Old thread bump for sure......

We have the R121 and R101 (and R122) all used one after the other, directly compared in our Clipalator on drums, ac gtr, el gtr and male vocal.

Pretty easy to hear the differences.

The R101 is wonderful for sure.

War

121 is a "mellow" but honest mic. One of those "stranded island" mics that everyone will eventually find. (if it sounds good in the room, it'll sound good through this mic) R 101 is a great mic for a bright / nasty guitar amp (source). I own both... 121 is worth the extra dough because it is more lively and can be used on instruments the 101 would turn to mud. Put a 101 on a bright guitar cab though and you'll find heaven.

Recently read an article about how 90% of the world's Neodymium magnets are made in China and the resulting environmental disaster that's occuring around these factories. So where do Royer source their Neodymium magnets from? Anyone know?

Probably not a unique situation for Royer, 90% of everything is made in China these days. What does your post have to do with the 101 v 121 comparisons?

I think theirs are made in Binghampingtontownville City. I'm not positive though...

Jrod

Yes, 20 miles from Detroit Rock City.

War

PS: Only half of them are positive though, the other half are negative

Hey, I'm 20 miles from Detroit Rock City...

Is Detroit even still a city?

:-/

Jrod

Bumping it!
I'm north of Detroit in Flint.. Neither are cities. It's a mess.

I own a small studio and am debating on the 101 or the 121. I have the money to buy either, I just like the price of the 101 more. As far as primarily using it on guitar cabs, ( I know the freq response is different, I've looked at them) should I fork out the extra for the 121? I could always EQ the 101, right?
Looking to buy in a few days...
Thanks!

I dig both on guitars. They each have their own sound, but I don't think one is necessarily better. They both sound awesome for guitars. I found the 101 to be kinda rough on drums unless you have a really great sounding room. It sounded pretty bad in small-small/mid drum rooms, particularly with low ceilings.

We have both the 101 and 121 at the studio. Both are great mics. It just depends on what you're going for. I know Sweetwater will let you try both and return whichever one you don't pick. Just a thought. I know I always feel much more comfortable when I have the ability to test things personally.

Just my $.02.

Good luck mate.

JROD

We got both the 121 and the 101 here. I'd say get them both. If you can't, however, I'd recommend the 121 over the 101.

The 101 is a bit brighter, which is good, but you can always boost the highs of a 121 with a good EQ anyway. On the other hand, the 121's got a smoother and more detailed midrange, which cannot be done later.

based upon the price, I was expecting the 101 to be a leaner version of the 121 and its totally not, its definitely got its own thing going on and is every bit as cool as a 121. If there could only be one of the two on a guitar cab, Id chose the 121 however I found the slightly scooped mid on the 101 (in comparison) to lend itself amazingly for blending with another mic on a guitar cab. Either will work, but the 101 is really nice. Find myself cutting less with the 101 compared to the 121 in similar applications. They are both really on the same level with each other, the difference between the two is a matter of taste. A 121 does not sound madly superior (whatever that is) next to a 101, they just have a slightly different frequency response very similar tone.

I work with both. The definition off R121 is not only a presence in 100hz, it is impossible to restore that with the best EQ of the world. On a piano: in the daytime and at night (121 do not suffer the comparison) Gtr Nylon: I prefer close R101 to R121 (+/-10inches farawy) (everything also depends whom play)

Oh, crap. Thanks, Michael for giving me a reason to buy yet another microphone. I've been using a 121 + SM7B on guitar cabs, and they sound very good together, but I was always wishing the Shure would do more. I have to try the 121 + 101 now!

Has anyone used the 101's for drum overheads?

I have a home studio with acoustic drums set up. The room is roughly 13x16, and the ceilings are only 8', so I can only hope for so much (!!). But the figure 8 pattern of the ribbon mic has always scared me off. I put up a few less expensive mics (Apex, but modded by Oktavamod) and the results have me less scared. I was surprised to be honest, enough so that I rehung my matched pair of 414s and put them in figure 8 thinking perhaps it was the magic I needed. But, I liked the Apex. And yes, I am afraid to admit it to myself, and particularly in the "high end" category!!

But, now I am thinking R121 or 101s. And, no, I don't need them... as a home recording schlub I could get by with much less than what I have, but....

101's will totally work on a drum kit.

I will say I tend to use the 121 on a kit moreso than the 101. Just personal preference. Seriously, with these two mics, they are just different, not really a better than/worse than thing. Some people like peach cobbler, others like cherry...

I do find the 101 on overheads to be very room dependent due to the Figure 8 FWIW. If it's a small room that doesn't sound the best, probably not gonna wow you.

Good luck,

JROD

This thread came back. I'm still using the SF-1 on overheads. SF-1 or SF-12 on drums and 121 on cabs is the ticket. I almost sold my SF-1s; had good offers but just could bring myself to do it.

Yes, I love this mic combo on guitar cabs--best I have tried out of many combinations. It just gets that forward distorted guitar roar that I've been after. I have the R-121 and R-101 right next to each other on the same 4x12 speaker.

Looking for a ribbon mic for guitar cabs and on occasion brass and cello. The 121 and 101 are the two running against each other. Find the Woodpecker too bright.

Wonder if the 121 lacks too much high end though and perhaps wooly?

Thinking 101 might be a better choice for jazz guitar amps and Stones distortion guitar amps?

Can't comment on the 121 but The 101 is pretty versatile as you can use either the "normal" or the "brighter" side.

I find the "normal" side has some nice upper mid detail, and isn't wooly sounding.

The same holds true for the 121... and it is a tad more open sounding. There is nothing dark or wooly about a Royer 121. It defies the stereotype ribbon high end crash without being too bright. I prefer the bright side for most things... the normal/dark side has the badge on it.

Owning both I can say they are both amazing, if I could only have one of them I would choose the R-121, however, the R-101 is great,

In my experience,

R-121, great on overdriven, clean, and Dist, guitar, high hats, Drum room, overheads.

R-101, great on overdriven/Dist, guitar.

I mostly only record Rock/Punk/Acoustic so I have not tried these on a vary wide variety of instruments, I would say the R121 would cover more ground.

If your looking for an amazing heavy guitar amp mic = R-101 is it.

I agree with Mr, Wagener, mixed together on a guitar cab is a perfect combination.

I do not like the R-101 on drums at all.

I've owned both of them since I last posted on here. There is no reason you couldn't make a good recording with either of them. I managed to pick up a new 121 for the price of my 101 so naturally, I sold the 101. If budget is your concern, the 101 will do the trick and do it well. If you'd rather be patient and save up, get the 121. The difference on guitars is there, but I don't think it is a night and day deal. The 121 does a little better on percussion.

I just did a solo violin recording in a really nice church with a 101 Matched pair in a Blumlein setup.
Really nice take, compared to the KM183 + SBK130 also available, the sound is nicer and less rough.
I used the 101 through a cloudlifter and in a RME Octamic XTC.
Really happy owner!

Fred.

Well, personally, I would never admit to having the money in either Detroit or Flint. You're just asking to be robbed.

So which does a better job of picking up the resonance of the metal bars over the windows?

I purchased the 121 and could not be happier. Wonderful on guitar cabs, trumpet, trombone, and acoustic guitar when you use the rear side of the mic.

Anybody here record horns? I have two R-121 and am thinking about getting more. I wish I had 6 or 8 of them - a pair for overheads, another pair for piano, and a couple more for trumpets and trombones, and 1 or 2 more for guitar amps.

Wondering what R-101 does for trumpet and trombone?

I used a borrowed 121 on trombone and I think it sounded good, but a smoother ribbon might have been better. I was recording 5 trombones, and I used the 121 on the lead player, because it is a little peakier than the other ribbons I had at my disposal. In that respect, it did help the melody poker out, and that was good. If it was just a horn section for a rock song, I would probably not use the 121.

It depends on WHAT KIND of "detail"? Treble detail? Midrange detail? Transient detail? I sold my pair of Coles 4038 that I used to use for Drums (Glyn Johns MAGIC!) and Classical guitar (Blumlein glory!). The R-101's were SHOCKINGLY better and have a GNARLY mid-range and chocolatey-transients which I LOVE. Not as bassy as the Coles, but a huge bump in the low-mids!

Guitars (steel, 12string, nylon), Ukulele, Drums, Percussion, Tubular bells, chimes, high hat, tambourine, VOICE, the Coles was my go to, and now my R101 has taken it's place.

Just to clarify, the setups I use (depending on home, studio, or class use) are my oldest (2009) Apogee Ensemble &/or Duet (w/ my FW/Snow Leopard MBP/MacPro setups), or my Metric Halo ULN8/2882 (Intel Mojave Macs).

The 4038's sounded KILLER through my API 3124 / Wunder/Avedis Audio pres back when that was my setup (though MOTU 8Pre, my 2007 setup). I'm not sure, but the impedance of the Avedis, Wunders and API pres seems to be a better fit and brought out a lot more upper mid detail of the 4038.

[For Glyn John's 2 Mic set up >>>> the Coles>API's MAXED OUT GAIN >Attenuator>convertors is NUCLEAR!!!! ]

When the Apogee Ensemble & Duet (Firewire) came out, the amount of CLEAN and pure gain of those units made me ditch the MOTU (which I thought and probably was a bottleneck), and then ULN8 came out, and I sounded as good as the Apogees (along with their amazing DSP), so I ditched the Apogees and later the Avedis/Wunder & APIs (because of the financial problems ... aaaah, what $lutz we are ... er, I mean, spaces! We're spaces now, right?).

The Coles got PLENTY of gain from the ULN8, but lost "something", didn't know why (around the 2011 timeframe), so I used them less and less.

Then in 2013, I got a pair of Royer R-101 on special from Sweetwater, and again was SHOCKED how better they sounded than the Coles. It could very well be that the R101 have a better impedance match with a larger amount of preamps, <b><u>maybe someone can weigh in on this</u></b>?

My 4038's replaced my Blue Kiwi & Neumann U87 which were my pride and joy! My vocal chain used to be U87>LA610 (with higher impedance in) or Wunder or Avedis (later Apogee Ensemble)>LA2a ... then went from Coles>Apogee>LA2a. Now the Royer >ULN8 is my go to. Stacks well with multiple voices/instruments with subtractive lo-cut!

The reason why I checked this forum, is because I was told by a friend that I should just get an R121 as it outshines the R101. I had an R121 at the same time as my Coles setup, and was SHOCKED at how BLAH it was. It seemed to have less balls, and was duller than the Coles. The Coles seemed to outshine the R121 at every source. The R121 wasn't BAD at all. I guess if I heard the R121 before the Coles (or never heard the Coles at all), I might've liked it more. I get the appeal of the R121 with it being smaller, lighter and can be mounted on most heavy-duty mic clips which is NOT the case with the Coles! Why didn't the Roadrunner just use a Coles 4038 to smash Wiley Coyote?!?!? The Coles is HEAVIER than an anvil! TAKE THAT ACME!!!!!

In any case, as of 2020, the R101 was discontinued and (seems) to have been replaced by the R-10?

So I guess to add to this convo; anyone try to R121, R101 AND the R-10?