How to tell if your ribbon is blown

What a stretched ribbon sounds like

A stretched ribbon usually loses 4 to 8 dB of sensitivity. The bass gets loose and flabby and the highs go missing. A stretched ribbon can still sound fine on a quiet source with the microphone standing upright; the trouble shows when it is hit with higher sound pressure levels.

Two checks you can do yourself

1. Look at the ribbon

Hold a flashlight behind the microphone (the one on your phone works) and run it down the length of the ribbon. A healthy ribbon is straight and centered, with equal amounts of light on both sides. If you see an S-shape, or the ribbon looks bowed and moves around when you tilt the microphone, it is probably stretched. This check alone catches most stretched ribbons.

2. The shake test

Plug the microphone into your mic preamp, put on headphones, and gently rock the microphone back and forth. Don’t whip it around: wind isn’t good for the ribbon. If you hear scraping or flapping, the ribbon is loose and is touching the magnets.

Most of the time you won’t hear anything. If you do, or if you would like us to check, send the microphone in: we test it and, if it needs one, fit a new ribbon. A Royer that is properly re-ribboned at the factory sounds exactly as it did when it was new. See Repair service for how to send it to us.

Important warranty notice

Opening any Royer product or using a service technician not authorized by Royer Labs voids your warranty, without exception.

Royer’s repair/exchange policy is exceptional and we work closely with Royer owners to repair gear under warranty coverage. There are Royer authorized repair facilities located around the world.

If a Royer product arrives for repair that has been opened or tampered with, or if it has been worked on by a non-authorized service technician, the warranty is void and repair and shipping charges to and from Royer will not be covered by Royer. We will inform you of this ahead of the repair.