Royer Labs has released the SF-2 Active Ribbon Microphone, a phantom powered version of the company’s SF-1.
Designed as a premium instrument for use in classical performance applications and acoustic instrument recording, the SF-2 has an output level of -38dB, putting its sensitivity on par with that of phantom powered condenser microphones. This enables the microphone to be used with a wide variety of mic preamplifiers, regardless of gain characteristics. The SF-2’s electronics have a self-noise level lower than 18dB.
The magnet/pole piece transducer structure provides a wide, uniform frequency response with no substantial peaks or dips, and the 1.8-micron ribbon element delivers sharp transient response and negligible off-axis colouration.
Conventional ribbon microphones are typically 15dB to 30dB less sensitive than condenser mics, necessitating the use of high-quality, high-gain microphone preamplifiers when recording quieter sound sources. The SF-2 contains a fully balanced, discrete head amplifier using a toroidal transformer and ultra-low noise FET’s to deliver 14dB additional gain and a sensitivity of -38dB.
The electronics in the SF-2 provide a consistent load to the ribbon element at all times, enabling the microphone to perform optimally regardless of the input characteristics of the mic preamplifier.
With Royer Labs’ Active Series ribbon technology, the ribbon element sees a perfect impedance at all times, regardless of the preamp chosen. The ribbon element cannot be damaged by phantom power, electrical glitches or incorrectly wired cables, and the mic can be used on extremely long cable runs with minimal signal loss.
‘Our SF-2 is the product of extensive research and field testing,’ says John Jennings, Royer VP of Sales & Marketing. ‘We’ve had 20 prototype SF-2s circulating in major studios and scoring stages for years. It has been well accepted in the classical recording and scoring worlds, which is where we see the microphone being of greatest benefit due to its extremely natural sounding pickup, flat frequency response and second-to-none off-axis response. The SF-2 already has a great track record with recording choir, piano, woodwinds, strings and a number of other applications, so we’re pleased to finally make it available to engineers worldwide.’
The SF-2 ships in an aluminum presentation case with an SFS-2 shockmount, mic sock, documentation and documentation. There is also an optionally available SF-2 Deluxe Package that includes a Padauk wood presentation case, a Royer-made 20-ft microphone cable, a premium RSM-24 shockmount, documentation and manual – all packaged in an aluminum carrying/storage case.
The mic ships at SF-2 Standard Package US$2,495 and SF-2 Deluxe Package US.$3,295.
More: www.royerlabs.com
