2 channel Recto High Gain Tone test : Royer R121/SM57

[Mesa4x12er]

Made a quick tone test for anyone that may be interested.
Just mic'd up my Mesa cab with the R121 and SM57, chose a random chord progression and quad tracked. Royer and SM57 are on both sides. Both mics 1" off grill cloth. Preamp was chandler TG2.

No comments about the musical selection or random note choices at the end haha. It was off the cuff just to do this real quick! At the end of each take I just went into some single note randomness. All clips peaked at the same level before export so even if one seems louder, it shouldn't be.

1. Just Royer R121 http://www.netmusicians.org/files/26-R121.mp3
2. Just Shure SM57 http://www.netmusicians.org/files/94-SM57.mp3
3. Both equally mixed http://www.netmusicians.org/files/67-EQUAL.mp3
4. 75% R121, 25% SM57 http://www.netmusicians.org/files/21-R121sm57.mp3
5. 75% SM57, 25% R121 http://www.netmusicians.org/files/79-SM57r121.mp3

HP@65
LP@12K
on the royer bus I boosted 1.5K and 4K 1.5dB as it's quite a bit darker and wanted to get similar tones. Nothing drastic.

Anyway I figure most metal guys will prefer either the 57 alone or the mix with mostly SM57. It is more grindy. I personally prefer the mix with mostly royer and a sprinkle of SM57 as I like huge and a little smoother.

[corworld]

Cool man. Thanks for that. The 57 had a lot 5k noise and the royer was much smoother. I would prefer the 75% 121/25% 57 mix too unless I was trying to get more projection in a dense mix.

[Mesa4x12er]

Originally Posted by corworld

Cool man. Thanks for that. The 57 had a lot 5k noise and the royer was much smoother. I would prefer the 75% 121/25% 57 mix too unless I was trying to get more projection in a dense mix.

I totally agree! I really need to work on my placement with the 57 though. I always seem to get different results even though I usually go right to the same starting point.


Anyone else?

[Josh Rose]

I prefer the royer, definitely. I just mixed a session that was tracked with 57's on electric guitar that had a harshness that made sitting it in the mix really hard. It was too bright or not bright enough, and couldn't be eq'd to be somewhere in between. Aside from the nice, smooth, full range of the royer, they can be eq'd to death, and still sound perfectly natural.

Sometimes a 57 sounds great. But I almost always prefer to have a ribbon electric guitar track when mixing.

[fuzzyguitars]

i like em both

what chain

pre

guitar

amp

speaker

etc

thanks

[Mesa4x12er]

Originally Posted by fuzzyguitars

i like em both

what chain Chandler TG-2>Presonus Firestudio

pre Chandler TG2

guitar LTD EC1000

amp Mesa Dual Rectifier

speaker Celestion Vintage 30

etc

thanks

..

[fuzzyguitars]

thanks

good job!

[Stevedresser83]

I have 2 mesas at my house now and my 57 sounds worse then that no matter how long I move it around the speaker. Tried vintage 30's and greenbacks. Do 57's ever fizz out? I can't imagine my pacifica isn't good enough. Just cause im recording in a bedroom I can't imagine the room is making THAT much of a difference? Def want the royer either way.

[mmf1978]

+1 Royer.

And I know you said not to comment, but I dig the last 3 seconds. Very "Blackened" intro.

Thanks for the comparison. I'm not lucky enough to own a Royer.

[jimcroisdale]

Listening to the tests is very interesting.

While I agree the Royer sounds a little better, I'm happy to hear that my humble 57 is capable of getting very close!

Nice playing and tone by the way.

[recycle]

Thanks for posting this! I prefer the 121