The Early Years
Royer’s first few years were spent in a garage addition behind Royer President Rick Perrotta’s house in Burbank, California. This is where they invented their patented offset-ribbon and direct-corrugation methods, created the technology behind phantom-powered and tube ribbon microphones, and where every Royer mic was built until 2004, when they moved into their current Burbank facility. Scores of artists, producers, and engineers visited here in the early days to learn more about what Royer was doing.
The Standard for Electric Guitar
When the R-121 came on the scene in 1998, the electric guitar found a new best friend. For the first time, all that tone could be captured, from small combo amps to wide-open 100-watt heads and 4 x 12 cabinets. Guitarists everywhere were finally able to have their recorded sound mirror what it sounded like when they were standing in front of their amps. Used by itself or in combination with other mics, the R-121 remains one of the worldwide standards for the electric guitar.
Royer R-series ribbons are known for their ability to handle insanely high SPLs — up to 160dB SPL at 1kHz — and sound fantastic while they’re doing it!
High Quality, Handbuilt in Burbank, California
Every Royer ribbon is handcrafted in Royer’s Burbank, California, facility and personally tested by David Royer before going out the door. Every part of every microphone is checked and graded. The assembly process takes hours, because perfection is the benchmark, and the art of installing a ribbon properly takes months of training — everyone involved in ribboning mics at Royer has been at this awhile. That level of perfectionism and quality control is key to the performance and consistency of all Royer mics, and it shows every time you put a Royer up.
David Royer and Rick Perrotta
David Royer is known for his innovative Royer Labs and Mojave Audio microphone designs, but for many years before that he created microphones, mic preamps, compressors, and other audio gear in his garage in Fullerton, California. His lifetime love of music and recorded sound led him to a fascination with ribbon microphones, which led to the opening of Royer Labs.
Rick Perrotta, Royer’s President and Production Chief, cofounded and ran LA’s Baby’O Recorders in the 1980s, recording George Harrison, X, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Oingo Boingo, and many other top bands. After that, he painstakingly unwound and documented unusually good-sounding transformers, figured out how to re-create them perfectly, and started Matchless Amplifiers in his living room with Mark Sampson. He was Matchless’s President and Production Chief for years, and Matchless became known for their exceptional quality and sound.
Following Matchless, Rick and David Royer set out to bring David’s designs and Rick’s innovations to the world. Royer Labs opened in 1998 and quickly brought high-quality ribbon mics to the forefront of the recording industry.
Royer Labs has been behind almost every meaningful ribbon microphone innovation made in the past two decades.
