User guide

Key Points:
• No longer is it necessary to mate a ribbon microphone to an ultra-high gain, low noise
preamplifier for optimum performance. Any preamplifier of nominal gain will provide good
results with the SF-24.
• No longer is it necessary to carefully consider impedance matching characteristics when
choosing a preamplifier. Microphone loading is a non-issue and consistent performance is
assured, regardless of the preamplifier’s impedance characteristics.
• No longer is it necessary to be concerned about damaging the ribbon element with phantom
power. The active electronics need phantom power to operate - a first for ribbon
microphones.
• No longer is it necessary to worry about the effects of long cable runs degrading the
performance of your ribbon microphone. The active electronics provide a robust low
impedance signal that can handle long cable lengths with minimal loss of signal.
Description
The SF-24 stereo coincident active ribbon microphone is the only microphone of its kind
available, combining high audio performance with outstanding separation and imaging. It is a
modern ribbon design, with no audible diffraction effects or cavity resonance. The SF-24's active
electronics produce an output comparable to phantom powered studio condenser microphones
and because the ribbon elements are electronically isolated from the outside world, the
possibility of ribbons becoming damaged as a result of faulty wiring, brownouts or phantom
power supply defects is virtually eliminated.
The SF-24 is a compact, stereophonic ribbon microphone array consisting of two matched
microphone elements that are placed one above the other. Each transducer is positioned at 45
degrees to the left and right of center, or 90 degrees from each other. When held vertically,
connector down and the “ROYER” logo facing the sound source, the upper element is the right
channel and the lower element is the left channel, from the perspective of an observer behind the
mic. The microphone elements are each bidirectional (figure-8) and may be addressed from
either side with equal sensitivity. The in-phase signals are achieved when the microphone is
addressed from the front, as indicated by the “ROYER” logo. If, however, the microphone is
suspended upside down, the connections to the preamplifier should be reversed since what was
the left transducer is now responding to signals from the right and vice versa.
Your SF-24 is equipped with a 5-pin XLR type extension cable and a splitter cable that fans out
to twin 3-pin male XLR connectors. As shipped from the factory, the connectors are marked
“upper” and “lower,” since referring to them as "left” and “right” could lead to confusion.
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