Mic purchase considerations and input?

[JoJoB3]

I'm considering purchasing a couple ribbon mics for the home studio and looking for input in regard.
Medium sized home studio, thick carpeting, lower ceiling with older acou tiling, nice tight and warm sound.  Control/Mix room very similar, just enough odd angles and good sounding.
Preamps range from 2chan 1073ADA, Trident S20s 2 ch, along with A&H board at 24/88, or occasionally x32 or XR18 units at 24/48.
Room filled with quality vintage key staples (wurly, rhodes, Hammond, piano, vintage synths and modern), decent drum kit, bass amps and more.

* Converter updates - always considering an update. The latest being the UA Apollo 8/8P (dual, 16ch) for varied reason (but not sold yet and not rushing to any decision) but it would offer a nice converter upgrade in process.  I am PC here and read of some hurdles in regard (+ sys is powerful enough where offloading processing to UA not as crucial here).

Mainly tracking live (duo to sextets) among solo tracking for others.

Mics I'm considering purchasing (based on a local deal from seller I simply shouldn't ignore).

1 Royer R-121 (w mono cloudlifter)
Pair of Coles 4050 (with stereo cloudlifters)
Pair of Cascade Fathead II mics
RE20 

The pricing is a steal from the usual on Reverb, ebay, etc.  but would like to hear from those who have experienced these in any capacity.
Most might say "these are no brainer staples - get em".

It is over my budget a bit (but sale price would be silly to ignore here) but what other like mics should I be keying on that perhaps come close to these (perhaps even more useful/multitasking and perhaps even more affordable)?  Love to hear from those experienced.
Thanks so much

[Paul Vnuk Jr.]

The Royer R-121 is an amazing mic and perhaps the most modem and versatile of the bunch. I purchased mine over 20 years ago and still use it all of the time on almost every session. 
 

it’s also impossible to argue with a pair of Coles 4038 mics. These ARE the classic British ribbon sound. I have used them often in the past, but still don’t own a pair. I hope to someday. 
 

While not a ribbon mic, the RE20 is a stone cold classic that every serious studio should consider owning. 
 

the only mics I am “meh” on are the Cascades. These are part of the “inexpensive ribbons as vibe” family. Usually this translates as dark and rich. I had a pair of Cascades years ago and eventually got rid of them for the simple fact of getting better ribbon mics that sounded amazing like a ribbon mic should vs just being vibey. 
 

Again, not bad mics but how often will you really reach for them with A list contenders like the Royer and Coles on hand. 
 

All that said, if this is a take it, or leave it package deal for a good price, then you’ve got nothing to lose on any level with all of the mics in this package. 

 

[KuruPrionz]

Paul's observations and experience above are not to be ignored. 

If you are shopping, I can recommend a couple of options that have not been mentioned but that I do enjoy using. 

RE20 is truly a great mic. For another flavor of large diaphragm dynamic mic, consider the Heil PR-40. 

If you aren't already overloaded with large diaphragm condenser mics, the Microphone Parts T-67 kit was an easy build and huge bang for the buck. 

 

Cheers, Kuru

[JoJoB3]

On 12/24/2023 at 2:06 PM, Paul Vnuk Jr. said:

The Royer R-121 is an amazing mic and perhaps the most modem and versatile of the bunch. I purchased mine over 20 years ago and still use it all of the time on almost every session. 
 

it’s also impossible to argue with a pair of Coles 4038 mics. These ARE the classic British ribbon sound. I have used them often in the past, but still don’t own a pair. I hope to someday. 
 

While not a ribbon mic, the RE20 is a stone cold classic that every serious studio should consider owning. 
 

the only mics I am “meh” on are the Cascades. These are part of the “inexpensive ribbons as vibe” family. Usually this translates as dark and rich. I had a pair of Cascades years ago and eventually got rid of them for the simple fact of getting better ribbon mics that sounded amazing like a ribbon mic should vs just being vibey. 
 

Again, not bad mics but how often will you really reach for them with A list contenders like the Royer and Coles on hand. 
 

All that said, if this is a take it, or leave it package deal for a good price, then you’ve got nothing to lose on any level with all of the mics in this package. 

 

Geez, I don't get notified of replies. Sorry.  Thanks for the advice!

It was one of those perfect storm situations where ya 'had to'.   I aim to always buy good used first and just so happened to be in line of sight of some very well kept gear at very (very) right prices from a kind older gentleman who's enjoying retirement.

The Royer 121 sounds sooo damn good I'm now on hunt for a 2nd.  Even just a single center, 1-2ft from middle of Leslie 122 cab is insane amounts of yes. Gtr cab also a no brainer.   Same for the Cascade FHii's, so far sounding gorgeous. A different tone from the 121 of course but an enjoyable one that surprised me. Great on horns, ac piano, Rhodes, and drum OHs so far.  The Royer 4050 pair was gone but good gawd I wanted to.

Problem is I've now gone somewhat preamp nuts but this pair of SCA N72 here are off the flipping chain. So glad a friend hipped me to a seller.

Also I have to defend/salute Warm Audio on what they've done recently.  Got to try their WA-273EQ for a week expecting nothing (to less than that)... and in the end decided to buy one good used.  Sounds ******* fantastic. No, it is NOT a Neve but instead it's own thing and sound (of which it does splendidly). I was expecting trash. No no.  Same with their WA-412 and although they are NOT APi they ARE damn good sounding and useful pre's.  I think anyone slagging this company might have a screw loose.

Time to pause the GAS, get rid of a bunch of other items going unused, and record some vintage instruments


 

[Dave Bryce]

I’ve actually just acquired one of Royer’s R10 mics along with one of their dBoosters.  I’ve been using it on my piano, and have been surprised and delighted with the results.  Really natural and full sounding, and way easy to position.

 

I've been A/Bing the dBooster with one of my Cloudlifters, and frankly the dBooster has a cleaner, sweeter, more coherent sound.  Been switching back and forth between the +12dB and +20 dB setting, and I think I like the +12 a bit better - feels a bit more dynamically sensitive.

 

Also, I’ve found that the channel compression from my SSL SiX that I would normally use on my piano mic isn’t really necessary with the R10 and dBooster.

 

dB

[KuruPrionz]

I have a Cloudlifter and it's a good unit but I'm plugging into a Cathedral Pipes Durham MKII lately. Partly because the form factor is more compact. It's hard to rack a Cloudlifter, it's just that bit too large with those feet! The Cathedral Pipes does sound really nice though...

[Dave Bryce]

I’ve never heard the Durham, but I’m told the technology is similar to the Cloudlifter.

 

What got me interested in the dBooster is because it was made by Royer, who I believe pioneered the active ribbon mic circuit.  I’ve heard nothing but good things about it for years, and was curious what all the fuss was about.  So far, I’m pretty impressed.

 

dB

[KuruPrionz]

20 hours ago, Dave Bryce said:

I’ve never heard the Durham, but I’m told the technology is similar to the Cloudlifter.

 

What got me interested in the dBooster is because it was made by Royer, who I believe pioneered the active ribbon mic circuit.  I’ve heard nothing but good things about it for years, and was curious what all the fuss was about.  So far, I’m pretty impressed.

 

dB

It is similar in sound to the Cloudlifter. I haven't done any noise level testing, I'm not equipped for that. Both are quiet in my studio. I don't own any ribbon mics currently, just condenser and dynamic mics. I did own an inexpensive CAD ribbon mic for a while but it wasn't essential for me so somebody else owns it now. I haven't tried the dBooster yet.