User guide

recording vocals on either side of an R-122, a quality pop filter

(such as the Royer PS-100 or PS-101 metal pop screen) is essen-

tial to protect the ribbon element from windblasts. As with any

figure-8 microphone, the front side of the R-122 is in-phase and

the backside is out-of-phase. We suggest that that you reverse the

phase polarity on your microphone preamplifier to achieve in-

phase recordings when tracking on the backside of an R-122.

Cautionary Note:

It is important to note that the SPL handling capability of the

rear side of the R-122 is less than its front side. When tracking

loud sounds on the front side, the R-122's offset-ribbon design al-

lows ample space for rearward excursions of the ribbon. How-

ever, tracking on the back side causes the ribbon to move forward

towards the front side of the microphone, where the dampening

screen is much closer to the ribbon element. Rear side recordings

of loud sounds, or vocalists with no pop filter, can drive the rib-

bon into the front dampening screen, creating noise and possibly

damaging the ribbon element. Limit backside recording on your

R-122 to lower SPL sound sources and the microphone will be

fine.

Care and Maintenance

The R-122 is a well-built precision instrument. All that is re-

quired to ensure proper operation of this microphone is to follow

some commonsense rules.

1. Avoid transducer damage by not exposing the microphone to

severe shock or vibration. If the microphone is accidentally

dropped, test it to see if damage has occurred before returning it

to service.

2. Do not expose the microphone to direct blasts of air. Use a

windscreen or suitable blast filter when close miking a vocalist or

certain types of wind instruments. P-popping does not necessar-

ily damage the ribbon element but may produce unacceptable pre-

amplifier overload and could cause damage to speaker systems.