Royer Labs SF-24 - Manual (Page 4)

Sonically the SF-24 differs from the unpowered SF-12 in one subtle way; due to the extra iron in
the SF-24’s much larger transformers, low-end frequencies sound slightly tighter and more
focused.
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 45¼ to
the left and right of center, or 90¼ 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.
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