still can't get your playing on The Violet Burning Strength album out of my head. Some of the best guitar moments ever on that Shawn.
R-10 sounded more full-range balanced. It also sounded a bit less guitar-magical. Manhattan-Style Clam Chowder. R-121 sounded a bit more focused in the low-mids. Less air, more compressed even, but way more "sauce" to it. New England-Style Clam Chowder. Would be cool to match them to different amps in a dual-amp setup. Do your subscribers know you've got a great voice too? Maybe a vocal shoot-out with these two mics next? Not holding my breath for it... ;; )
I'm from New England and LOVE the chowder but live in Manhattan and lament their version. Great Analogy! I completely understand how to think of these two mics now and will pine for the 121 accordingly . Thnx!
I wanted to like the R-10 for the sake of my wallet, but the 121 smokes the R-10 so bad it's not funny. Sure the R-10 is about 3x cheaper, but 500€ is quite a price to pay for a thing that quite doesn't deliver what you'd want from it. At least for close miked electric guitar, the R-10 doesn't have half the weight of the 121, which sounds bigger, bolder, more dynamic and upfront.
R-121 sounds a lot more compressed ......... maybe for some people that = smoother, but you can also just buy the cheaper mic and use more compression!
Of course, the more expensive mic sounds better, but the R-10 sounds really good. Great for recording. One advantage of the R-10 to the 121 is that it is built to take more abuse. You can push it a bit harder due to the insolation it is built with. Unfortunately, that is also what makes the low end break up in comparison to the 121. Still, such a great mic. Does not hurt to have it.
Great video! Thanks for that comparison. As we know until now, the R121 is one of the most detailed ribbon mics of all time. That means that if you compare for example with the Coles 4038, or with the AEA R-84 , or some other "old" school Ribbons mics, the R121 belongs to "the more Detailed" category. My point is that if you already know that the R121 is detailed enough as ribbon mic ... the R-10 seems to be out of this world. It start sounding somehow as condenser mic on the top end! These Hi Mids sounds like any other chinese mic... but hey ! the price is very Good! But the R-121 on guitars is unbeatable! Thank you for the great video!
The R10 had a less compressed sound but apart from that they were very similar. Honestly I think I would have to pick the more affordable R10 regardless of its cost savings.
There's a subtle but noticeable upper-mid rise on the R-10, which makes the R-121 sound ever so slightly fuller in the bass. With some judicious placement and EQ, I think you could make either one sound like the other for any purposes in a band mix. On a completely acoustic recording, solo classical instruments for example, the differences might be more apparent.
Great demo!! The R-10 would be a less desirable blend, to my ear, with the classic 57 due to the increased upper mids that are also prevalent in the 57. I think for that reason I’d still prefer the 121/57 combo over the r10 standalone, or combined with the 57........my pocketbook disagrees however 😂😂
The R-10 definitely sounded a touch brighter to me over the R-121. They both sounded amazing, but clearly the 121 is a bit warmer than the 10. Of course, that just means you need both...lol. Great playing, as always, Shawn!
Thanks, Steve! Yeah, I'm forever an R-121 fan but I thought the R-10 was a fantastic mic. The R-10 can be placed much closer to the cabinet than the R- 121 without as much low-end proximity build up due to the 3 layer screen. I didn't do it in the actual demo because I wanted to keep the mics at the same exact distance from the cab. The R-121 feels a bit faster especially in the lows and certainly captures more air than the R-10 but I was really impressed with how well the R-10 performed overall. Great mic!
hey Shawn, I had to chime in, I listened to this through Yamaha monitors HS8s, but at a low volume as not to disturb the fam in the next room, at lower listening levels it is almost impossible to distinguish the difference between them. I have listened to them (in the somewhat recent past) and the R121 has a bit more shine to it. I bought a matched pair of the R10s (which I am happy about). but obviously the cost is a factor with the 121. I'll have to have one though, in the future, they are that good.
Great demo. Thank you! I thought both were beautiful on clean guitars. The difference on distorted guitars was noticeable. Not bad; just different. I'm a big ribbon mic freak, but not only do I not own a Royer, I've never even tried one. 🤪 The R10 sounds better than its price. Putting it through the Royer dBooster will only make it sound better. I'll be getting the matched R10s and two dB Boosters ASAP.
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I bought a Royer R-10 as a cheaper alternative to the 121 but after hearing all the comparison video between these two I know I need to upgrade to the 121. Damn…
Such a useful comparison video Shawn, thank you so much for posting. I'm curious, how much would you say that the Chandler T2 contributes to the quality of your sound? I know it's a fantastic pre, but I wonder how much bang I'd be getting for the buck versus buying something cheaper.
Thanks, Jesse. The TG-2 is a fabulous mic pre for sure. I guess the way I've always looked at it is like this...A great mic preamp won't help a not so great sounding mic and a great mic will be diminished by a sub-par preamp.
The R10 seems a better fit for the type of riffs I play, which is similar to what's played at the end. Almost like a 121 and 57 blend with one mic. By the time you mix multiple guitar tracks, you're going to be rolling off some of that low end on the 121 anyways. I have the chandler and API pre's so I'm looking forward to checking out the R10.
Thanks for the quality comparison! R-10 definitely has more mid which perceives brighter particularly in the guitar setting, and I expected 121 to be darker due to signature deep low end on the guitar, but man, I'm surprised to hear how R-121 actually has more extended hi than R-10. Very subtle, but R-121 definitely has clear and faster high end. Wonder if that's caused by the built in shock mount design on R-10. That said R-10's mid has such a girth!
Very good comparison, thanks! I'm looking to purchase my first ribbon mic for my home studio and I'm on a budget... so am def inclined towards the R10, not only 'coz it's nearly 3 times cheaper than the R121, but because after some EQ'ing and in the context of a full mix with drums and bass etc... I really doubt the difference will be that noticeable... of course the R121 is more natural sounding and warmer and just has that extra quality that makes it sound more pleasant than the R10.... but hey, I reckon the R10 is an amazing first ribbon mic to invest in! Nice chords on the guitar btw! :)
Thank you so much for this test! I came to the conclusion that R-121 sounds perfect and R-10 won't replace him. If there is an opportunity, make a test Beyerdynamic M 160 vs Royer R-121. It would be great.
The 121 was slightly smoother to my ears, but both sounded great. The price point would push me towards the 10 however due to such a subtle difference.
Clear difference to me even on a tv speakers, the R-121 was rounder and I can see how it would sound insanely 3d with a 57 mixed in, however, If I only had one mic, I’d definitely get the R-10! Sounds like the R-10 could be an interesting ribbon on an acoustic or even vocals because of that mid hump, like a modded to be fuller sm7b 🤔
The 121 is 5dB more sensitive than the R10. You'll need a fairly strong preamp or something like a cloudlifter to get the same level out of it. Also, on all of the other demos I've heard, the 121 had a little bit sweeter high end. The high-gain tone in this clip had a different presence peak, though that could be positioning (despite best efforts).
To me, R-10 sounds more flat and has more mid frequency compared to R-121 R-121 sounds more "loudness" with warmer sound e just a little bit more presence to the highs. Both are so nice! I used to work with R121 e R122 inna bigger studio, but for sure R-10 has a place at my home setup!!!
I prefer the R-10 on the clean guitar (a bit more upper-mids)& the R-121 on the dirty guitar (more low-mids and "thump"). I'd be pretty happy with either. But what the Hell do I know?
The 121 has more authority, specially in the mid bass and also more air overall.. Nevertheless the 10 is a great bang for the buck. Love your playing Sean 👍
I preferred the R10 on anything with gain but clean R121 wins out. If you were to be using one mic that is. Just a little muddy with distortion on the R121. Love my Coles.
They both sounds very good but the 121 sounds much fuller to me. In the dirty clip, the 10 sounded better to me but I think it could be shaped better with the 121. I think the price difference is warranted.
Nice vid as always Shawn! If you want sonic bliss, pair your 121 with a Josephson e22s on guitar amps and you'll never touch a 57 again. The e22s isn't cheap but so worth it. Works in a mix so well. I love mine!
Listened on some HiFiMan reference headphones. These sound nearly identical to me. Couldn't even tell when I closed my eyes. Add to the fact that your recording is going to be dropped into a full mix, and the R-10 is a no-brainer.
R10 has a slight upper mid thing going on like a v30. 121 definitely is warmer up and sounds a bit flatter maybe? I bet the r10 might give you some of what you get from your ‘57 in your dual mic setup.
I haven’t read any of the other reviews yet, because I didn’t want to color my own thoughts. The only thing I really heard differently between the two mics is that the R-10 seemed to have a slight bit of an upper frequency edginess, while the R-121 sounded more rounded without sacrificing the upper frequencies. The R-121 was smoother to my ears, and my preference between the two. How’d I do?
The R-10 sounds more transparent than the R-121. Definitely get more high end from the R-10, but not in a way that is at all harsh. The R-10 just sounds overall smoother and clearer. The R-121 seems to add more of a flavor to the sound. I don't think I would notice it except head to head with the R-10, but it's almost muffled by comparison. I don't think you can go wrong with either of these, but for me, R-10 all the way at #1 and R-121 only if I wanted to add warmth and coloring to the sound.
The R-121 is without a doubt the better sounding choice for almost everything you played, however, I think that I preferred the R-10 for the dark sounding grunge that you played at the end of the video. If I could only have one, I'd save up for the R-121 without looking back. But then I'd also need the Chandler Ltd TG-2 also ... ;-) Very nice combination!! One day .....
If I were using one mic only on a source I'd go the R121 as it has the ribbon thing but slightly extended. If you were mostly using the mic as part of a combination though the R10 would be just as effective.
how does the R-10 fare without the use of the dBooster? Is it really necessary to get comparable levels to the 121? I'm interested in electric guitar sounds of course, and also drum overhead
My ears must be damaged. I only heard the difference on the high gain tone, the R-10 seemed to be a pinch brighter. Great option for us broke guys who bought a bunch of suhr stuff. lol...
Nothing wrong with your ears at all. The R-121 has a better transformer so the low end is bigger and feels more immediate and it has an airier top end that can be perceived as darker or less bright. The R-10 is a bit brighter for sure but it still sounds really great. One of the things I really like about the R-10 over the 121 is it can be placed much closer to the cabinet before you run into proximity issues in the low end.
No, there isn't a big difference between these mics. A subtle but noticeable boost, 250 hz and below on the 121, 1-2 db maybe, gives it a slightly warmer character. Everything above that is virtually identical. Any differences easily compensated by a small tap on the preamp low mid or upper bass EQ...BUT...as it turns out, this frequency zone is many times attenuated ANYWAY one mixdown starts. Sounds great by itself...becomes mud when everything else has to also fit in that zone.
121 was deeper richer and had that0 vibe. It had something organic and familiar to it. 10 was different. Not what I'd say very 121 like. More detail in the 121 makes it viable for guitar. The 10 didn't do the source justice for me. The price difference is justified. Meanwhile the r10 could be useful for things that need some of its funk. Definitely better options I think in the 500 range.
@@Grant_Ferstat Now for $500 dollars you cannot beat the R-10. I'm listening this video through a Sony Wireless-Noiseless headphones Great headphones IMHO. Not a $1200 pair but good enough for my old ears. I could only tell a tiny bit of difference in the Two.
R-121 has a completeness to the sound I can idiotically describe as rich butterthump. R-10 has a slightly less complete sound but a useful timbre in a dense mix. Almost like the 121 is a Lollar Imperial and the R-10 is a Dimarzio PAF...in a useful way.
No, your ears are just fine. If he would have told people that the R10 was more expensive, then we would have seen more people stating they preferred it over the R-121. The brain does funny things when it thinks one item is more expensive and thus better.
It could also be due to the fact that we are listening on a pc, and on those pc speakers, those tiny fractions of difference could be irrelevant.@@kusgilb
@@johnnyinterval Oh.Wow ! You are listening in your studio ! Wow ! You are a God. But as a studio specialist, you know they are different problems that can come from a TH-cam video. First thing ; they don't need to play a different file. Second, what incident has the MP3 conversion has on the rendering. Third, are the results equalized in any way. And so on. There is a lot you can do to boost your sales and make things look like different. I can specially see a lot of Royer tags around this vid, letting me believe it is paid viral advertisement. From my observation, I simply see that consumers buying R-10's are selling them away very fast, in regard to R-121, that are generally hold in collection. What would be the reason ?
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Wow!!! You guys have great ears! Thanks so much for chiming in on this mic comparison demo!!
All I want in life is a 121 and 57 combo. Great video dude!
Thanks, Rhett I appreciate it, man. You do great work, sir! The Royer R-121 is one of the best purchases I've ever made!
Just saw you on Ricks Chanel doing the Royer - 57 thing. I've been using the R 10- 57 for a while now, my question is,,,1. in 7 months since you've posted on this, as far as I can tell, you haven't yet bought it. GET ON IT DUDE!! 2. You really hear that much diff? Cause I don't, at-least nothing I can't eq out. So is it just for the sake of saying you have the "better one" or do you REALLY hear THAT much difference?
The only discernible difference I can hear over TH-cam is an EQ factor. The R-10 seems a bit brighter and the R-121 has a bit more lower mid. The 121 sounds warmer to my ears. So for about the 3rd of the cost and an EQ adj on the front end, home studio guys like me, it's a no brainer. Both capture all the detail of the signal. To my ears that is, what's left of my hearing :P
If the R 10 was more expensive people would praise it for being a little less muddy sounding
To TH-cam land, remember to set to HD and wear headphones to hear any difference.
Hey Shawn, I was recently at Royer Labs. What a cool little operation it is. When I say little I mean it is not a big factory. Both the R121 and the R10 are hand assembled and tested there. The quality you are getting in the R10 is impressive. On the road I don't think the difference Is discernable in a live situation except the R10 will stand up to the rigors of the road much better. Likewise in the small studio where conditions could cancel out the tiny differences in tone. I REALLY want an R10!
I would agree with others here that the r-10 has a nice upper mid air thing to it that is really nice. The 121/57 combo covers this too, but it seems the r-10 is pretty good all on its own. Cool comparo video man!
Very useful Shawn! I wanted to buy a R-10 for the studio but the R-121 sounds much better to my ear. Thanks for the info! ;)
I'm a very old man with ears my age and listening on my laptop speakers so I am amazed to be able to say a difference was audible. High gain the 10 sounded darker. The cleanest sounds were very similar but if I can put it in an artsy fartsy way rather than technically, the quality of the product was equally good but the 10 delivered in a better quality box or maybe even just slightly nicer wrapping paper. the best thing here was, as always, your playing.
R121 definitely sounds warmer to my ears.
Great comparison! I also loved what you played in the first sample. It somehow captured exactly the way today feels: cloudy, cold and longing for the pre-covid days.
Also, I still prefer the R121 in general, but the R10 def gives it a run for its money, maybe I even prefer it on clean guitar.
I have the R-10 and LOVE it. I usually use the R-10 and an SM-57 along with running a line out from my Torpedo Captor to my interface and then using a Celestion IR. Three guitar tracks for each part. Love the tone.
Very interesting. They certainly sound different. I would say the R121 has a bit more "bite" to it, and a more clear dynamic response - the reverb continues being audible while you play the next parts. What was interesting to me was the more distorted part. There is significantly more low end to the R121. The "bite" I mentioned is also interesting, because it seems they have a different high-frequency boost.
For cleans I think the R121 is nicer. Like everything for that little difference you have to pay a lot more so it is great to have R10 as an option if one cant afford the R121 or 122. Amazing playing as always!
In the clean track I noticed the 121 presented subtle nuances in the tail of sounds that I did not hear in the 10. In the dirty tones nor so much. I would be happy with either...
I think you are describing exactly why the 121 is the very clear winner to me. These subtle nuances are what I perceive as more magical sounding. And magic is what I'm looking for!
In a song mix, you wouldn’t be able to hear a difference especially with EQ
First, awesome playing and tones! Both mics sound really great and you did a great job comping to showcase the mics. I am hearing something completely different from all these comments though so I had to look up the frequency responses of both mics to make sure I wasn't crazy lol.
The R-10 actually has a substantial DIP in the upper mids at around 2.5/3k and a smaller dip around 5.5/6k. The R-121 has a small boost around 1.5k and 3k and a dip in the mids around 600/700hz. There's also a significant cut and rolloff in the R-10 starting at what looks to be around 13k or so.
I definitely preferred the R-121 for cleans hands down but was really torn for the higher gain settings. The R-10 is darker for sure but sometimes the R-121 was too bright for me. I guess mic placement could change the R-121 but this is the brightest the R-10 will get. I think if you can afford it, it would probably be better to save for the R-121 to get a fuller frequency spectrum. Unless you prefer the R-10 response!
Very helpful video, thanks!
Thanks so much for watching and for chiming in!
Hey Shawn. Great demo. Everyone doing mic comparisons needs to watch this.
Bret Higgins Thanks Bret!!!
On the clean tone, I liked the R-10 more, it seemed to have a warmer/more harmonic sound. On the dirtier tones, I honestly thought the sound was pretty close.
Thank you for utilizing the method of not stopping the sound between mic switches. The brain only takes milliseconds to forget what it was hearing.
On a side note, you might want to rerun the test and switch the orientation of each mic to see if being inverted has any impact on the sound. I don't think it does, but a ribbon mic is unique in how it utilizes an air suspended element.
On subsequent reviews you might want to label them as mic a/mic b because I see a lot of reviews stating that the 121 was better and I think that has to do with people automatically expecting a more expensive mic to always sound better.
Great playing BTW.
Thanks so much Dan. The Royers are designed with an offset ribbon element and you can definitely turn them around. Both microphones will present a bit brighter with less low end. I've used them that way when recording AC gtrs.
Good comparison Shawn. Listened on hphones & monitors & surprised how well the r10 stood up to r121. r121 still king for clean sound handled low end better so great warm sound, but the r10 bc it lacked bit of low end was great with the driven sounds - just my 2 cents :) Overall tho the r10 is very good & especially when you look at the price comparison !
The R10 is brighter in the top end and upper mid range (which I like actually), the r-121 is smoother sounding and warmer compared to the R-10. Price wise, the R-10 seems like a great value.
I feel like the 121 is fuller in the lows, and low mids. The 10 sounds really great though. That’s cool Royer came out with it. Love your videos Shawn!
R-10 is definitely brighter. Better to my ear! Nice demo!!
For obvious price reasons looking at getting two R-10s. Cool to see they hold up pretty well for distorted sounds, sometimes sound quite a bit beefier even.
Great comparison video! I could hear more hiss from the R-10 and the R-121 was warmer but the center tone was the same. In the studio R-121 but live I would definitely go with the R-10 because it's close enough in tone but the following construction deference's make it a no brainer: The R-10’s built-in windscreen which protects it from air blasts outdoors. The R-10’s internally shock mounted ribbon transducer isolates the ribbon element from shocks and vibrations, increasing the ribbon element’s durability.
Kudos to Royer! Excellent mic. Cheers to you. Perfect execution of a comparison video.
Less highs on the 121 maybe. I think I actually like the R-10 a little more. Thanks for comparing them dude. I'm looking for a new microphone for recording
Both sounded fantastic! Thank you sir🤘
I’m in the market for my first Ribbon mic pair with my SM57 on Fender and Marshall amp recordings. But of course I want a mic that could work exceptionally well for acoustic guitar, piano, drum overheads, etc…. It seams like the R10 can do everything. I saw a video of Trevor Thornton record a song with just 2 R10’s, micing acoustic, vocals, piano, drums and a little synthesizer. Exceptionally done and what I like about the R10 is I can get two for less then the price of an R121 and do stereo micing such as Blumeline or spaced. As much as I want a 121, I want versatility as well…. Getting two mics (R10’s) might be the way I go. Thanks for your video because I’m doing the best I can through TH-cam demos to pick the right thing for me.
Obviously, the differences are very small!!
It is impossible to put two microphones in the same exact spot, but side-by-side they still are about an inch apart relative the speaker cone. A couple of possible alternatives might be
1) place one above the other top to top of mic, as if you were doing a Blumlein pair but face them forward toward the cone
2) Loop or re-amp the guitar part and replace the first mic with the second, lining of the ribbon to be in the same spot. Since they use the same ribbon, they can be an almost exactly the same spot, but just not at the same time.
Excellent comparison - thank you
Thanks
sounds like a variation of round midnight. fantastic demo! getting an r10 pair.
I use an r10 on my ac15 and a 57 on my fender
I have a wet dry live rig and it works great
The RoyerR10 warms up the vox while the 57 picks up the “wet” fender amp.
Thanks for the video great demo great playing too😎🎸
Thanks so much!!
Great demo. I've been waiting for this. The 121 definitely has more detail but the R-10 sounded good and if you weren't comparing them in a real time environment the R-10 would be fine. Unrelated is the fact that I still can't get your playing on The Violet Burning Strength album out of my head. Some of the best guitar moments ever on that Shawn.
R-10 sounded more full-range balanced. It also sounded a bit less guitar-magical. Manhattan-Style Clam Chowder.
R-121 sounded a bit more focused in the low-mids. Less air, more compressed even, but way more "sauce" to it. New England-Style Clam Chowder.
Would be cool to match them to different amps in a dual-amp setup.
Do your subscribers know you've got a great voice too? Maybe a vocal shoot-out with these two mics next? Not holding my breath for it... ;; )
Hey John, Good to hear from you man! Thanks for the comment and I hope you and the family are doing well!! PS Me singing? Hell to the NO!! ;)
I'm from New England and LOVE the chowder but live in Manhattan and lament their version. Great Analogy! I completely understand how to think of these two mics now and will pine for the 121 accordingly . Thnx!
I wanted to like the R-10 for the sake of my wallet, but the 121 smokes the R-10 so bad it's not funny. Sure the R-10 is about 3x cheaper, but 500€ is quite a price to pay for a thing that quite doesn't deliver what you'd want from it. At least for close miked electric guitar, the R-10 doesn't have half the weight of the 121, which sounds bigger, bolder, more dynamic and upfront.
R-121 sounds a lot more compressed ......... maybe for some people that = smoother, but you can also just buy the cheaper mic and use more compression!
Of course, the more expensive mic sounds better, but the R-10 sounds really good. Great for recording. One advantage of the R-10 to the 121 is that it is built to take more abuse. You can push it a bit harder due to the insolation it is built with. Unfortunately, that is also what makes the low end break up in comparison to the 121. Still, such a great mic. Does not hurt to have it.
Great video! Thanks for that comparison. As we know until now, the R121 is one of the most detailed ribbon mics of all time. That means that if you compare for example with the Coles 4038, or with the AEA R-84 , or some other "old" school Ribbons mics, the R121 belongs to "the more Detailed" category. My point is that if you already know that the R121 is detailed enough as ribbon mic ... the R-10 seems to be out of this world. It start sounding somehow as condenser mic on the top end! These Hi Mids sounds like any other chinese mic... but hey ! the price is very Good! But the R-121 on guitars is unbeatable!
Thank you for the great video!
nothing a stock eq couldn’t handle to make them the subtle differences the same sounding. great chords in the first piece ps
They both sound excellent. I'm guessing TH-cam processed the sound and unfortunately a lot of the detail is gone.
The R10 had a less compressed sound but apart from that they were very similar. Honestly I think I would have to pick the more affordable R10 regardless of its cost savings.
There's a subtle but noticeable upper-mid rise on the R-10, which makes the R-121 sound ever so slightly fuller in the bass. With some judicious placement and EQ, I think you could make either one sound like the other for any purposes in a band mix. On a completely acoustic recording, solo classical instruments for example, the differences might be more apparent.
Great demo!! The R-10 would be a less desirable blend, to my ear, with the classic 57 due to the increased upper mids that are also prevalent in the 57. I think for that reason I’d still prefer the 121/57 combo over the r10 standalone, or combined with the 57........my pocketbook disagrees however 😂😂
both sounded great. the 121 was deeper and more full and more round sounding on the top end.
The R-10 definitely sounded a touch brighter to me over the R-121. They both sounded amazing, but clearly the 121 is a bit warmer than the 10. Of course, that just means you need both...lol. Great playing, as always, Shawn!
Thanks, Steve! Yeah, I'm forever an R-121 fan but I thought the R-10 was a fantastic mic. The R-10 can be placed much closer to the cabinet than the R- 121 without as much low-end proximity build up due to the 3 layer screen. I didn't do it in the actual demo because I wanted to keep the mics at the same exact distance from the cab. The R-121 feels a bit faster especially in the lows and certainly captures more air than the R-10 but I was really impressed with how well the R-10 performed overall. Great mic!
hey Shawn, I had to chime in, I listened to this through Yamaha monitors HS8s, but at a low volume as not to disturb the fam in the next room, at lower listening levels it is almost impossible to distinguish the difference between them. I have listened to them (in the somewhat recent past) and the R121 has a bit more shine to it. I bought a matched pair of the R10s (which I am happy about). but obviously the cost is a factor with the 121. I'll have to have one though, in the future, they are that good.
Great demo. Thank you!
I thought both were beautiful on clean guitars. The difference on distorted guitars was noticeable. Not bad; just different.
I'm a big ribbon mic freak, but not only do I not own a Royer, I've never even tried one. 🤪
The R10 sounds better than its price. Putting it through the Royer dBooster will only make it sound better. I'll be getting the matched R10s and two dB Boosters ASAP.
I bought a Royer R-10 as a cheaper alternative to the 121 but after hearing all the comparison video between these two I know I need to upgrade to the 121. Damn…
Such a useful comparison video Shawn, thank you so much for posting. I'm curious, how much would you say that the Chandler T2 contributes to the quality of your sound? I know it's a fantastic pre, but I wonder how much bang I'd be getting for the buck versus buying something cheaper.
Thanks, Jesse. The TG-2 is a fabulous mic pre for sure. I guess the way I've always looked at it is like this...A great mic preamp won't help a not so great sounding mic and a great mic will be diminished by a sub-par preamp.
The 121 is a bit richer, more full and not as bright sounding to my ears. The 10 would be good to mix in though for that punch. Great demo!
Man your touch is awesome!
Love the 10. Its has a slightly smaller sound, but in a good way. The 121 is lovely too, but gets bit "boomy/roomy" in the mids.
The R10 seems a better fit for the type of riffs I play, which is similar to what's played at the end. Almost like a 121 and 57 blend with one mic. By the time you mix multiple guitar tracks, you're going to be rolling off some of that low end on the 121 anyways. I have the chandler and API pre's so I'm looking forward to checking out the R10.
To me they were similar but the 121 sounded more scooped to me. Possibly some upper end loss in the 10 but hard to tell on yt. Great game playing!
R10 sounds best for any kind of gain
The 121 seems a bit warmer to me, but the difference is most notable on the high gain sound.
Thanks for the quality comparison! R-10 definitely has more mid which perceives brighter particularly in the guitar setting, and I expected 121 to be darker due to signature deep low end on the guitar, but man, I'm surprised to hear how R-121 actually has more extended hi than R-10. Very subtle, but R-121 definitely has clear and faster high end. Wonder if that's caused by the built in shock mount design on R-10. That said R-10's mid has such a girth!
Beautiful video… 121 was just a more refined and true. Pretty darn close though.
Very good comparison, thanks! I'm looking to purchase my first ribbon mic for my home studio and I'm on a budget... so am def inclined towards the R10, not only 'coz it's nearly 3 times cheaper than the R121, but because after some EQ'ing and in the context of a full mix with drums and bass etc... I really doubt the difference will be that noticeable... of course the R121 is more natural sounding and warmer and just has that extra quality that makes it sound more pleasant than the R10.... but hey, I reckon the R10 is an amazing first ribbon mic to invest in! Nice chords on the guitar btw! :)
Thank you so much for this test! I came to the conclusion that R-121 sounds perfect and R-10 won't replace him. If there is an opportunity, make a test Beyerdynamic M 160 vs Royer R-121. It would be great.
R 121
Good vid as always!
The 121 was slightly smoother to my ears, but both sounded great. The price point would push me towards the 10 however due to such a subtle difference.
Clear difference to me even on a tv speakers, the R-121 was rounder and I can see how it would sound insanely 3d with a 57 mixed in, however, If I only had one mic, I’d definitely get the R-10!
Sounds like the R-10 could be an interesting ribbon on an acoustic or even vocals because of that mid hump, like a modded to be fuller sm7b 🤔
The 121 is 5dB more sensitive than the R10. You'll need a fairly strong preamp or something like a cloudlifter to get the same level out of it.
Also, on all of the other demos I've heard, the 121 had a little bit sweeter high end. The high-gain tone in this clip had a different presence peak, though that could be positioning (despite best efforts).
To me, R-10 sounds more flat and has more mid frequency compared to R-121
R-121 sounds more "loudness" with warmer sound e just a little bit more presence to the highs.
Both are so nice!
I used to work with R121 e R122 inna bigger studio, but for sure R-10 has a place at my home setup!!!
I prefer the R-10 on the clean guitar (a bit more upper-mids)& the R-121 on the dirty guitar (more low-mids and "thump"). I'd be pretty happy with either. But what the Hell do I know?
The 121 has more authority, specially in the mid bass and also more air overall..
Nevertheless the 10 is a great bang for the buck.
Love your playing Sean 👍
I preferred the R10 on anything with gain but clean R121 wins out. If you were to be using one mic that is. Just a little muddy with distortion on the R121. Love my Coles.
I liked the 10 best on the clean sound and the 121 on the gain sounds.
They both sounds very good but the 121 sounds much fuller to me. In the dirty clip, the 10 sounded better to me but I think it could be shaped better with the 121. I think the price difference is warranted.
Nice vid as always Shawn! If you want sonic bliss, pair your 121 with a Josephson e22s on guitar amps and you'll never touch a 57 again. The e22s isn't cheap but so worth it. Works in a mix so well. I love mine!
Thanks so much!! I'll check it out!
Listened on some HiFiMan reference headphones. These sound nearly identical to me. Couldn't even tell when I closed my eyes. Add to the fact that your recording is going to be dropped into a full mix, and the R-10 is a no-brainer.
R10 has a slight upper mid thing going on like a v30. 121 definitely is warmer up and sounds a bit flatter maybe? I bet the r10 might give you some of what you get from your ‘57 in your dual mic setup.
I definetely prefer the R 121.
I haven’t read any of the other reviews yet, because I didn’t want to color my own thoughts. The only thing I really heard differently between the two mics is that the R-10 seemed to have a slight bit of an upper frequency edginess, while the R-121 sounded more rounded without sacrificing the upper frequencies. The R-121 was smoother to my ears, and my preference between the two. How’d I do?
The R-10 sounds more transparent than the R-121. Definitely get more high end from the R-10, but not in a way that is at all harsh. The R-10 just sounds overall smoother and clearer. The R-121 seems to add more of a flavor to the sound. I don't think I would notice it except head to head with the R-10, but it's almost muffled by comparison. I don't think you can go wrong with either of these, but for me, R-10 all the way at #1 and R-121 only if I wanted to add warmth and coloring to the sound.
The R-121 is without a doubt the better sounding choice for almost everything you played, however, I think that I preferred the R-10 for the dark sounding grunge that you played at the end of the video. If I could only have one, I'd save up for the R-121 without looking back. But then I'd also need the Chandler Ltd TG-2 also ... ;-) Very nice combination!! One day .....
I understand ribbon mics can be damaged with high SPL's. Is the R121 more delicate than the R10? How loud are these amps?
If I were using one mic only on a source I'd go the R121 as it has the ribbon thing but slightly extended. If you were mostly using the mic as part of a combination though the R10 would be just as effective.
how does the R-10 fare without the use of the dBooster? Is it really necessary to get comparable levels to the 121? I'm interested in electric guitar sounds of course, and also drum overhead
Levels wise for drum overs and EGT you'd be just fine with the R10.
My ears must be damaged. I only heard the difference on the high gain tone, the R-10 seemed to be a pinch brighter. Great option for us broke guys who bought a bunch of suhr stuff. lol...
Nothing wrong with your ears at all. The R-121 has a better transformer so the low end is bigger and feels more immediate and it has an airier top end that can be perceived as darker or less bright. The R-10 is a bit brighter for sure but it still sounds really great. One of the things I really like about the R-10 over the 121 is it can be placed much closer to the cabinet before you run into proximity issues in the low end.
thx for the reply, is the Pt100 vid going up soon? looking fwd to it :-)
@@PotemkinBUMP225 That video is complete, just waiting on Suhr to let me know when to post. It'll be soon!
The real 121 just sounds more amp like. They both sound amazing though, and the R-10 is an amazing value at that price
No, there isn't a big difference between these mics. A subtle but noticeable boost, 250 hz and below on the 121, 1-2 db maybe, gives it a slightly warmer character. Everything above that is virtually identical. Any differences easily compensated by a small tap on the preamp low mid or upper bass EQ...BUT...as it turns out, this frequency zone is many times attenuated ANYWAY one mixdown starts. Sounds great by itself...becomes mud when everything else has to also fit in that zone.
121 was deeper richer and had that0 vibe. It had something organic and familiar to it. 10 was different. Not what I'd say very 121 like. More detail in the 121 makes it viable for guitar. The 10 didn't do the source justice for me. The price difference is justified. Meanwhile the r10 could be useful for things that need some of its funk. Definitely better options I think in the 500 range.
I wouldn't want to bet money on which was which 👍🏽
As an owner of both the R121 and R10... if you could only have one, which would it be?
If you have the means I would go with the R121.
Strange, I thought the 121 had more top-end, but everyone is saying the opposite. Could be my headphones.
I actually thought the R121 to be more extended in the frequency range with a touch more air.
Supported by Royer's own specs too...I just looked at the charts.
@@Grant_Ferstat Now for $500 dollars you cannot beat the R-10. I'm listening this video through a Sony Wireless-Noiseless headphones Great headphones IMHO. Not a $1200 pair but good enough for my old ears. I could only tell a tiny bit of difference in the Two.
R-121 has a completeness to the sound I can idiotically describe as rich butterthump. R-10 has a slightly less complete sound but a useful timbre in a dense mix. Almost like the 121 is a Lollar Imperial and the R-10 is a Dimarzio PAF...in a useful way.
I think my ears need to be fixed. Cuz I couldn't realize a significant difference.
No, your ears are just fine. If he would have told people that the R10 was more expensive, then we would have seen more people stating they preferred it over the R-121. The brain does funny things when it thinks one item is more expensive and thus better.
It could also be due to the fact that we are listening on a pc, and on those pc speakers, those tiny fractions of difference could be irrelevant.@@kusgilb
@@boboutelama5748 im listing in my studio, I can not hear a difference
@@johnnyinterval Oh.Wow ! You are listening in your studio ! Wow ! You are a God.
But as a studio specialist, you know they are different problems that can come from a TH-cam video.
First thing ; they don't need to play a different file. Second, what incident has the MP3 conversion has on the rendering. Third, are the results equalized in any way.
And so on.
There is a lot you can do to boost your sales and make things look like different.
I can specially see a lot of Royer tags around this vid, letting me believe it is paid viral advertisement.
From my observation, I simply see that consumers buying R-10's are selling them away very fast, in regard to R-121, that are generally hold in collection. What would be the reason ?
ehh hard comparison to draw from this well if almost each time it switches you're playing a different lic
121. I wouldn't kick the 10 outta the studio though.
121 sounds wow, r10 not bad.
Thanks. Are the raw files available for download?
@Doctaj54
Hmmmmm.... That's an interesting idea. I'll maybe do that through Royer. It would be good for folks to be able to listen to the full res files.
I think I would like to have money to buy all that :P
Can the R-10 be used to mic alto saxophone?
I would think so.
@@ShawnTubbs cool! well, I plan on buying both eventually and can do a side by side comparison like yours :)
r121 all day long
R10
Lmao careful waving those ribbons around
wow big diff, r10 is so fatty releative to r121, still r10 sound amazing but compared to r10 it is not :)
I can't hear any difference at all 🤷♂
The R-10 looks better. 😂
JFC this guy babbles and rambles on like a frigging Jehovahs Witness. Nice demo though.